When the time came to upgrade in yacht size, the owner of 48.7m Clarity – let’s call him Mr C – wanted something a little different. “When you buy a yacht, you’re spending a lot of money, but then you pull into a harbour and every yacht is identical. That’s not to say that they’re not good boats because they are, but I just wanted something a bit more unique, so that’s when we decided to find something a bit more one-off.”

Searching around the 40-45m mark, Mr C was drawn to the design of the Bilgin 160 Classic model, from Turkish yard Bilgin Yachts, thanks to her classic styling that made her stand out from other yachts.

With the yard having already delivered the first model in this line, Timeless (ex-M&M), this proved an invaluable reference point for the build of Clarity. “I visited Timeless and although I really liked the exterior design, we wanted to change a lot of the interior layout and design.”

Mr C worked closely with the yard team to reconfigure the layout, moving the crew quarters aft, adding a split-level master suite forward and changing a lot of the engineering and wheelhouse. “That work made it a completely different yacht, and although Timeless and Clarity look alike from the outside, that’s where the similarity ends.”

During the search for a new yacht, there were several other options considered by Mr C but in the end it was the fact that Bilgin had already completed the hull of the yacht that influenced the final decision on where to build.

“They had an eight-month time advantage over all the other designs we were looking at and it made the decision an easy one.” This is a good example of how, if a yard is confident that it will sell a model, pre-construction of the hull, ahead of sale, can be a very beneficial exercise and a strong selling point for potential owners.

Throughout the build, Mr C was focused on ensuring he was hands-on, keeping a team, including a build engineer, on the ground in Istanbul. “If you are undertaking a new build then supervision, and having the right people to do that, is key,” he says.

“If you leave everything to the builder, no matter who they are or what they say, at the end of the day they are there to make a profit, and no supervision means it’s only human nature that they are going to take shortcuts.”

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