Published: 28-01-2010
The extensive ten-month refit of the Feadship Pegasus, launched as White Rabbit in 1995, hasproduced a longer and even more luxurious megayacht that is attuned to the requirements of her new owner to a phenomenal degree. In addition to the unparalleled skills of the Feadship craftsmen at De Vries Makkum and the unequalled engineering design and engineering knowhow of De Voogt Naval Architects, Pegasus also shows what can be achieved when the Feadship Refit Team is involved before a yacht has even been bought.
The story behind how a Greek owner came to find Pegasus and then used all his experience and energy to bring her into a new era of magnificence is fascinating. He started looking for a displacement yacht to add to a small fleet of speedboats, day cruisers and a semi displacement yachts in 2007. “The client inspected numerous yachts and all kinds of brands,” remembers Feadship Refit Manager Ico Vergouwe, who was involved from the earliest stage of the project.
“He came to the conclusion that build quality was an important factor for a pre-owned yacht and a better basis for a new owner to refit and redecorate it to his preferences.”
By early 2008 the owner had concluded that only a Feadship could truly meet his demanding requirements due to the inherent quality and unrivalled value-to-age ratio. “He was looking for a yacht around the 50-meter mark, with lots of guest accommodation and a good turn of speed,” explains Vergouwe. “The latter is a typical requirement for Greeks as they use their yachts from April to October for weekend trips to the islands. Extended cruises are generally reserved for the July - August holidays.”
The aspiring Feadship owner also sent delegations to Florida to view various yachts and meet Feadship America President Francois van Well, who provided some sound advice Late one night in Athens, the owner was surfing the internet in search of other Feadship options when he came across Pegasus. The right length, 18.3 knots of speed, a giant main lounge, full beam bridge deck lounge, good-sized master stateroom and five guest suites for 16 guests… This was the yacht he had been looking for!
Vergouwe takes up the story: “Enquiries were quickly made immediately (past midnight) and the owner himself led a team to the Bahamas to see Pegasus at first hand the following morning. A couple of hours onboard confirmed that she was in excellent condition, and the owner now required answers to some specific questions. He called me directly from the aft deck of Pegasus and we agreed to meet in London the very next day to discuss matters further.”
After a quick visit to the De Vries archives to pick up the requested information, Vergouwe and commercial manager Bas Nederpelt flew to the UK. “The meeting was very efficient as we could leverage on our extensive knowledge of the original design and use that to assess the feasibility of the owner’s ideas for an extension to all decks. Fully confident that everything would pan out his way, the owner bought Pegasus within days. A month later he asked a few of the Feadship
team to join him on a short cruise in Greece so that we could see how he and his party used the boat and be able to answer any questions that might arise. In this way we ensured that the refit plans were customized to the client’s everyday onboard lifestyle.”
Before Pegasus sailed to the De Vries Makkum yard, Feadship Yacht Services developed a new GA, fine-tuned in a series of meetings with the owner in Athens, Schinousa and Monaco.
“Even after the refit started changes were made and work was added to the scope almost until the day the yacht left the yard again,” adds Vergouwe. “This is what happens when an owner with an endless flow of great ideas joins forces with Feadship. No one knows a Feadship better than the yard and designers that created her. Dedicated to the care, maintenance and technical support of the Feadship fleet, our Yacht Services division brings all this expertise and experience together and lays the firm foundations that are so vital for a comprehensive refit to be successful.”
De Voogt’s design and engineering services were at the disposal of the Pegasus refit team, offering support with everything from stability calculations to material studies. And the people involved with the original construction at the Koninklijke De Vries Scheepsbouw yard in Aalsmeer also played a key role, sharing their knowledge of why the yacht was built as she was in 1995.
“White Rabbit was initially created for an Asian owner who loved to entertain and had a passion for deep-sea fishing and water toys,” explains Vergouwe. “She also had to serve as a floating business platform and casino, including a large table for meetings on the bridge deck that converted into a full-sized roulette table once a deal was closed. Feadship had therefore designed a displacement hull with a bulbous bow that synthesized comfort with high speed in a unique way for the time.
“Moreover, because the original owner required a wealth of transport modes to reach the yacht – including a plane, an amphibious car and several tenders – virtually the entire exterior aft deck space was required for stowage. This was something that had to change during the refit, with the new owner seeing exterior lounging and entertainment as a main priority.”
To meet this goal, the decision was taken to extend all three decks, increasing the hull length at waterline by four meters and the sun deck by nearly six. Pegasus was to be given an LOA of 52.25 m (171’5”), compared to 49.38 m (162’) at the time of her launch. But it is the square meter volume that is the most relevant figure here as the deck additions would bring the total exterior areas to 265 square meters, with four major outdoor dining and lounging areas.
As always on major refit projects, decisions taken in one area have profound implications elsewhere. Pegasus serves as a test case example of this. Among the design objectives, for example, was to make the folding swim platform in the transom larger and reconfigure the transom lines. As a result of the reconfiguration of the transom the main deck aft area was extended, giving more room for larger seating, which according to the owner required solutions to both create privacy and reduce wind load.
A similar ‘knock-on’ effect can be seen with the decision to make the bridge deck aft more suitable for entertainment, creating space for a large seating area with tables across the deck, integrated with the aft bulwark. In order to clear the bridge deck, the main tender had to move to the sun deck. This required a 6 meter extension of the sun deck and an upgrade of the crane capacity. And as a result of stowing the main tender on the sundeck, the crew tender and two jet skis would be stowed on the foredeck, requiring a suitable boat-handling crane in that area.
Once all this meticulous preparation had been completed, Feadship De Vries Makkum started the refit in September 2008. Ten months later, Pegasus was relaunched looking, feeling and operating on a par with our very finest brand-new megayachts.