LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES
There’s no such thing as a ‘typical’ Lynx shadow yacht. Sam Fortescue imagines a conversation between two superyacht captains
Fancy seeing you here again – I thought you were done with the Balearics after that incident last year with the tender that broached…
Don’t remind me!
…and the boss running out of gas…
She does love her jetskis!
…and wasn’t there a snapped foil, or something?
When the kids crashed the e-foil? Luckily all that’s ancient history. The boss has upgraded the boat.
What do you mean? I saw you guys coming in earlier and she looks the same as ever.
You saw me coming in and anchoring, sure. But did you see the boat that slipped in just ahead of us? The one that’s lying over there?
The cool looking mini explorer? Do you know who they are?
‘They’ are us. That’s the new boat – a YXT27 from Lynx. The first rate Dutch shipyard with a difference: state-of-the-art facilities and some really fresh new ideas. YXT stands for ‘Yacht Extender’ and that’s just what the new boat does. It’s like adding 20 metres of extra length to the mothership.
So you’ve got a support vessel now? You’re in charge of a fleet?!
Not support – it’s more like a shadow. Jump into the limo and we’ll buzz over for a look at the YXT. I’ve just dropped our guests off for lunch – I can spare a couple of minutes.
I’ve got to say, this limo is bit of an upgrade on that old RIB that flipped in the surf at Cala Mesquida last year.
Isn’t it just. The boss has had her eye on one of these semi- custom ones for ages, but there was no way we could fit it into the garage on the mothership – 5m was the maximum there and really limited headroom. No real chance of getting anything large enough for the boos and guests.
What is it – seven metres long? Eight?
It’s just shy of 9m, and does 40 knots flat out! You see, the long aft deck of the YXT27 means we can easily stow and carry a bigger tender. The boss loves it, and so do the guests we’ve had on charter this year. When they go ashore for dinner, they can get all glammed up and still step onto the quay without a hair out of place. It’s a game changer for us – you should see the reviews! Here, put a turn around that cleat there, would you?
Do my eyes deceive me, or are you really carrying a Series III Land Rover tied down to the deck?
The very same – repainted to match the YXT and the mothership. Look at the hull, here – it’s exactly the same shade of Alexseal as the big boat, and the fairing is flawless. Check out the distortion-free reflection!
And there was me thinking that support vessels were all chunky welds and bare deck. This looks like a mini superyacht!
Shadow boat, not support vessel! And that’s what makes Lynx Yachts special – they’re built to the same standard as the main yacht. The concept is for a totally flexible platform, not simply a steel box for storing the toys. That means you can put guest facilities on board – we’ve got two double cabins, a gym and a sauna with an ice shower below deck. And the main saloon here is fitted out with sofas and a big screen for watching movies or reviewing the day’s footage. The boss’s kids love using the drone when they’re out on the kitesurf or wakeboarding.
The thing is, with a beam of 7m, there’s so much space to play with. The YXT27 adds an extra 110 gross tons to our carrying capabilities and Lynx are able to customise just about every element of the layout. You can put extra crew accommodation to relieve pressure on the big boat, or for visiting guides, we’ve actually got a kitboard instructor with us this week.
Nice! But I’m not sure it would work for my boss. He’s looking to switch up to a 70m yacht so he can fit a submersible and a beach lander on board.
Lynx builds bigger models too, you know. The boss went for the YXT27, but they do a 34m, a 36m and even a 40m. It just depends what you need. We looked round a YXT34, in fact, and it actually had a Triton three person sub on the deck at the time. Sure, it weighs 4 tonnes, but the crane on board can handle up to 7.5 tonnes, so it’s well within reach. And with the 20m aft deck, you’d have no trouble getting a 40ft Cigarette Boat on there if you wanted – plus dive kit, quad bikes and all the rest. Take a look inside the beach club here – it’s a gym and a toy storage centre.
I dream of having all our boards arranged as neatly as this, but we simply don’t have the space. What’s the pricetag on one of these things?
Quality doesn’t come cheap, of course, but it’s all relative. To sell the big boat and buy a bigger one, you’re looking at hefty fees for the broker, legal and owner’s reps. These alone probably amount to more than the price of a brand new Lynx, never mind the extra cost of the bigger boat itself, and the time it would all take. It’s far less hassle to build a shadow boat, and it would be customised to suit your boss.
Makes sense…
The other thing we’ve noticed about having the Lynx as a shadow is the flexibility. We can get the mothership under way at short notice, leaving the Lynx behind to load and stow the tenders and toys. And by the time we’ve reached our next port of call, the Lynx is already there, ready to deploy again. It’s much quicker and easier to use the crane on the shadow than it ever was extracting boats from the tender garage of the mothership, so the boss and her guests can get out on the water almost as soon as we’ve dropped anchor.
There’s another benefit, too. The Lynx only draws 2.5m, which means we can creep right into shallow bays where the big boat wouldn’t be safe. We did some anchorages in the Maddalena islands in the spring. The kids brought a couple of friends on the Lynx, while the boss stayed tucked up in Porto Cervo. Later in the summer they want to go kite surfing in Arcachon. It’s barely 4m over the bar at the entrance, so we’ll have to go in the Lynx, leaving the big boat in the Gironde, where the boss can go and taste grands crus in Pauillac.
What’s the range like? The boss is keen on exploring Patagonia in the yacht.
This one has 14,000 litres of diesel tankage, so we’ve got a range of 1,400 nautical miles at 10 knots. But the Crossover version of the 27…
Think I saw that at Cannes last autumn – the one with all those jetskis stored on the wheelhouse roof?
That’s the one! Well, the Crossover 27 is a hybrid between Lynx’s YXT and Adventure lines, and it can do about 3,000 miles between bunkering. It’s all just a question of tankage. With these boats being so flexible, you could easily get some extra fuel capacity dropped in to increase the range. The Crossover offers a bit more interior space, but still the massive carrying capacity of the other lines. Apparently, it’s finding favour with owners who want a smaller yacht and incredible functionality – they’re speccing it as an owner boat.
Talking of owners, I must be getting back. The boss wants to go wakeboarding after lunch, so we’ve got to juggle the tenders round in the garage.
Say no more – I remember those days! Remember, Lynx Yachts, your boss will never look back.
