FRANCK DARNET DESIGN PORTFOLIO

I am introducing to you the work portfolio of Franck Darnet Design. Franck Darnet is a very talented yacht interior designer involved in many multihull projects such a the Nahema 120, the Outremer 49, the Fenomen 150' and lately the refit of world famous Magic Cat. More than 1500 yachts, sailing and motor, above 15 meters are carrying Franck "Art of Space" signature. If you located in the US, Franck Darnet also has an office in the design disctrict of Miami. For press inquieries, please get in touch with me.

In this portfolio, we will find images of large luxury catamarans neither seen before. Enjoy

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FRANCK DARNET DESIGN - NEW WEBSITE ONLINE

Franck Darnet's new website is online. The talented yacht designer based in Nantes (France) is publishing the pictures and 3ds of his creations.

Nahema 120 Owner Suite

Franck Darnet has designed the interiors of the NAHEMA 120 and also of the Fenomen by NAHEMA (NAHEMA 150) project. The 3ds of the Fenomen by NAHEMA are published online for the first time and look quite amazing. Franck is also designing smaller cats interior for Outremer Yachting for the Outremer 45 and 49. The agency works for superyacht builders such as Sunrise Yachts in turkey on a very large project to be announced soon. Other work include of course monohulls yachts but also eco friendly hotels, high end motor-homes, shutles boats, submarines houses in cooperation with the Miami agency... The main interesting fact about the news website is that you can really look at large large size pictures and realise that the team has a lot of talent in all the fields.

NAHEMA 150 owner suite, much larger

DUSSELDORF BOAT SHOW - BOOT DUSSELDORF - LUXURY CATAMARAN EXHIBITOR

For those of you lucky enough to go the this year Boot Dusseldorf, I am just listing the luxury catamaran builders and designers present at the show.





JFA is building the VPLP 110 an amazing 110' fast and sleek catamaran. HALL 7A/B11

BERRET RACOUPEAU YACHT DESIGN will introduce for the first time Code[e] the most advance eco-friendly yacht available on the market. HALL 7A/B11

SUNREEF will be present for the first time in Dusseldorf to introduce their successfull catamaran range including the SUNREEF 102 DD and SUNREEF 114 actually being built at the yard in Poland. HALL 7A/C24

H2X, a shipyard located in La Ciotat who is continuing to build the NAHEMA 120 and has built the BRADLEY motor catamaran. HALL 7A/H26

ALUMARINE, the builder of the large luxury catamaran afloat DOUCE FRANCE will introduce the NOAH motor catamaran. HALL 7A/B11

BEFORE PARIS BOAT SHOW LUXURY CATAMARAN UPDATE

I wanted to take some time a few weeks before the Paris Boat Show to write this post about my clients, partners and friends of the blog.

AEROYACHT

I am currently working with and for Gregor Tarjan on two major luxury catamaran projects. Both will be tremendous breakthroughs in this small market niche. Gregor is a very well know Multihull specialist in the US and has published the successful catamaran bible “CATAMARANS Every Sailor's Guide". He has a lot of energy and just like me really is a catamaran fan.

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ALCYON YACHT

Paul Renaud has lately designed a 125 footer and a 164 footer for a Swiss client that will soon be introduced in his new website. I like Paul designs because he is just filling a missing niche: Designing very large catamarans inspired by motor yacht comfort but with catamaran advantages. I am working on his new website structure and content. I will keep you informed when it is launched.

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FRANCK DARNET DESIGN

I trained Franck Darnet’s team to efficiently handle PR. They have been very successful with it and have got national coverage in the French Press in famous financial newspaper “Les Echos”, weekly best selling magazine “ Le Figaro Magazine”, and yachting magazines such as “voiles et voiliers”, “voile magazine”. They also have achieved international coverage in Yachting magazines including a five page article in “YACHT DESIGN”. Franck Darnet has designed the NAHEMA 120 and 150 and recent yachts such has the SUNRISE 45. He is involved with his Miami based partner Karine Rousseau in many other projects such as an eco-friendly hotel, submarine houses, luxury motor homes...

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BERRET RACOUPEAU YACHT DESIGN

Olivier’s Racoupeau design office is really busy as usual working for Beneteau, Fountaine Pajot and on one off projects such as the Z 90 a very innovative catamaran to be launched next year. I wrote the design office last two newsletter as well as part of the website.

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EXCLUSIVE

I am very happy to have been contacted by ExclusivE founder: Georges Benarroch. He is an amazing personage (as we say in French). Georges has chartered many cats, and has worked very hard to put together the ExclusivE 76 concept with the goal of building the best catamaran in this range. We are almost there, the first unit should be launched first semester next year. I am actually working on his new website and have put together a complete PR plan for him for next year. So look out you will be soon hearing a lot about the ExclusivE 76.

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JFA

JFA is building the VPLP 110 to be launched in 2010. Their reputation of a very serious and quality orientated shipyard, with a small structure close to the client is growing in the industry. I have written for them their latest news letter. I hope we will get a chance to work together again in a next future.

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MULTIHULLS WORLD

Jean Christophe Guillaumin, the editor of Multihull world, called me sometime ago and asked me if I would be interested in writing articles about luxury cat in his magazine. Guess what my answer was ? So check the next issue for the Paris Boat Show and you will discover a complete section on yacht catamarans, as well as a complete survey of most of the recent all sized catamarans afloat as well as future projects. If you can not find the magazine in a library close to you, you can download it on the website.

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NAHEMA

The NAHEMA 120 is being built in la ciotat (France). I was missioned by NAHEMA for a year to make the brand know on an international level. With more than 20 articles in the international yachting press and a very large coverage on the web I think it really is a success. They are now on their own and I hope I will get a chance to work on other projects again in the coming future.

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WILLMAR

Philippe Guillemin established Willmar a few years ago in Florida. He is the main importer of Fountaine Pajot catamaran and distributes the ExclusivE 76 and other Gilles Ollier designs. He really has a great expertise in catamarans for having built and sail many of them and worked on yachts building projects all around the world. Willmar had some trouble with being found on the web and wanted French speaking people looking for a good value cat in the US and Caribbean to be able to find them. I have launched for him a blog in French working on the necessary most efficient tag words to be found on the web.

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SPECIAL THANKS TO :

Ewa Starchuska, the experienced SUNREEF PR, for sending me regular information to publish on the blog and sharing some ideas about our jobs. I think we work quite the same way.

Chandler Collins, GUNBOAT marketing and pr for keeping me updated on the GUNBOAT catamarans.

Hugo le Breton, Le Breton Yachts, for keeping me updated on the SIG 45 a real breakthrough in catamaran design, a great project.

Tom Ashwell, from Synergy Yachting Partner, for launching with me the www.catamaranpro.com forum which is not really famous yet but we hope will have more success with all the future launches of luxury catamarans.

Greg Young, the talented designer of the Young 80 for sending me news about his designs.

Gayle, from Seaspray Magazine, for cheering me up and being a real catamaran fan.

All the suscribers to the RSS feed and regular readers who didn't suscribe yet.

All of you who have sent me emails and with whom I am keeping in touch even outside the blog.

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FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

I am actually trying to find a computer partner in the Rennes area ( France) to help me developing a nicer format to the blog with added interactive features. So Stay Tuned...

NEW UPDATED MEGA CATAMARAN LISTING

It took me quite a while to figure out how to display the list on the blogger platform but here it is. You will find (I guess) most of all the mega catamarans being built right now, already built and projects around the world. I couldn't insert direct links in the spreadsheet but all the sphipyards and designers are listed in the right column of the blog. Enjoy.

NAHEMA 120 - WORK IN PROGRESS

NAHEMA hull mould in the "oven"

Following the press release I wrote for NAHEMA.

Marseilles, May 16th 2008 – The NAHEMA 120’s interior is taking shape

The interior modules aligned in the shipyard

While vacuum-bagging tests are being conducted on the moulds of the NAHEMA 120 (the largest composite catamaran in built at the moment), the interior modules are well underway.

The interior, designed by Franck Darnet Design, is an important key to the success of the NAHEMA range. The contemporary yet warm design has attracted a lot of attention from the public all through the most recent International Boat Shows. Franck Darnet and Karine Rousseau (Franck’s Miami based partner) have succeeded in designing a comfortable yacht perfectly matching NAHEMA’s motto: perfection, performance and space.

The honeycomb laminate

Franck Darnet:
“The NAHEMA is unique and fascinating because there are almost no restrictions in terms of space and style. It really is a "no limit" catamaran. The design is contemporary, elegant and refined but still warm with the right equilibrium. It was very important to Karine Rousseau and I to unite the interior and exterior of the yacht in order to create a living space with an area of more than 150 m2, never seen on a 120 feet unit before. The amazing width of the sliding windows between the cockpit and the salon is the perfect expression of the NAHEMA’s design.”

A standard suite modules

For the design team “space is luxury”. They also have innovated in creating “loft style suites” in which the sleeping and bathing areas are not separated by a bulkhead but by a sliding tinted glass window. Up, the window separates the two parts for more privacy. Down, it dramatically increases the size of the room.

A queue of head compartments modules

From a more technical point of view the modules for both hulls have been built full size on the side. When ready, they will be lifted and fitted directly into the hulls. It works just like a puzzle jigsaw. The different pieces correspond to the guests, the owners’ bedroom, the offices with their sofa, the bath rooms, the skipper and crew quarters. Walking by and inside them gives a real idea of the impressive size of the NAHEMA 120.

NAHEMA insisted on the fact that the interior decoration should be as light as possible to maximize the yacht’s performance. The walls and the furniture are made of teak sheets laminated on honeycomb panels. They are light and also respect the noise and vibration limits specified for such a high quality yacht.

Infusion of the NAHEMA 120’s first hull should start in a few days.

Complete specifications as well as high resolution renderings and pictures are available upon request.


Press Contact: Sébastien Barthez, FINE PR Consulting, + 33 (0) 621 392 845 or barthez@nahema.com

DUSSELDORF BOOT REVIEW - A GREAT SHOW

Nahema's stand at the boote dusseldorf 2008

I just came back from the Dusseldorf Boote yesterday where I spent 11 days with NAHEMA's team and had a great time. This was the best boat show I attended in the last 12 years.

Special thanks to Nicolas Daher, NAHEMA's the executive director for trusting me, Malouréne Corbeille, sales assitant for her energy and patience, and Sonja-Dana Roelen, our clever hostess for laughting at my fith degree French jokes.

From left to right Nicolas Daher, Malouréne Corbeille, Sonja-Dana Roelen, and your blogmaster Sébastien Barthez

NAHEMA was the only one mega-catamaran builder and displayed two models the NAHEMA 120 and PHENOMEN by Nahema an amazing 150 footer. The largest catamarans exhibited at the boat show was the CATANA 50.

Boat shows are the occasions to meet very interesting people you exchanged only mails with. Amongst many others I was very happy to meet with :

- Ewa Stachurska, SUNREEF's PR manager. She is a very very energetic, efficient young lady. We talked for a few minutes about the show and how we worked. It is always interesting to exchange point of view with a profesionnal doing the same job. I hope next time we will have more time. Ewa was in Dusseldorf to see if it was worth it for SUNREEF to be there next year. Since she came at the beginning I had a hard time answering her questions but now I can. Yes Ewa it is worth it and for many reasons. First, you have more than 280 000 visitors coming for all around Europe and even farther. So in terms of brand image being there is a great thing, you get your brand noticed. Second, I noticed the visitors really loved watersports and are very curious. Third, when you come in Dusseldorf in January you don't come for the weather, you come for the show. Fourth, all the people in the superyacht hall 7 I talked to told me this was their best show as far as potential buyers, press and networking. Fifth, this is a long show and tiring, however people have more time. You get to talk with partners, press who are not in a rush and conversation have a lot more value. Sixth, average purchasing power is endeed pretty high. Finally, the public in this show litteraly love multihulls.

- Olivier Racoupeau, a successfull naval architect based in La Rochelle, who designed many monohulls for Beneteau, catamarans for Fountaine Pajot, Yacht Industries (Yapluka), and has actually three mega-catamarans in built, a record. I have the chance to go to Olivier Racoupeau offices in a couple of weeks so I will let you know more about his mega catamarans concepts. Check Olivier's amazing monohull project of the EVOE in collaboration with Isabelle Ramirez and Couedel Hugon Design.

- Merijn de Waard, Superyachtimes' (click on the link you will see pictures from the show) website founder and editor, who took the great picture of our team. Merijn has done things the right way, creating a website about the industry easy to surf and with interesting and well written content. Keep up the good work and you will get good results.

- Philippe Touet, Incidence Sail maker, the best sails maker in the world for multihulls. I have known Philippe for ten years now and he is always a great guy with such an amazing knowledge about sail making and multihulls. He has designed and made the sails for Francis Joyon's IDEC and so many other multihulls and mega-yachts. Philippe, who is an experienced sailor, a member of the Banque Populaire team since 2007, teamed up with Groupama from 1999 to 2007 and took part to the America's Cup in 87-92-95. Check his records,amazing. He is a also a fun guy to be around for partying with his collegue and friend Huges Destremau another experienced sailor. If you need sails for your catamaran call Incidence.

- Others, Frédéric Jaouen from JFA, Laurent Charlier from H2X builder of the Bradley and of the NAHEMA 120, Olivier Lafourcade from 20 years old CNB a reference in sailing yacht building, Nicolas Claris from the Claris agency, Shipman's team, builders of the most performant carbon cruising monohulls on the market...

Getting around Dusseldorf : a few advice if you plan to visit or exhibit at the show next year.

• Book a hotel close to the city center and Königs allee, this way you will not be far away from the altstadt where most of the fun goes on at night, from the harbour with its Frank Gehry architecture (one of my favorite architect) and trendy night life, from shopping, and most important from the subway line U78 which takes you in 20 minutes right inside the show.
• Book your restaurants ahead of times, most of the brewery are booked during the complete duration of the show. Some great tables : Café Madrid - real spanish Tapas, Okra - cheap and very good Ethipian food, Lido - quite expensive but an amazing restaurant made of glass and wood above the Rhine in the Franck Gehry district with a view on the water and modern buildings, Rosie modern german and international food with good music, Bandido-the best mexican restaurant I have ever been too, Sila - Thai a real treat book and ask to be in the backroom, seated on the ground if you don't mind taking you shoes of and order a Mai Tai and a degustation menu, Schlüssel a real brewery with traditional alt beer and good food.
  

NAHEMA 120 MOULDS - AMAZING

Toby Whitfield, MouldCAM's managing director, walking in the mould of the NAHEMA 120.

Just a quick post since I couldn't wait to show you the pictures of the NAHEMA 120's hull moulds. They were taken at mouldCAM in Australia before the moulds were shipped in pieces on a cargo ship to La Ciotat in France. Right now they must be somewhere in between and will reach La Ciotat by the end of the month where the mouldCAM team will fly to put them back together at the H2X shipyard. If you like technical information check Mouldcam website and watch the Video of their computer assisted drilling process which is quite impressive.

SUNREEF 102 DOUBLE DECK

I just received this news from Ewa Stachurska, the PR manager at SUNREEF shipyard in Gdansk, Poland. The shipyard has signed a contract with a client from Switzerland to build the first SUNREEF 102 double deck. ‘‘We are very excited by the interest in this model, it’s certainly the only double deck, an innovative Sunreef idea,’’ says Nicolas Lapp, the Vice President of Sunreef, ‘‘It is really quite revolutionary in the superyacht world.’. This prestigious unit will be launched beggining 2009 and will be one of the largest sailing catamaran at that time. There is actually a real trend toward bigger and bigger mega catamarans above 100 feet. Actually sailing are DOUCE FRANCE and LADY BARBARETTA, and in built are the NAHEMA 120 , the GEMINI 145 (Derektor shipyard) and the HH 100 (Alumarine). Built in aluminium, the SUNREEF 102 will be the first with a Double Deck. It will feature a cosy, classic and comfortable interior designed by the Sunreef team with a close participation by her owner. You can find more information on Sunreef website.

MONACO YACHT SHOW

The innovative swimming pool (which transforms into a helipad) of the 82 meters OCEANCO "ALFA NERO".

The impressive 52 meter DUBOIS designed "KOKOMO" built by the Alloy Shipyard will be running for the ISS award this year in Fort Lauderdale.

Do you want to take a nap ! Huge sofas, beds are very trendy in yacht and home design.

The model of the impressive NAHEMA 150.

NAHEMA's beautiful stand where I spend most of my week working. I am not complaining, I think I was really lucky to be there, it was really a great show. I will soon get back with more mega cats news.

NAHEMA's WEBSITE IS ONLINE

Nahema's website is online and available in French, English and Spanish. If you sail through this elegant and clear website you will discover the concept, the philosophy and the team behind Nahema's shipyard. You will see 3D's of the NAHEMA 120 exterior and interior as well a rendering of the layout. While the production of the NAHEMA 120 has started, a 150 foot version of this sleek and fast luxury catamaran will also be introduced in a near future. NAHEMA will be present for the first time at the Monaco and Fort Lauderdale yacht shows. You will also be able to discover the NAHEMA 120 in the next issue of Boat International US so don't miss it. If you are a journalist you can ask for the complete press kit by leaving a message with your information on NAHEMA's website, it will be available right before the Monaco Yacht Show.