One of the fastest piston-driven, composite-hull superyachts ever built will soon navigate Mediterranean coastal and island hideaways. Able to handle virtually any weather, it is no mere commuter vessel but a sturdy hull with transatlantic range.
The highly unusual 124’ Ermis2 is built to MCA rules, and introduces new concepts closely scrutinized by Germanischer Lloyd and the well-known Wolfson Unit in England. Her build history is “different” from the outset. The European businessman who initiated the project went to Briton Rob Humphreys, a designer particularly well-known for his racing sailboats, which include America’s Cup challengers. Humphreys was with the British AC team in Auckland, New Zealand, when Kiwis held the “Auld Mug” in the early 2000s, and he attended events during the professional symposium Yacht Vision held there, becoming more familiar with boutique superyacht builder McMullen & Wing in the process. When the owner’s brief shaped the concept for a luxury vessel whose top speed could be 60 knots+, but with a cruising range of 3,500 nm at 12 knots, and the ability to handle extremely rough seas, Humphreys knew something really special was required. As New Zealand also happens to be home to international composites structural engineers High Modulus, their CEO Richard Downs-Honey and engineer Michael Eaglen were called in as well.
Anyone who has sailed the Med knows that local winds, such as the Aegean Sea’s Meltemi and the Mistral off France’s southern coast can suddenly whip up short, steep, violent seas, so Ermis2, which loosely translated means Messenger of the Sea, was designed to scythe across them. Her hull had to handle “significantly greater” impact forces, about double the strength that Germanischer Lloyd deems necessary to classify commercial vessels. “She was to be ultra-fast, strong and super lightweight,” said David Porter, managing director of McMullen & Wing, who with brother Terry has run the somewhat unique yard as a family concern for decades. “Carbon fiber was an obvious material selection,” he said, although its extensive use in Boeing 787 jetliner fuselages lately has caused a serious supply shortage. Several different options were discussed with High Modulus before the choice was made to use vacuum infusion. “The owner said to assemble the best team possible. We went to the guru of infusion, Andre Cocquyt. Our builders had not tried this method before, which was good, because they had no bad habits, and could work well under Cocquyt’s expert and insistent direction,” Porter said.
High Modulus’ Richard Downs-Honey explained the choice that was made to build a fully-post cured, female-molded, vacuum-infused carbon-fiber-reinforced epoxy-foam structure. “Fundamentally, this decision was driven by an overriding focus on achieving the required strength and toughness at the minimum weight. By opting for a female mold process, weight has been reduced, by about two tons in this case, because the molded component requires little or no fairing prior to painting,” he said. “Likewise, vacuum infusion enables a more accurate distribution of resin throughout the laminate, avoiding excess resin and therefore surplus weight. The infusion process also helps to produce a higher quality and stronger laminate than many other processes, as it dramatically reduces void content.
“Foam cores were not only specified for shell weight reduction, but also for impact toughness and to reduce internal framing, which in turn reduces weight further, and offers greater space below decks.”
The international firm High Modulus has vast experience in composite yacht building, and is presently involved in about 50 composite yacht constructions worldwide, including a large project with Christensen Shipyards of Vancouver, Wash. Engineers knew that the Ermis2 project would require an especially tough bottom shell, which is the most heavily loaded area of any high-speed motoryacht structure.
“Backed up by substantial experience and specialist research, we recommended use of high elongation Airex R63 linear foam cores, coupled with carbon fiber and Kevlar-reinforced epoxy skins,” said Downs-Honey. “The resulting shell and structure were not only substantially lighter than the equivalent solid carbon fiber laminate, they were also substantially tougher.”
This fascinating conclusion contradicts some present-day thinking, which holds that solid carbon fiber bottoms are best. High Modulus did their homework under the supervision of Germanischer Lloyd surveyors, and impact tests revealed interesting results. “While there was more visual damage to the thin-skinned cored panels than to the solid panels, the damage deep within the solid panels—completely invisible to the eye or to tap-testing or to other mechanical impedance methods—was catastrophic...This provided a graphic illustration of the superiority of appropriately cored sandwich laminates over their solid laminate counterparts in serious impact loadings,” Downs-Honey said.
Designer Rob Humphreys, meanwhile, had been wrestling with related factors. Tank tests with the Wolfson Unit “validated my thoughts on beam-to-length ratio, deadrise angle and sprayrail configuration, and also gave us some idea of the vertical accelerations we could expect in different sea states and vessel speeds.
“We wanted to impose a design threshold that was significantly greater than Germanischer Lloyd’s normal commercial standard of 1g. In our brief to High Modulus, we set them 2.2g, and instructed Germanischer Lloyd to carry out their approval calculations based on this figure. So the epoxy-infused carbon hull of Ermis2 is extremely light for the structural benefit we have been able to achieve. The entire composite hull and superstructure weigh in at about 18 tons.
“It was evident from the high-speed testing that we wanted a raceboat-like trim, with the Longitudinal Center of Gravity as far aft as we could reasonably achieve. The problem with this was one of incongruity with the boat’s generally subdued style, as well as considerable practical impediments to slow speed visibility, and to bow thruster immersion.
“So hand-in-glove with the speed concept came the need to have control of the fluid distribution on board, using a rapid-transfer fuel system, and a seven-ton water ballast tank forward, which could be deployed within normal port access time to totally transform the trim of the vessel. The 55,000-liter (14,354 Gal.) tankage volume on Ermis2 is huge, giving a slow-speed trans-oceanic range to complement her sprint capability, and allowing the crew to have exceptional control of the longitudinal trim.”
Humphreys calls Ermis2 a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a “purposeful boat with an owner-driven sentiment that she be essentially unadorned. She had to speak for herself, for example by highlighting her structural make-up rather than styling. The whole team understood this, and an achieved lightship displacement of under 100 metric tons, even with a late-in-the-day call to take on MCA, is testament to all concerned and to McMullen & Wing as builders. It has been an intriguing project, and the owner’s experience-bred inspiration has, we hope, made some useful contribution to the superyacht world.”
Ermis2, equipped with three MTU 16V 4000 M90s and KaMeWa jets reached 55 knots in sea trials earlier this year in the Hauraki Gulf, beyond Auckland’s Waitemata and inner Viaduct Harbors, which at the time were hosting a selection of globe-trotting superyachts, including the Feadship Twizzle, Sunchaser, Codese and others. Although the owner is very pleased with the performance of the MCA-compliant boat he is keen to investigate what modifications and changes can be made to gain extra speed.
The vessel has a relatively narrow 21’ beam and walk-around decks, thus she looks fairly small in company with large-volume around-the-world superyachts, but one only has to step into the bridge control room to realize what Ermis2 is all about. Here seven naval-style Stidd chairs are set up for heavy weather passage making. Surrounded by deep blue ultra-leather, they face an instrument panel that features mostly tried-and-tested Furuno gear augmented by C-Plath autopilot, gyrocompass and speed log, Sestrel compass, Echo Pilot sonar and Brookes & Gatehouse wind instruments.
Above on the flybridge, a troika of more relaxed-looking Stidds is doubtless meant for driving in less stringent conditions. Behind this is fore-and-aft seating for guests, a U-shaped lounge and table for al fresco dining, a sunpad and space for the rescue tender. Four prominent domes for the communications gear are also clustered aft. Deck fittings are partly M&W custom-made in titanium, again to reduce weight, and where stainless steel has been used, it is brushed to match. The forward windlass is from New Zealand-based Maxwell Winches, which supplies many superyacht yards worldwide, and a 3,306-pound C-Quip davit astern, by the swim platform, handles an Aquatx Delta RIB.
The principal lounge, dining area and galley are gathered in a conventional no-nonsense layout, and light, paint-washed ash veneer bordered by clear-finished maple is used throughout. Colonial-style overhead fans in the lounge and master suite, one beneath a skylight, are used to good effect, while the galley mixes Miele with equipment from New Zealand specialist Fisher and Paykel.
Below are two twin and two double staterooms, including the master, which is preceded by a common use lounge and study. Copious storage has been provided behind the paneling, and the same paint-washed theme runs through the lower deck to form a light and airy backdrop for the soft furnishings, with mirrors port and starboard in the owner’s stateroom furthering the sense of space.
The overriding theme, in which Humphreys’ wife Jo was instrumental in interpreting the owner’s preferences, is comfortable and minimalist, to comply with all-important weight considerations.
If Tom Cruise were to plan a Mission Impossible sequel, and needed a custom high-speed craft for his action sequences afloat, Ermis2 is exactly the sort of vessel one would recommend. And the project itself could lead to a critical rethink of composite qualities in yacht building.
McMullen & Wing was launched in 1969 when Chris McMullen and Eric Wing began building steel and aluminum sailboats on the banks of the Tamaki River in Auckland’s southern suburbs. By 1981 they had launched the racing maxi yacht Ceramco for Sir Peter Blake, the national hero who was later shot dead by “river rats” at the mouth of the Amazon River. After the Porters bought in, M&W did mostly refits while turning out high-tech America’s Cup yachts, including the world’s first fiberglass IACC boats, NZL 32 and NZL 38, the boats New Zealand used to win the America’s Cup off San Diego in 1995.
Refitting the 168’ three-masted Shenandoah, built in 1902, was another major M&W project of the ‘90s, and they also became the OEM builder for 72’ and 78’ sportfishers sold by Garlington Landeweer of Stuart, Fla. Of these Kelsey Lee, Day Money and Snowgoose remain in the States, while Wine & Roses is in New Zealand.
In 2001 M&W launched the 115’ expedition-style motoryacht Surprise, which won an International Superyacht Society award and continues to charter in Fijian waters under agents 37 South and Fraser Yachts. Next came the 112’ German Frers sloop Ipanema, and the astonishing 130’ sportfisher Mea Culpa, for a Seattle owner, which was featured in Yachts International in 2005.
If this seems a somewhat eclectic array of boats, the yard is restricted by its sheds and slipway capacity to about 150’ builds, and by downstream bridges, which have only 35’ air clearance, thus limiting the sort of designs it can accept.
Lately it has formed a close relationship with the Canadian naval architect Gregory C Marshall. “This is an imperative step for a successful yard,” says David Porter. “The days of waiting for somebody to come along with a design to build are disappearing, so we have become pro-active in presenting design options.” Marshall has drawn the Ethos 120, Passagemaker 130, Trideck 140 and Trideck 151, and under construction is the custom 147’ “modern and minimalist” Marshall-designed Big Fish.
Technical Specifications :
LOA: 124’
Beam: 21’
Draft: 5’
Construction: Carbon epoxy composite with hard foam core
Classification societies: Germanischer Lloyd Class,
MCA LY2 Short Range,
@100 A5 Motor Yacht
Builder: McMullen & Wing
Displacement lightship: 109 tons
Gross tonnage: 203 tons
Maximum speed: 55 knots +
Cruise speed: 35 knots
Range: 3,500 nm
Naval architect:
Humphreys Yacht Design
Exterior stylist:
Humphreys Yacht Design
Interior design:
Humphreys Interior Design
Composite engineering:
High Modulus
Builder’s project manager:
Terry Porter
Owner’s project manager:
John Sowerby
Interior furniture: McMullen
& Wing and Total Trim
Engines: 3 x MTU 16V 4000 M90
Gearboxes: Twin Disc
Drive train: Rolls Royce
AB KaMeWa Jet Units
Center shaft: Brevini
Steering gear: Rolls Royce
AB KaMeWa
Fuel capacity: 14,534 Gal
Water capacity: 528 Gal.
Stabilizers: Quantum
Archer Active
Bow thruster: Lewmar
Generators: 2 x Northern Lights
Watermakers: 2 x SRC Aqua Whisper
