Alex McDiarmid, the yacht designer based in the South of France, has been attracting the attention of the superyacht media with his futuristic design concepts.
First he had Dramatic a 46m concept and he followed that up with Iwana an 85m design that pushes some of the boundaries in Superyacht styling.
Now he is at it again with yet another project that sees a fresh thinking approach to the styling of a 100m Superyacht.
As always, inspiration is diverse and of a non nautical philosophy and this time he has created Duel a 100 metre that has been inspired by the hand crafted duelling pistols of a by gone era.
Dueling is the engagement in combat between two individuals with matched weapons and was practiced from the 11th to 20th centuries in Western societies.
More applicable to the yachting industry, battles between two warships are referred to as naval duels, especially during the ‘Age of Sail’ when such encounters were common, men were men and blowing the enemy out of the water was all in a days work.
The master gun makers and engravers of the day displayed their craft producing truly beautiful fire arms through their metal work, inlaying of precious metals, stones, pearls and corals through to the use of decorative shaped, turned and polished woods and veneers.
These beautifully hand crafted objects mixed the highest standards of craftsmanship and machine shop abilities of the times to give the owner a very personal product, much like owning a yacht.
The profile of Duel is inspired by the silhouettes of such pistols, particularly the colourful 17th – 19th Century European versions.
Notice that the profile of the yacht is low in comparison to others in her class size.
Eliminating one deck reduces weight and in turn energy/power consumption is reduced and coupled with the latest green, hybrid power technology through a Diesel Electric propulsion systems with pod drives.
The pistols hammer inspired the design of the communication tower while the deep-cut “Asprey Scroll” engravings found on some pistols were added as a little piece of artistic licence on the part of the designers.
Other details on the concept include the reintroduction of the figurehead on the bow for good luck as sailors are supposedly a superstitious breed.
The figurehead protected the ship and inspired fear in the hearts of enemies if legends are to be believed.
Similar to panoramic roof windows on modern cars, the super structure integrates a full length panoramic roof window running over the yacht, similar in principle to our Iwana 85m but incorporating solar panel technology into the ‘smart glass’ to avoid a floating greenhouse.
Principal Characteristics:
- Length overall:100m / 330′
- Beam:18m / 58′
- Engines 4 x MTU 3600 kw or
- A hybrid power Diesel Electric propulsion system with pod drives.
- Cruising Speed: 15 Knots estimated
- Maximum Speed: 20 Knots estimated
- Berth capacity for guests: 14
- Berth capacity for crew: 24
The hull would be made from steel while the superstructure would be in aluminium. All aluminium construction would further reducing weight and therefore power consumption and this option is also under consideration.