Albert Sedlmayer

FOUNDER; NAVAL ARCHITECT SEDLMAYER ASSOCIATES

Albert Sedlmayer got hooked on sailing in Australia in his childhood and early teens. On moving back to Germany as a fair-dinkum Aussie, he could not read, write, or speak the language, so further schooling was deemed pointless. Albert qualified as cabinetmaker through an apprenticeship after 2.5 years. Which lead him to train and qualify as architectural draughtsman and really enjoyed the challenges of design. This has led to a successful 45 year career in yacht and naval architecture.

What are you currently working on? Apart from my bread-and-butter contract design work on catamaran ferries and self-discharging bulk carriers, I am designing a 322-foot sailing catamaran mega yacht, SPECTRUM 98.

Tell us a little about this project/s? I was approached by a person who saw my designs and wanted a ship like my SPECTRUM 61 but much bigger. Even though this project did not eventuate and may have been a hoax, my mind was nevertheless stimulated and ideas for such a ship began to flow, so I initiated this as a spec-project.

Please describe the project you are most proud of to date, with reasons why this was a success? My ‘break-through’ project was a 60’ (18m) aluminium sailing excursion catamaran for tourists on Auckland harbour. ‘Pride of Auckland’ was launched in 1983 and was hugely successful, performing well above expectations. I have been on board in a near gale, sailing at 21 knots, with the tourist passengers squealing with delight. Now, even after 37 years, this robust, fast ship has endured wonderfully, and is now working tirelessly as ‘Pride of Airlie’ in Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia.

Please describe a highlight of your career to date. On a whim in 2017 I submitted my 210’ SPECTRUM 61 sailing catamaran superyacht design to the ‘International Yacht and Aviation Awards’ just to see what would happen and was immediately shortlisted.

How did achieving this make you feel? Even though SPECTRUM 61 did not get enough votes to win the final award, the recognition was thrilling.

Where in the world do you like to retreat to? There is no need for ‘retreat’. My mind is continuously active, and I aim to keep it that way. We chose the Gold Coast as our place to live decades ago, meticulously driving around day by day at the time, finding our ideal spot. Having then found it – a quiet cul-de-sac beside a park and lake full of wildlife, in the middle of our canal-laced city, 3km from world-famous ‘Surfer’s Paradise,

this is where we live and don’t really intend or need to ‘retreat’ anywhere else.

Where and how do you find support? In my mid-thirties I understood the serendipity of giving, and the joy and increased life-fulfilment it brings. I trained as a counsellor and served with a voluntary counselling service for several years. Helping others without any expectation of recompense has brought personal fulfilment far beyond anything I ever expected. A loving, close family and deep personal friendships provide all the support I could wish for.

Has the recent global pandemic changed the way in which you work? Travel and meetings have been radically curtailed, but being adaptable, I just use other avenues of contact and continue unabated.

How will it change the global design sector? Travel restrictions have decimated airlines so much that many cannot recover. This will potentially re-focus design to be less cosmopolitan and more local in scope.

What are your thoughts on the future of design? Very generally, we need to design for more wheelchair and stretcher accessibility, with areas that can be discretely segmented into smaller group spaces, or with easily deployable isolation and sanitation features, so businesses can keep running under constrained conditions. We also need to design fittings, features and spaces that can fully incorporate more people with limited mobility.

Please tell us your aims for the next twelve months and beyond. As I approach middle age (74), my mind is full of ideas and I can barely wait to start my next project, whimsical ideas of which are already forming. But for the time being I will repress these and complete the preliminary design work for SPECTRUM 98, fully establishing all the functionality, aesthetics, and identity before I formally publish her. She is really a big sister to SPECTRUM 61, and my new ideas are radically different.