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[ CREATIVE MINDS: MULDER DESIGN ]
WHEN WE WORK ON A PROJECT, THE KEY FACTORS ARE SELFCRITICISM AND THE CONSTANT QUEST FOR IMPROVEMENT by Mark Worden
rank Mulder set up Mulder Design in the Netherlands
currently designing boat number nine for him”. Other superyachts
back in 1979 but his son Bas, who was two back then and
that have been commissioned by the 007 fan over the years include
virtually grew up in the studio, now runs it. Frank is more
Moonraker and The World is Not Enough. The latest project is
than happy with the arrangement: “It’s great to be passing on to the
called Spectre.
next generation. That way I know it will carry on for many years”.
But that is just a fraction of the 800 yachts that the studio has
The studio is best known for the series of high speed yachts it
designed over the years. At last year’s Monaco Yacht Show Frank
designed for a client who clearly has a thing about James Bond
presented the concept for the 70-metre Sestante (“Sextant”)
movies. Octopussy, which was described as “the world’s fastest
alongside Baglietto general manager, Michele Gavino. It was the
superyacht” when it was launched in 1988, was “a milestone for our
first time that the two companies had worked together. Frank was
business and it was a very good project”. 30 years on, the studio is
delighted to be given a free hand: “After the basic brief, we were
still working with the client: “He called me this afternoon. We’re
told to design the best boat we could, in this length of 70 metres,
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[ CREATIVE MINDS ]
and that’s nice. So we could do nice styling and a beautiful
let’s say 20 knots. And we have great seakeeping. This is
concept with all the details like a beach club here and a
thanks to the refined shape of the hull, but also to roll and
touchdown heliplatform forward, and nice quarters for both
pitch reduction”.
the owner and the guests, the routing onboard for the crew”.
But Frank thinks that it’s the combination of characteristics
He is also pleased with the boat’s “efficiency, both at long-
that makes for a successful project. “A boat shouldn’t only
range speed, 12 knots, and at high speed cruising speed,
be a beautifully designed object, and have a practical and pleasant layout – in other words, the concept – and be a technical, safe machine. You have to blend all the features, without attaching too much importance to one of them. Don’t stick to one golden rule and say nothing else matters, because everything else matters.” But Frank does believe that increasing emphasis should be placed on fuel efficiency. “Carrying a lot of fuel in itself means burning fuel, but if you burn less fuel, you can have smaller tanks.” He believes that fuel efficiency is “the challenge of modern times. We must be careful with fuel consumption. It’s good for the environment, it’s good for the clients, but it’s good for costs because smaller engines cost less.” He concludes: “I think the key thing today is to design boats that have the lowest fuel consumption,” but he adds: “you don’t get an award for that, though!”
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This is the first time that Frank Mulder has worked with the Baglietto shipyard. On the “design table� we can see the plans for the 70 metre Sestante (Sextant). The brief was simple: design the best boat you can. Mulder used this freedom to come up with a state of the art yacht that has great seakeeping, safety and fuel-efficiency
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