Right on the heels of the largest yacht ever built on the Sunshine Coast, Jeff Rhodes of Coastal Craft in Gibsons will be recreating his previous work with a second, nearly identical yacht set to begin construction this month.
The only difference is that the second, 65-foot Concord yacht will be handicapped accessible.
The first yacht was designed for a customer based out of Vancouver. Built with an aluminum superstructure, the interior is intended for elegance, but can also stand up to extensive wear.
“They wanted a very contemporary interior, but not one that you are afraid to touch,” said yacht architect Gregory C. Marshall. “So it’s an interior that you can live in as a real boater.”
A customer from the Eastern United States commissioned the second yacht. When completed, the yacht will be loaded onto a yacht transport carrier, which will ferry the virgin vessel through the Panama Canal to the other side of the continent.
On its own, the yacht can reach speeds of up to 35 knots (65 km per hour) with an ideal cruising speed in the high 20s.
The initial design took about a year before the blueprints went to Rhodes and the team at Coastal Craft. From there it was just under a second year before the yacht was launched last March. Rhodes is hoping to launch the second yacht by late January 2016.
Rhodes begins with the yacht’s hull, the body of the vessel, which is built out of steel. Then an aluminum superstructure is added, followed by a cosmetic stage of painting and beautification.
“And then we’re a bunch of busy bees,” Rhodes said. “We’ve got electricians, plumbers, technicians, upholstery, interior wood joinery crews — all hitting at the same time during that final outfitting stage.”
The finished product is a work of art.
“It’s got a fantastic master state room, fantastic VIP cabin. Attention to detail from [Coastal Craft] is absolutely superb. They’re really good at what they do,” Marshall said. “You know when you sit in a really good car — you can’t quite describe it, but you just know that no matter where you look, everything is done just right? That’s exactly the way that this boat is.”
