In a Column for Yacht Style, Phoenix Yacht Management’s founder and CEO outlines the trends shaping today’s refit projects.

Photo: Phoenix Yacht Management

For an owner considering a change, a refit can offer a faster and, in the right circumstances, more intelligent route to a yacht shaped around their requirements. It can preserve a proven platform, avoid the delivery time of a new build and represent a sound financial decision. Much, however, depends on selecting the right yacht and understanding what can realistically be achieved.

Age alone is rarely the deciding factor. A well-maintained, 20-year-old yacht with a sound hull, good volume and documented technical history may offer considerably greater potential than a younger yacht requiring extensive engineering replacement.

I have seen older, well-engineered vessels provide excellent foundations for major transformation simply because the original naval architecture, machinery spaces and construction quality were right.

RETHINK RATHER THAN REPLACE

One of the greatest opportunities in a modern refit is often missed when equipment is replaced like for like. Technology has advanced considerably over the past 10 or 20 years, and the yacht should be reconsidered accordingly.

Electrical, automation, navigation and particularly AV/IT equipment can now perform considerably more while occupying a fraction of the space required by earlier systems. On major refits, it is not unusual to remove racks of obsolete equipment and discover that their modern replacements require substantially less volume, consume less power and produce considerably less heat.

That creates a useful engineering chain: less equipment means less space, less heat and less cooling, in turn reducing electrical demand, generator loading, fuel consumption and noise.

Importantly, valuable volume can sometimes be reclaimed for storage, access, crew facilities or operational purposes. The same thinking should apply throughout the vessel. A successful refit is not

simply a collection of new systems; it is an opportunity to reconsider how those systems interact and whether assumptions made when the yacht was originally designed still make sense today.

DESIGNING FOR HOW THE YACHT ACTUALLY OPERATES

Crew spaces are a good example. Circulation, pantries, laundry facilities, storage, waste routes and technical access can appear secondary to the owner’s areas, but in operation, they have a direct effect on the guest experience.

I have seen yachts where relatively modest changes to crew flow made service noticeably calmer because crew members were no longer crossing guest routes unnecessarily, travelling excessive distances between working areas or continually working around poorly positioned storage areas and pantries.

Better working conditions also matter. A crew that can work efficiently, rest properly and maintain the yacht without unnecessary obstruction will generally perform better and remain onboard longer. Good crew design is therefore not simply a welfare consideration; it is an operational one.

Photo: Phoenix Yacht Management

The owner may never see the improved laundry facilities, technical access or crew circulation, but will experience the results through better service, fewer interruptions and a calmer, more professionally operated yacht. On a vessel intended to provide effortless hospitality, that distinction matters.

DESIGNING FOR RISKS THAT DID NOT PREVIOUSLY EXIST

A refit also provides an opportunity to address risks that may barely have existed when the yacht was designed. Lithium-ion batteries are perhaps the clearest example. E-bikes, scooters, water toys, dive equipment, tools and numerous rechargeable devices create a significant concentration of stored energy on board.

Storage and charging arrangements should address segregation, ventilation, temperature monitoring, detection, containment, emergency access and isolation, and should be developed alongside class, flag, insurers and specialists. The objective must be to reduce risk to as low a level as reasonably practicable, rather than waiting for regulation or an incident to force the issue.

REDUCING THE LOAD BEFORE INCREASING THE MACHINERY

Materials and coatings have also evolved. Modern solar-reflective coatings use specially formulated pigments to reflect a greater proportion of infrared energy rather than allowing it to be absorbed by the vessel’s structure and converted into heat. Marine trials have demonstrated reductions in exposed surface temperatures exceeding 20°C under certain conditions compared with conventional coatings.

Across the considerable exposed surface area of a large yacht, the principle becomes particularly interesting. Reducing solar heat absorption through decks and the superstructure means less heat entering the vessel and, therefore, a potentially lower HVAC cooling demand, with corresponding reductions in electrical and generator loads.

The actual benefit will, of course, depend on factors such as colour, coating system, insulation, glazing, vessel construction, climate and operating profile, so should be properly modelled rather than assumed. Nevertheless, when considered alongside modern insulation, glazing and HVAC technology, the cumulative effect can become significant.

THE RIGHT FOUNDATIONS

A refit should ultimately do considerably more than make an older yacht look new. Done properly, it allows a proven platform to benefit from perhaps two decades of advances in technology, materials, safety, energy management and operational experience.

The best projects consider the yacht as one interconnected system: technical spaces affect cooling; cooling affects electrical demand; electrical demand affects generator operation; machinery operation affects noise and vibration; and crew arrangements affect service. All these ultimately affect the experience of the owner and guests.

This is where good feasibility work and experienced refit management earn their value, by understanding not only whether an individual modification can be achieved but also what its consequences and opportunities are elsewhere on the yacht.

With the right platform, a clear purpose and disciplined management, a thoughtful refit can produce something more valuable than a renewed vessel: a fundamentally better yacht.

phoenix-yachts.com

IAN HARRIS

Ian Harris is a maritime engineer and yacht management executive with more than 25 years’ experience spanning military service, commercial shipping, subsea engineering, offshore energy and the luxury yacht sector. His career includes senior engineering and project management roles with organisations including P&O, Maersk and Fred. Olsen, progressing from Chief Engineer aboard large commercial vessels to the management of complex international engineering projects. Harris subsequently moved into the superyacht industry, where he has overseen the operation, management, refit and development of significant yachts for leading yacht-management companies and private family offices. He founded Phoenix to provide owners with technically informed, commercially disciplined and accountable yacht management.

info@phoenix-yachts.com

Note: The above article first appeared in Yacht Style Issue 91