YYachts goal is to build sailing yachts that give you time for yourself as well as freedom and fun with your family and friends – a reliable investment in a better quality of life.
YYACHTS FOUNDER MICHAEL SCHMIDT
In 2015, Michael Schmidt decided to found a new shipyard after an already intense career in the yachting industry. He wanted to build sailing yachts, drawing on experience and his heart – without restrictions from marketing ideas and specifications.
His vision was to produce yachts between 60 and 100 feet in length, because in this category the owners and clients speak directly to the shipyard and already have a vision of how their next yacht should look and be equipped. When building the shipyard, Schmidt was also fascinated by digitalisation, so that even in the start-up phase, he gave a lot of thought to what would have to change when building yachts in a digitised world. Michael Schmidt is constantly expanding the strategy of YYachts and works with highly specialised teams on disruptive processes.
Michael decided to establish YYachts to make available to people his unique sailing proposition and his “concept of freedom”, clearing the boat from all the unnecessary riggings, ropes and over-structures to have a clear and minimalist deck. In such a way the owner can taste the design, the simplicity and the performance of the boat.
“Sailing is fun and it’s made possible by a simple boat that has been reduced to the bare essentials without sacrificing comfort. A YYacht has to run at a reasonable speed for us even in the lightest wind without having to start the engine. Once you have experienced this, you do not want to sail on any other ship,” says Michael.
With Lorenzo Argento of Brenta Design and Sir David Chipperfield, he found sailors with the same passion; Argento for the construction and Chipperfield for interior and design. 2014 was the birth of YYachts with the project of Cool Breeze.
Lightweight yachts reduce the operating forces and manage with smaller engines. If required, hybrid drives or energy recovery systems are installed that reduce primary energy demand. Responsiveness is as important to YYachts as the construction of the yacht itself.
YYACHTS AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR PETER HRONES
Peter Hrones, Eyachts MD has been sailing for 45 years and selling yachts for 30+ years.
Peter met Michael in the late 90s. “He always had a great vision for what he wanted to produce, being a great sailor himself, he’s been able to create a niche that possibly wasn’t even there before. The thing I learnt most from Michael was keeping the construction, the build and the sailing simple,” said Peter.
In Peter’s eyes, when building boats over 70ft YYachts is remarkable for keeping the weight down in order to keep them sailing fast. For example, the Y7 is under 30 tonnes where competitors are 40-60 tonnes or even more. This combined with the Y7‘s 300 sqm of sail area is what makes these yachts so unbelievable and gives it the edge to be able to sail in light wind.
All the designers involved are fantastic. What sets the range apart is the interior design which is minimalistic and detail-oriented, winning the Wallpaper Design Award 2020. Above deck, the layout is clean, flows easily and it’s a boat that’s easy to sail 1 or 2 up.
Peter explains, “Simplicity is the keyword here, we only take on brands without unnecessary gadgets and moving parts that may have issues. We want our customers to be out enjoying the world, winning regattas and loving their boat and not having warranty issues. This is one of the other reasons we have taken on YYachts.”
Eyachts entire team comes from a sailing background.
To find out more about the YYachts go to www.eyachts.com.au or contact boats@eyachts.com.au
Published in print October-December 2022
