For those who are fans of the America’s Cup, the recent revitalization of J-Class yachts—boats that are built to be both luxurious and high-performing—is certainly something to be excited about. Leading the way in this revitalization is Vitters’ beautiful rendition Svea.
Svea is a ship that, according to Vitters, has been over 80 years in the making. The designs for the ship were first produced in the 1930s by the legenardy Swedish designer Tore Holm, and though these designs seemed to have been lost for decades, their recent discovery presented ship builders with the unique opportunity to blend the best of the old with the best of the new.
There are a variety of different things that seem to place Svea in a class of her own. Not only is she able to combine time-tested aesthetics with modern technology, but she is also the longest J-Class boat to ever make it to open waters. Though, at 43.6 meters long, she may be a bit larger than some of her competitors, the designers exerted a tremendous amount of effort in order to assure that she will still be able to move as swiftly as anyone else.
An epic design process
When yacht designer John Lammerts Van Bueren first discovered Tore Holm’s old designs for his 1930s ‘super J’ model, he knew that these designs were something he was going to have to put to good use. Stumbling upon plans such as these was something that was clearly a rare opportunity that he needed to make the most of.
After teaming up with Andre Hoek, one of the most widely praised yacht designers in the entire world, the process of designing the Svea was officially underway. Designing a super J yacht is something that requires a tremendous amount of precision, skill, and attention to detail—because the ship is distinctively larger than others in its class, the designers had to make sure to balance all of the benefits of its size (such as speed and power) while making sure that the yacht was something that could still move with agility and finesse.
