Exploring the options

“Wherever we want to go, we go,” states Captain Jack Sparrow in the first of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. “That’s what a ship is, you know. It’s not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails. That’s what a ship needs. But what a ship really is … is freedom.” It is such a perfect epithet for the idea of yachting that it bears repeating, especially in this moment when time with family and friends is seen as ever more precious, and when the desire for experiences is driving a new generation of superyacht owners and charterers to ever more adventurous corners of the earth.

Of course, to get to those ever more adventurous corners you need a yacht capable of taking you there. Fortunately, even if you are new to yachting and don’t know where to start, there are designers and naval architects who can help with the keel and hull and deck and sails part, leaving you free to focus on the going wherever you want to go part. Moreover, while it seems intuitive to assume that larger is always better when it comes to creating a vessel capable of taking you anywhere, that isn’t necessarily the case. Indeed, with the right design brief and the right mindset, even a pocket superyacht can give you many adventures of a lifetime.

Someone who knows this better than most is Sergio Cutulo, Founder and Principal of naval architecture practice Hydro Tec. Cutolo first started developing pocket explorer yachts back in the early 2000s, well before the current trend for go-anywhere cruisers came to the fore. “I was introduced to a client in the early 2000s who was a sailor and who wrote a lot of books about adventures at sea,” Cutolo begins. “He was one of the first people to dive on the wreck of the Italian liner SS Andrea Doria which lies at 74 metres depth in front of New York. He wanted to go there on his own boat on the 50th anniversary of that first dive, and his brief was for a boat with high volume capable of sailing in any sea conditions, and with the cabins floating on a sea of fuel because he wanted long range.”

The result – built by Italian shipyard Cantieri di Pisa as the 25.5-metre Naumachos 82 – was exactly what we today would consider a pocket explorer, right down to the rugged good looks. The yard built five of them before succumbing to insolvency thanks to issues in other areas of its business, but it was not the end of the story for Cutolo. The person who introduced him to the explorer client was a broker called Vasco Buonpensiere, who went on to found the Cantiere delle Marche shipyard in Italy in 2010 with Ennio Cecchini. Cutolo was asked to design what would become the Darwin series of pocket explorer yachts for new yard.

While those first yachts were very much featured the rugged, almost workboat-like styling, the modern explorer doesn’t need to shout its intent. “Exploring is all about the contents and not the shape of the vessel,” says Buonpensiere. “It’s about the way it’s conceived, built and engineered. When we started the shipyard we really had something very clear in mind. It was all about creating something that could go to sea, rather than just being a house on the sea.”

That approach highlights that there isn’t really a lower size limit to an explorer, because while everything comes with compromises, it can still be very purposeful. Yacht builders such as Fleming know this and in fact have based their entire raison d’être on creating yachts that are not only designed for purpose – in spite of being 26 metres or less in length – but are frequently seen where few dare to tread. Yard founder Tony Fleming’s yacht Venture II  has cruised tens of thousands of miles, including to such remote places as the Hubbard glacier in Alaska. Other Fleming owners have taken their yachts warmer adventures through the tropics or the Great Barrier Reef, for example.

What’s more, many of the most exciting off-piste destinations are a lot closer than most people think, further bringing them within reach of sturdy pocket cruisers. “Some of the most ‘expedition’ places are right under your nose,” confirms Rob McCallum, founder of EYOS Expeditions. “For instance, for the UK and Europe, no one really goes coastal cruising in Norway, which is unbelievably good. But then you push up to Bear Island and Svalbard, which is the polar bear capital of the world – and it’s only three days from Europe.” It’s the same, he says, for those in the southern hemisphere too. “The braver Australians might think about Papua New Guinea,” he says. “Most of them never even consider the Solomons or Vanuatu, or any of those tens of thousands of islands that are immediately to the north.”

For McCallum, too, the choice of boat or its design comes down to defining your purpose – where you want to go, what do you want to do when you get there, what sort of activities will you be undertaking, whether you have kids, whether you or your partner get seasick – because all these elements can be considered and designed for. “Talk about you and what you want to achieve,” McCallum offers, “and then you work out what tool you need for the job. Have a very honest conversation with yourself – is it just for you, for a few giggles before retirement or is it going to be something you pass on to your kids?”

It is also worth remembering that just because a yacht is designed rugged for a purpose or to take you to more extreme destinations, that doesn’t mean hardship or lack of comfort. “It’s not about surviving in the wilderness,” McCallum smiles. “This is superyachting! This is about taking the world’s finest yachts to these super-remote places, and doing it really well. If you want to pursue your dream of going to these pristine and beautiful places and explore, you don’t have to give up any of the comforts of home – you’ll still be on your yacht.” All it takes is a bit of imagination, and a bit of advice from those who can help you translate whatever you can imagine into reality.