Dutch Excellence, Yachting, and the Crossover 27

Holland has an enviable tradition of leadership in the yachting world. Perhaps it is the long maritime tradition combined with the suavity with which some of the Dutch shipyards made the transition from building fishing vessels to building luxury yachts a century ago.

Recently, Royal Huisman (a venerable Dutch firm founded in 1884) has launched one of the largest sailing superyachts in history, 266’ long. Heesen (another Dutch company, and one of the world’s leaders in high end custom-built yachts) sold a hybrid superyacht, the Project Electra, with a distinctive hull enabled by its in-house welding team, a shallow draft, and impressive efficiency.

We’ll focus here on the third of those achievements. Last fall at the Monaco Yacht Show, the Dutch yacht builder, Lynx, promised a line of crossover vessels. This was to be a line that would meld yacht support vessels (the useful boats that shadow the superyachts and accommodate tenders, extra crew, and specialist staff), with the more exciting explorer yachts. 

The Crossover 27

Now Lynx, delivering on that promise, has launched the Crossover 27, with a displacement of 120 tons and a 753 square foot main deck. The company expects to deliver the yacht to a buyer in 2022.

Like a proper support vessel, the Crossover 27 has an aft deck that can carry toys and tenders. Additionally, the yacht will have two cranes. The primary crane on the main deck will have a capacity of 3.6 tons. There will also be a 1-ton secondary crane on the sundeck, allowing for more possibilities. When the toys and tenders have been launched, the deck space can serve as a massive outdoor lounge.

The Crossover 27 also has the technical capacity to allow a crew and guests to spend long periods of time on board. Room accommodations consist of a spacious master suite, two guest cabins, and two crew cabins (for a total crew of four).

Two Cat^®  C12.9 ACERT diesel engines, (each rated at 850hp at 2300 rpm), give her a top speed of 14 knots and a range of 1,350 nautical miles cruising at 12.5 knots.

The Designers

This article opened with a brief discussion of Dutch leadership in the yachting world. Two of the Dutch design firms with whom Lynx has partnered in the creation of the Crossover 27 also warrant mention. 

Bernd Weel Design, a yacht designer headquartered in Bergen, on the North Sea coast of North Holland, has only been around for seven years. It has established a formidable reputation during that period and it works with Lynx often, as for example on Roe Shadow (now in construction) and Wally Shadow (in operation).

Diana Yacht is responsible for the Crossover 27 naval architecture. Diana is another Dutch firm, founded in 1971, that lead the architecture for two superyachts that won World Superyacht Awards in 2019: Brigadoon and Viatoris.