Aquarius wins Best Naval Architecture for sailing yachts

Royal Huisman announced that the 65-metre performance ketch Aquarius won Best Naval Architecture for sailing yachts at the BOAT Design & Innovation Awards.

The performance ketch Aquarius wins the “Best naval architecture – sailing yachts” award at the BOAT Design & Innovation Awards in Kitzbühel, Austria. Warmest congratulations to the owners, architects, and designers. In addition, there is obviously excitement at the engineering and build team at Royal Huisman, who turned the design into reality.

There is no finer complement to a team than when yacht owners ask for a new vessel just like the last one, only bigger and more powerful performance. This is precisely the story behind the new Aquarius. She stands out with a design brief that blends timeless modern-classic elegance with genuinely thrilling performance.

On first glance, it is hard to tell their previous Aquarius, now Apsara, and new 65m / 212ft Aquarius apart: the 56m / 186ft version launched in 2018 and the new replacement look identical from a distance — by request. As their family grew and longer voyages beckoned, the owners reassembled the original team — Royal Huisman, owners’ project manager Godfrey Cray, Dykstra Naval Architects and interior designer Mark Whiteley — with one goal: achieving perfection.

The result is a performance ketch that is unmistakably Aquarius, yet decisively advanced. Her carbon rig and state-of-the-art sail-handling systems by Rondal deliver thrilling power with effortless handling — a yacht conceived to be sailed, and enjoyed. With a nine-metre increase in overall length, and more hull depth and beam, the new Aquarius has 50% more volume than her predecessor — scaling up comfort, social spaces and onboard capability without compromising the spirit that made the original “close to perfect.”

Read the original Royal Huisman release.