Yacht Walkthrough: 133′ Conrad 2018 [Superyacht Highlight]

Yacht broker Alex Clarke gives an inside look of VIATORIS, winner of a 2019 World Superyacht Award.

Every year industry leaders gather for the World Superyacht Awards, put on by Boat International Media to celebrate the best of the best, with only a select few being nominated for each category. Today in Sibenik, Croatia, we’re going to showcase to you the 2018 40-meter Conrad VIATORIS, winner of this year’s World Superyacht Awards and what I would consider the most competitive segment of the market – the 30-47.9 meter 300-499 gross ton full displacement category. Two industry leaders joined Conrad shipyard in creating this masterpiece. Dianna Yacht Design for engineering, and exterior lines by Raymond Langton only add to her pedigree.

Some of the highlights found on board that helped solidify VIATORIS win this prominent award would be craftsmanship, engineering and the spirit of the vessel. Regarding craftsmanship, I’m more specifically referring to the carpentry, which you can see with the joinery, central staircase and the little details like the reoccurring patterns found throughout the decor. The high level of engineering which is apparent not just in the technical spaces, but also with the four balconies on the master cabin and main salon. The third element, which is most important to me, is the spirit of the vessel. The owner and the builder had a very particular vision which makes it so much more than just another production boat and rather a “life project,” as the owner would say. It’s that attention to detail that helps invoke the spirit of VIATORIS, which in definition means to be traveling towards fulfillment, or on a journey that’s not yet been completed.

I feel VIATORIS is a perfect combination of modern-day amenities meets old-world charm. It’s the combination of different stones, the marble, the onyx paired with four different woods – oak, walnut, zebrano, macassar ebony, that carry through the interior and how all those intricate details are perfectly blended together in harmony. There’s subtle nuances of sophistication that you can find everywhere.

On the exterior, if you look closely, it’s found in the details of the stainless steel railings. The radial staircase leading up to the sundeck, which alone took three months to complete. It’s the standalone custom furniture all made in-house paired with the rich silk and suede fabrics. Touching on that old-world charm, it’s very fitting as we cruise past the UNESCO World Heritage site, the 16th century hidden fortress of St. Nicholas, found at the entrance of St. Anthony channel and once the mighty protector of Sibenik. To quote Boat International, the VIATORIS’ interior layout was praised for its ideal distribution of the yacht’s volume between the guests, crew, public, and technical spaces. We’re going to take this one step further and show you exactly why each space is laid out so well.

We’re going to start today’s walkthrough on the sundeck, starting all the way aft you have a lounge area for sun chairs. But with a removable davit also in this location, it doubles as tender storage for your Williams 385 jet tender that’s kept on the upper deck during long passages. Another option: you could also add two jet skis to the space.

Forward to port is your gymnasium, and to starboard your sauna, both spaces enclosed in glass. Centerline forward is your jacuzzi which is surrounded by sunpads. Continuing down on a custom staircase, we reach the bridge deck, which is what I would consider the most flexible and relaxing space on board. The sky lounge and exterior decks are combined into one large space, while floor-to-ceiling glass doors are slid away to create one open floor plan. The most important feature here is the main dining area found on board, which has a high-low table that expands to seat up to 12 guests with plenty of counter space for family-style service. Like on most tri-decks, the sky lounge is typically your most popular gathering place on board and this one doesn’t disappoint. Not only is there a custom record player on board so the owner can play his vinyl collection, but there’s also a hidden dumbwaiter located at the interior bar allowing for proper silver service.

Moving forward, you enter the upper foyer that has the first of two dayheads. Moving forward we enter the very well laid out wheelhouse with redundancy found throughout. From the two captain’s chairs, two desks (one for the officer and captain) and five flat panel monitors. The outboard two are radars, inboard of that you have your duel chart plotters and centerline is your shipboard monitoring system. Below that you have your standard throttles, bow and stern thruster controls, FLIR and a combination of Simrad, Furuno and Sailor components.

Just outside of your watertight doors that lead into your wheelhouse, to port and starboard, are your wing stations. Leading towards the bow from the wheelhouse you have your Portuguese flybridge, complete with sitting area for tables and the largest sunpads found on board. All the way forward at the bow area is a davit, your Williams 385 jet tender that doubles as the rescue tender as required by class.

Let’s head down to the transom where you have your garage and beach club areas. The transom door folds down revealing a large bathing platform and garage, all of which has teak decking. A six meter Castoldi tender and wave radar, wake edition take up the majority of this space, yet there remains plenty of room to store watersports toys like paddle boards, seabobs, and inflatable slides.

Technical spaces are located just outboard of the main garage. To port you have your dive compressor and storage for scuba tanks and gear. And to starboard you have your Alfa Laval and Glendinning. Moving forward of the garage you enter the engine room. Centerline you have a workshop for the engineer, complete with bench and machine shop. Outboard of your main engines are your generators and other major machinery like air conditioning chillers and shore power converters. VIATORIS has fuel efficient caterpillar C18 engines that give her a top speed of 13 knots and a massive range of over 10,000 nautical miles at an economical speed of 8-10 knots. For example, at 8 knots the engines are operating at only 15% load and burning a total of 50 liters between our main engines and generators. That converts to about 12-gallons an hour. For example, today we were under way for 10 hours, operating both at fuel efficient and maximum speeds, and over those 10 hours we burned a total of 125 gallons of fuel – extremely low. Zero speed stabilizers assure guests complete comfort when underway.

Starting all the way aft in the main deck you have the largest sitting area on board where up to 10-12 guests can comfortably gather. Moving into the main salon you pass through a small foyer before entering the sitting area. Here you have the two largest balconies found on board that allow a great cross breeze while on the water or even at the dock. Just forward of the space is your formal dining, highlighted by a custom Italian chandelier. A cool feature found in the aft section of the main salon is a pop-up TV that both faces forward and aft.

Moving forward to starboard, you have your main guest foyer and central staircase highlighted by another spectacular custom Italian chandelier. The foyer also gives you direct access to a custom wine cooler and dayhead.

Inboard of the foyer, you have a centerline staircase that leads down to the crew mess, laundry area, and crew accommodations. Passing the crew staircase, you enter a substantial galley that has plenty of counter space, large windows, and commercial grade appliances. A continuation of the galley is the stewardess prep station that has its own sink, refrigeration and access to the dumbwaiter. A simple foot switch gives the stewardesses and chef direct access to the formal dining area.

The entire forward section of the main deck is dedicated to the owner suite which is highlighted by a centerline king berth. By far one of my favorite features on board are the balconies, found aport and starboard on the master. Just like in the main salon this allows for a great cross breeze and natural airflow. Forward, you have his and hers bath with centerline rain shower. Aft of the bed is a walk-in wardrobe with vanity. As we leave this space we pass the owner’s office located to starboard.

Let’s continue down into the guest accommodations. The beauty of this space is in its flexibility. Let’s start aft. Currently the guest accommodations are configured as two full beam VIP suites. Each suite features a sleeping accommodation and separate lounge area. Hidden soundproof partitions can be slid into place, thus breaking down the VIPs into four smaller guest cabins. Connecting all four guest cabins is the lower foyer. It’s fitting that we end with the staircase, which I feel is truly a piece of art, as seen with the craftsmanship and attention to detail with the carpentry. The central staircase is the heart of VIATORIS and the crowning jewel is the steel blue metallic hull that accents the superstructure and almost carries the color of the ocean up from the waterline. Raymond Lankton Design did an exceptional job with her profile lines with subtle details on her superstructure that create an elegant, timeless design.

For many owning a yacht is the culmination of their life’s achievements and VIATORIS is exactly that. On behalf of Denison Yachting and myself, Alex Clarke, thank you for joining us on board VIATORIS, here in Sibenik, Croatia. If you’d like additional information, we’d arrange a private showing on board during this year’s Monaco Yacht show. Feel free to contact me at any time.