111 Van der Valk Motoryacht [Boat Review + Video]

Take an extensive tour of the 111 Van der Valk Motoryacht [LADY LENE] in Cannes, France with Will Noftsinger.

This article is a transcription of the 111 Van Der Valk video from Denison’s YouTube Channel. Tune in daily to discover the latest yacht video walkthroughs from the world’s largest yacht video collection. Watch the full video below:

I’m Will Noftsinger with Denison Yachting. And today, we’re here in Cannes France at the Cannes Yachting Festival. Right now we’re on board at Van der Valk 34 meter. We’re going to take some time to highlight why Van der Valk is the most customizable yacht in this size range. Van der Valk yachts has been building ships in the Netherlands since the fifties, and they’ve built almost 1,500 boats without compromising the quality or pedigree of the build.

This is by far the best and coolest yacht that you can experience. A little bit more about this boat specifically, LADY LENE is 34 meters with an eight-meter beam. She’s got a 3,000 nautical mile range, and again, was built very purposely for the person who owns the boat. The result of this yacht was a collaboration between Carla Guilhem and Guido de Groot. And as you can see, the lines on the boat are super swooping and very curvy, and the interior of the vessel is very similar. They continued that theme and as we walk around, you’ll see the excellent craftsmanship. Right now, we’re in the main salon of LADY LENE and you can kind of feel this 34 meters. You still get big walk around decks but the space that they were able to accomplish inside is super impressive, and you’ve got almost eight feet ahead room. They have an interior that is super inviting. You get big windows, nice colors, a warm atmosphere for everybody to kind of gather, and then step right outside to the exterior formal dining. Heading up towards the dinette first.

As we walk forward, you’ve got stairs taking us down to the state rooms, an elevator that does all three levels. So when we step forward into this room, you’re invited by a huge view from the exterior. So a dining experience will certainly be one to remember, but it’s very elegant in here. You’ve got incredible attention to detail throughout the entire boat, but you can see it in the fixtures they’ve chosen, and you can feel that space on either side of this table. So rounding out what this build brief was, these guys decided that they were going to put the two wine coolers and have some storage for cutlery and dishes. I want to emphasize most yachts will say, yes, anything is possible and we customize, but nobody really does it to the degree that we’re talking about here.

From here, we’re going to continue that counterclockwise movement into the galley through these double doors. Just one more detail to note. This is a stonewall and it really accents the color theme and feel of this interior. Let’s head in here to the galley and check out what we got in here. And we’ve got all the stuff that you would expect in a gourmet kitchen. Sub-Zero refrigeration here, you’ve got your oven, beautiful countertops. Again, that same warm inviting feels large theme. And you continue to see those high ceilings. Rounding out our clockwise movement through this level, we’ve got our day head here, stairs up to the helm and master state room, which we’ll head to next. This yacht and the brief was very specific and we have a wheelchair accessible vessel. You can see the elevator here just before we head into the master state room. And the primary reason that the master state room is on this level is not just because of the windows, but because of that access.

So as you step in, you’re first going to see the dressing room and this level’s head space for all the walkways was paramount. And to design a yacht like that without sacrificing tons of other space is pretty impressive. Welcome to LADY LENE’s master state room. So there’s a little bit of a growing trend of having a master state room up here where traditionally you would see a salon, you get amazing views, and you get a private terrace, which for these guys was paramount. And again, when you come to Van der Valk, you get what you want. One of the elements that comprises a super well-built high end boat is there attention to sound and how things move. So when you push this button, you hear absolutely nothing. So we’re always looking for that wow factor of what makes something impressive in a yacht. And for this one, it’s this owner’s suite because you get this big private terrace. This is just an incredible space for the owners to enjoy while on board. To further that, we’ve got a blind on either side that will electrically pull out and you can see the curtain that swings around and encapsulates this area.So you can do things like working out or just have it more private. Overhead, you see these little vents. This is actually a heater. So you can take this boat to colder environments up in the Northern Mediterranean in the wintertime. That comes in handy, and you’re going to see that on the aft deck later.

For now, we’re going to go check out the brains of this operation and see the wheelhouse. Let’s head there next. And it’s probably one of the cooler pilot houses that I’ve ever seen with this curved, elegant monitor system. And as you can see, we are really far forward in this pilot house. So from a driving standpoint, captaining standpoint, it’s a nice spot to be because you can see exactly what’s happening in front of you. Not a lot of guesswork. Either side, we’ve got doors that take us out. So you’ve got your wing stations on either side for docking purposes, and again, just a super well done, beautiful pilot house. We’re going to take this port exit here up to the bowl.

We’re up here on the foredeck. This is more the business end of the yacht. As you can see, tons of storage and obviously you’ve got your ground tackle. So two hydraulic wind losses, everything that you would expect a super yacht to have. Nice, clean, easy to get to. Two last things to point out. One is this is an extender, so this tender extends by about an extra meter when you put it in the water. That’s just a cool factor, but lots of folks ask, what does Van der Valk mean and you can see their logo here. So again, pride and attention to detail. And it’s a Falcon and Van der Valk means from the Falcon. So Whim Van der Valk the founder amply named for how strong the boats are and of course, the creator.

So we’re heading back to the aft deck to check out that space and Van der Valk to compensate for the fact that the bridge doesn’t exist, made this expansive, for lack of a better term. The first thing we come to is the outdoor dining. You’ve got seating for all 10 guests to have a formal really nice meal. One of the nice features on this yacht is you’ve got access to the engine room directly here on the aft deck. So when you’re underway, that’s nice from a safety standpoint, you can see as the interior just a beautiful decor, awesome stonework. Something nice Van der Valk does is they use 12-millimeter-thick teak when they lay their decks. Four or five years from now is a big difference in how well those hold up and the longevity that you get. You step back and you’ve got this nice little conversation pit. V-shaped seating facing these free standing chairs. So this is where you hang out the most.

Walking on our way to the final part of this aft deck, which again is nothing short of huge. We’ve got our passerelle, which is from the docks. That’s the first thing you’re greeted by, and it’s super impressive when you just see how beefy that item is. When the passerelle is pulled back, stairs take us down to the aft deck. There’s another boon locker there. Rounding out this aft deck, we’ve got, again, really tall ceilings. And then we’ve got infrared heaters. So this boat in a colder environment can still utilize this space effectively. From here, let’s check out that engine room, show you what’s happening down below decks.

At the foot of the stairs, we have access to the two cabins for crew. This one aft is the first. You can see they’re really large. Got a private on suite, good size hanging locker. The other one was just right when you stepped down the stairs. But there is a third cabin for the captain that’s located up on the pilot house, just behind the bridge where it should be.

We’re gonna head straight ahead into the engine room. Just before we walk into the engine room, you’ve got your laundry center and it’s really important to have two of each because there’s a lot of laundry that gets done, especially at the yachts in charter. Let’s check out this engine room. When we walk in, you probably hear the engine blowers going in the background. That gives us a little air circulation here in the engine room with all the hot equipment because there are things running. This one was equipped with 1,650 horsepower, 12 valve MAN engines. So she achieves the top speed of 18 knots and a pretty impressive economical cruising speed of 14. Couple other things to note. Van der Valk is known for building explorers, so everything’s redundant, and when you need something for an extended cruise, we’ve got a sewage treatment plant and everything on the yacht’s powered by two 55 Kw generators.

From here, we’re gonna head inside cool off a little bit, and check out the guest state rooms, which stay on this level to keep in theme with where we are on vessel. So we’re down here in the guest accommodations for LADY LENE, first step into the bunk room. That’s meant for children or younger guests typically. And then we continue through to see another three state rooms that are all huge. This yacht was built to 269 gross tons for interior volume. It’s almost eight meters, which is 26 feet there about.

And you’re gonna feel the use of that space, especially in these guest state rooms, because there’s three that are absolutely enormous with huge walk-in showers and big heads. So we’re here on the starboard side, checking out the mirror image state room of what we saw over there, and you can feel the space that you can see the exquisite craftsmanship that’s throughout this boat with these curves and just the extra carpentry that went into this yacht. So you’ve got tons of storage here and you’ve got really cool fixtures throughout the boat that, again, just attention to extra detail. And then they lead into enormous heads with rainfall showers. All of the on suites on this yacht are excellent. You’ve got huge windows, so natural light, and by the way, every state room has a huge window, which is really nice.

You’ve got the same decor package. This is the same stonework we saw up in the dinette. And then you’ve got a massive shower, which I think is really cool with the bench style seating and again, the extra attention to detail when you look at the yacht close up. It’s very easy to appreciate how much time and effort went into this. Leaving these forward cabins takes us aft to what’s technically also the master state room. You walk by this nice little nook here for coffee, you’ve got a desk, and again, elevator that goes to all three floors. We’re on the lowest level now. So if someone wanted to make this the master, technically the state room is a little bit larger and you still have absolutely insane views out the windows.

Van der Valk takes a tremendous amount of pride in how quiet they make their yachts. Most decibel readings are gonna be in the thirties. So throughout the yacht, whether it’s underway or on the hook, you’re not gonna be interrupted or have trouble sleeping with sounds from the boat. We’ve got a huge window, the same again, decor package, all the curves. You almost see no sharp ends to anything on this yacht. Little bench style seating, king size berth here, center line that faces forward. And then we’ve got kind of an open feel for the head with the sink being exposed and there’s a couple of doors that lock out the shower and the head itself. Lighting as a design feature is often underestimated and overlooked item.

But as you can see, Van der Valk did a really nice job with Carla and Guido de Groot of incorporating the accent lighting to give you a nice decor package that screams we paid attention to what we were doing. Thanks for joining us aboard this 34-meter Van der Valk, LADY LENE. We’re again here at the Canne Yachting Festival, which is by far my favorite of the yacht shows. You just get an awesome venue. Incredible build selection, some stuff that you never really see when you’re in the United States. So if you have any questions on Van der Valk as their US representative, please contact me anytime or about any other yacht. I’d be glad to help. Again, thanks for joining us today.

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