Sarissa wins “Sailing Yacht of the Year” at the prestigious World Superyacht Awards 2024 in Venice during last weekend’s ceremony. She also became the winner of “Best Sailing Yacht of 40m and above”.
Congratulations to all involved. Cape Horn Engineering proudly assisted international yacht designer Malcolm McKeon, for the CFD design optimisation for ‘Sarissa’ built by Royal Huisman.
Collaboration with Malcolm McKeon Yacht Design
Malcolm McKeon has been a leading designer in the superyacht industry for over 30 years, taking yacht design to a new level of styling, performance and comfort. His portfolio includes more than 200 sailing and motor yachts, 50 of them in excess of 30m in length. Malcolm’s inspirational conceptual work, space planning, exterior styling and construction have reaped multiple international design awards. His green approach to projects, reducing construction and operational costs, is a key consideration for designs of the future.
Cape Horn Engineering’s long-standing collaboration with Malcolm McKeon has provided an unparalleled synergy to the design process of each yacht. Since 2016, we have built up a trusted relationship, collaborating on CFD investigations for many superyachts to ensure the highest degree of performance, comfort, stability and safety.
Malcolm McKeon’s design brief was to develop a performance sloop for experienced owners who were looking for a successor to their previous yacht by the same name. Sarissa had to be fast and fun to sail, and manual steering was a must so the power could be felt when manning the helm.
With a focus on weight savings and corrosion prevention, carbon fibre was used for the superstructure, and many components including the mainsheet arch. A multi-faceted approach to eco-friendly cruising includes wind-driven propulsion, hydro generators, waste heat recovery and wastewater treatment. Most notably, she has an advanced propulsion system, with the first forward-facing retractable electric azipod propulsion for redundancy, efficiency and improved performance under sail.
“Sarissa embodies all that we try to achieve with regard to aesthetic engineering and progressive yacht design. She is a high-performance sailing superyacht of the most incredible stature. The design of Sarissa presented an opportunity to work with experienced, knowledgeable owners who brought incredible passion to the project. Their brave design choices have resulted in a beautiful yacht that is at the pinnacle of performance and luxury.” comments Malcom McKeon.
Sarissa’s square-top mainsail is the largest square-top sail in the world, she has the largest and highest spec 3Di RAW sail ever built by North Sails and it’s the first time this type of carbon sail has been used for in-boom furling. The yacht’s 76-metre-high modulus carbon mast with aero carbon rigging was refined through extensive aerodynamic studies in collaboration with North Sails and Southern Spars. These innovations, along with a lifting keel and a high righting moment, clean lines, holistic design and creative layout made Sarissa a clear choice for Sailing Yacht of the Year.
Zemi – Best Sailing Yacht 30m to 39.9m
Zemi, also designed by Malcolm McKeon and built by Royal Huisman won ‘Best Sailing Yacht 30m to 39.9m’ at the awards, for which our CFD design analysis were used. Zemi’s all-round ability, stunning looks, excellent sailing performance and eco-friendly attributes appealed to the judges. The yacht belongs to experienced owners who were passionate about creating a low-emission yacht and exploring ways of harnessing natural energy.
Zemi features hybrid diesel- electric propulsion, and hydrogenation is achieved via the propeller so the yacht is virtually self-sufficient when sailing at 12 knots, and she has 120 square metres of solar panels.