They don't come around often, these spring days when the Greifswald Bodden lies there as if cast in lead. A high tide stretches across the Pomeranian coast, making the stars twinkle at night and the hoar frost on deck in the morning. The end of March, when the new Y7 is ready to sail for the first time at the pier on the River Ryck, which connects Greifswald directly to the Baltic Sea, is such a day.
Michael Schmidt, the shipyard founder who made HanseYachts big here 30 years earlier, wants to experience his latest and most important model on the water. The engineers from Judel/Vrolijk & Co, working for YYachts for the first time, have travelled from Bremerhaven especially to gain sailing impressions of the impressive construction. But when the 22-metre yacht sets off from the pier under engine, barely audible, there is still no breeze.
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Further out, after all, the anemometer at the top of the almost 35 metre high carbon fibre mast turns lazily. Up there, the wind is blowing at four to five knots, sometimes briefly at seven to eight knots at its peak. However, the light breeze does not reach the surface of the water. Any conventional cruising boat would become a drift buoy in these pressures. These are also challenging conditions for the Y7.
Lightweight construction meets loft ambience
The 72-foot luxury yacht is built entirely from carbon sandwich and is lighter than most of its competitors. Her backstayless rig, braced by extremely wide, highly swept spreaders, allows for a squarehead mainsail with a wide top and 180 square metres of surface area - more than a volleyball court. In the first test, the boat with Code Zero brings a total of 500 square metres of deep black Technora membrane to the wind. However, the equivalent of a loft-style flat with four bedrooms, just as many bathrooms, kitchen, living room, dining room and boat office also moves through the water.
In fact, the crew's expectations are, shall we say, cautiously restrained. But as soon as the sails are trimmed flat, the numbers on the log on the mast display tick upwards until they are close to those of the wind sensor: 5.0 knots ... 5.8 ... 6.4 ... 7.0 ... 6.7. It seems like a quiet miracle in the cool, otherwise almost motionless weather.
Matthias Bröker from Judel/Vrolijk & Co, who was instrumental in designing the Y7, is still marvelling at the moment weeks later: "The way she created her own wind in the oil-slick water was surreal," enthuses the designer.
Performance meets timeless elegance in the Y7
She was designed to race the wind and outpace other yachts. Easily retrievable performance is one of, if not the core of the YYachts brand. The boats are also characterised by their own aesthetics. The sheer hull lines and the flat, vertical cabin superstructure characterise the appearance. Michael Schmidt speaks of "timeless elegance", which sums it up well. Even ten years after the shipyard was founded, the first designs still look fresh and unmistakable today.
The busy entrepreneur built the very first boat, the Y8 "Cool Breeze", for himself in 2015 because he couldn't find what he was looking for on the market. "Too heavy, too overloaded, too conservative, too complicated", he found the models from the established competition. "There was no spark for me." He wanted a yacht that he could operate alone and that would start early. "A boat that you can feel."
From the series market to the luxury league
It was to be his retirement project after 20 founding years at HanseYachts, during which he had developed the brand into the third-largest shipyard in the world and successfully floated it on the stock market. Those who know him, however, already suspected at the time that it was unlikely to remain at number one. "Cool Breeze" was more of a bridge that led him from the price-sensitive series boat market directly into the luxury segment, just as an unimagined boom began there that has hardly been broken to this day.
Carbon fibre construction has been one of the keys to YYachts' success right from the start. The higher strength and lower weight enable good sailing performance without owners having to accept any loss of comfort. On the contrary, the loads on sheets and halyards are lower and components such as the mast, boom, sails and winches can be dimensioned lighter - which in turn reduces the displacement. A negative spiral with a highly positive effect, especially as it ultimately also helps to keep the price down.
The first Y7 was launched in 2018, a design by American superyacht designer Bill Tripp. It became the shipyard's flagship: both a style icon and a successful model. No other boat of this size and design met with such high demand; the shipyard sold a total of 25 units.
New edition of an icon
Judel/Vrolijk designer Jan Kuhnert compares designing her successor to the task of "developing the next model generation of the Porsche 911" - a balancing act between the sensitive preservation of heritage on the one hand and resolute modernisation on the other.
The engineers, who were also responsible for the entire structural calculation, have mastered this difficult task remarkably well. From all perspectives, the new Y7 looks tauter, more elongated and more exciting.
The slightly negative deck leap makes her look ready to jump in the foredeck and also lowers the gennaker and code zero attachment point. The transom is wider but much flatter, which gives the boat a distinctive lightness from aft.
The significantly higher rigidity is not visible, but it is very noticeable. Matthias Bröker puts the increase at 30 per cent. This is due to greater dimensional stability and a lower centre of gravity - measures that move the reefing limit upwards and enable more upright, efficient sailing in moderate conditions. The ratio of righting moment to heeling moment has improved by as much as 25 per cent.
Squaring space and performance
The engineers from Bremerhaven optimised a total of eleven parameters relevant to the sailing performance in dozens of iterations until they determined the final shape of the Y7 together with the shipyard's development team. "As designers, we were challenged to create a lot more volume below deck, but at least not to lose any performance when sailing, and at best to gain a little," says Bröker.
The fact that this squaring of the circle was successful was not only proven by the first trial run on the Greifswalder Bodden. The potential was demonstrated even more impressively during the transfer from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, where the boat celebrated its world première at the Palma Boat Show at the beginning of May.
Klaus Kurzweg, the skipper, who has logged around 50,000 nautical miles on various predecessor Y7s since 2019, surfed the English Channel in 25 to 28 knots of wind from diagonally astern with only a self-tacking jib and single reefed main "for three or four hours non-stop, even though we had few waves". Top speed: 20.7 knots through the water, averaging around 17 knots. "She ran like on rails." When he moored in the Balearic Islands, he said: "I was in love with the old Y7 and sceptical as to whether the new one could match it. But it really does have a lot more power."
Only the tight steering spoilt the sailing fun somewhat. The twin rudder system also worked without load at the pier with noticeable initial resistance. The shipyard has already modified the push-rod steering system in the meantime.
Grown habitat on board the Y7
The Y7 has also gained an enormous amount of space both on and below deck - far more than the 30 centimetre increase in width would suggest. The increase in space is not only due to the more compact hull shape, but also thanks to the more consistent utilisation of the volume, which is more in the region of 20 percent.
This can be experienced in the saloon, which in the standard layout has a U-shaped galley to starboard in front of the main bulkhead and a kind of lounge to port, which can also be converted into an office or a separate guest cabin. Those who do not choose this option retain the open character of the saloon, which then looks as spacious as on an 80-foot yacht.
The owner's cabin, which is at the front in all layout variants, is similarly spacious. It has a slightly off-centre double berth that is easily accessible from three sides. A walk-in wardrobe can be added on request. The optional VIP guest cabin to starboard aft is also new. However, it somewhat restricts the crew quarters, which then have to make do without their own mess room.
Configurable luxury platform with superyacht details
Owners can choose from three basic layouts, which allow a further five variations. All of this is available in four different styles, from dark and dignified (the shipyard calls it Baltic) to fresh and light (Glacier, as on build number one). From these alone, almost three dozen different combinations can be configured, making the boat extremely customisable: for operation with a professional crew living on board permanently, for example, but also for an owner couple with family who only occasionally bring a paid boatman on board to help. The crew can access the deck via their own companionway. This is located in front of the mainsheet block and is so seamlessly integrated into the aft end of the cockpit that it remains almost invisible - a detail that is otherwise only found on superyachts. The carefully insulated engine compartment can also be accessed via this. There is also access from the front via the central technical tunnel, which conceals the washing machine and large parts of the electrical system.
This is made possible by the companionway from the cockpit to the saloon, which is offset to port and offers further advantages. The guest cockpit remains unaffected by the walkways - a common design in the luxury segment today. The steering pedestals, electric winches, halyard stoppers and line boxes are located aft so that the deck area is clearly segmented. Another good thing is that if you want to actively sail and trim the Y7, you don't have to send anyone to the running deck to leeward, as the winches are positioned on raised platforms further amidships than on the predecessor, where you can fetch and haul more safely.
While building number one after the fair in Palma is already sailing in owner's hands, the two will soon be launched in Greifswald. And orders have already been placed for three more yachts. Ready to sail, they generally cost between 3.2 and 3.6 million euros net. Everything points to the Y7 continuing its dynamic success story. It seems that YYachts has given itself its first present for its 10th anniversary. And the next one will follow in September with the new Y6.
Technical data of the Y7
- Designer: Judel/Vrolijk & Co
- Interior design & styling: YYachts Design Team & David Thulstrup
- Torso length: 21,99 m
- Total length: 23,80 m
- Waterline length: 20,55 m
- Width: 6,10 m
- Draught/alt: 3,50/2,85 m
- Weight: 31,8 t
- Ballast/proportion: 10,7 t/34 %
- Mainsail: 180 m²
- Self-tacking jib: 126 m²
- Genoa (105 %): 147 m²
- Code Zero/Gennaker: 320/500 m²
- Motor: Yanmar 4LV SD15 Saildrive150 hp/110 kW
- Fuel tank: 850 l
- Fresh water tank: 850 l
- Sail carrying capacity (with SW jib): 5,5
Jochen Rieker
Herausgeber YACHT
