Children jump across the teak decks, visitors populate the sun deck on folding loungers and listen to a Mediterranean sound journey via Bluetooth headphones. In the 16-metre-long cinema "tunnel" of the salon, museum guests immerse themselves in an immersive experience and gaze at changing works of art from the Louvre. On "Artexplorer", this is the owner's dream come true. Logically, the altruistic use also eliminates the confusion surrounding the identity of the owner.
Frédéric Jousset is delighted when up to 2,000 people a day walk along the gangway of his yacht and turn it into a public space. They don't pay admission, they just have to register via a website. During the Art Explora Festival, the world's largest aluminium sailing cat, at 47 metres, becomes an exhibition space and the quayside a stage for performances and workshops. The content is rooted in the heritage and themes of the respective country. So far, the festival has been held in Valletta, Venice and Marseille. The result in Malta: ten days of festival, twelve workshops for children, 55 events, 95 artists and 21,000 visitors. The "Present" exhibition in collaboration with the Louvre, which focuses on female personalities from Mediterranean civilisations, was on board. A two-part experience with a film shown on the aft deck and an immersive experience in the main gallery.
Also interesting:
"This stopover in Malta was an important moment in the history of the Art Explora Festival, and its success sets the tone for the rest of the exhibition tour. It is the beginning of a promising three-year tour that will allow the Art Explora Foundation to continue its mission: To share art with as many people as possible."
Turning away from business and towards art
In the early noughties, Jousset co-founded Webhelp, a company that offers business-to-business services, including call centre and helpdesk solutions. The Parisian came to sailing via mountaineering. When he conquered Mount Everest in spring 2019, he received an email from a potential TF35 team. The foil cat racing team was looking for an investor and Jousset jumped on board. What's more, the already adventurous entrepreneur commissioned "Artexplorer" from The Italian Sea Group and resigned from his operational activities at Webhelp.
In the same year, Jousset, whose mother was a curator in the design department of the Centre Pompidou, set up Art Explora with four million euros in start-up capital. He pays around seven million euros into the foundation every year. At the age of 35, he donated one million euros to the Louvre. In 2020, he founded a 119 million dollar (100 million euro) impact investment fund for art and culture called ArtNova, whose profits contribute to supporting Art Explora. "Boarding a yacht is an experience in itself, and it becomes even more special when visitors discover unique cultural and artistic offerings on board and on the quayside," says Foundation President Frédéric Jousset. He brings art to the people and tries to use the fascination of a yacht to attract those who have reservations about museums.
"We envisioned this museum on the water as a fully-fledged work of art," says Axel de Beaufort, who developed the design concept both inside and out. At the stern, visitors can expect glossy varnished mahogany as an obvious reminiscence of nautical traditions. The lines of the tropical wood can be seen on the superstructure, the director's chairs and the external staircase. Looking at the gangway, the modern side comes to mind: a convex window strip that curves in the style of "Eco" (now "Enigma") and stretches over 20 metres. The panes were calculated and supplied by the structural glass specialists at Eckersley O'Callaghan, who also turned Steve Jobs' "Venus" into a floating glass palace. The futuristically shaped deckhouse appears to open out at the front like the mouth of a manta ray. Smooth surfaces, few embellishments, de Beaufort favours minimalism. The interplay of old and new continues on the spear-shaped hulls. Classic portholes are followed by sharply cut wave piercer bows.
Sailing designer with a construction background
"I channelled my offshore experience into the design. Working closely with my good friend Guillaume Verdier, we designed a boat that seamlessly combines performance and functionality," explains Axel de Beaufort. "Artexplorer" is not the first project he has realised with the star designer. De Beaufort is a passionate sailor, designer and naval architect with his own office in Paris. With his brand Nacira Yachts, Verdier and he realised a 69-foot racer that is a comfortable Imoca 60. Since 2013, the Frenchman has also headed up the Hermès Horizons design studio, which creates special projects such as wooden bicycles, skis and surfboards for the luxury brand.
De Beaufort says of the interior: "The interior design radiates timeless elegance and sophistication and reflects the essence of chic." High-gloss mahogany characterises the rooms, while cream-coloured sofas and textile panels as well as rattan on the walls and in the cupboard doors create ambience. The portholes are closed by round wooden panels. And yet the aim was to integrate a museum, albeit a temporary one. The project team abandoned the original plan to display oil paintings in the saloon due to the difficult salt and air conditions and the high insurance costs.
Instead, the salon was to become the 16 metre long, five metre wide and 2.30 metre high main gallery. Videos were chosen as the medium and projectors were used to create LED walls, which were developed by French system integrators Akumendo and ArScénique. The video wall also had to fill the hollow groove defined by the radius of the superstructure further out. In the end, the LED specialists from Leyard supplied 512 flexible modules on shock absorbers and 352 carbon fibre frames, which can be easily mounted and dismounted using magnets. The result: an immersive space with over 50 million pixels and a distance between the pixel centres (pitch) of just 1.5 millimetres. But that was not enough. As the fans generated additional heat, an additional air conditioning system had to be installed in the centre of the tunnel. De Beaufort took care of the aesthetics.
Up to 200 kilowatts of solar energy per day
He was also the one who suggested a resin floor with a concrete look. This also works well for charter use, which was also the aim of "Artexplorer" owner Frédéric Jousset and which required six guest cabins. Despite the generous saloon dimensions, the 14 metre wide superstructure accommodates three amidships. A VIP cabin is located on the starboard side and a double cabin on the port side of the "tunnel". In front of this, the master suite occupies a good 20 square metres with a clear view and a covered outdoor chaise longue. Three quarters are spread across the starboard hull, which have to make do with an average width of four metres. The main tender, a 6.60 metre rib, is also particularly close to the ship's sides and is accommodated aft on the port side. The engines are located in the long keel, which is not unlike that of J-Class yachts in its sweep and is 3.50 metres deep.
Lithium batteries are also stored below the waterline, which are charged by two generators and solar panels and can keep the hotel running for several hours. The 65 square metre PV panel, which is barely recognisable as such on the deckhouse, generates up to 200 kilowatts of energy per day. To ensure fast progress under sail, Verdier and de Beaufort gave the 47-metre cat a 50-metre-long wing mast, which is positioned far aft - and presses on the spherical mast base with up to 240 tonnes. The limit of what Lorima can achieve with carbon fibre. The mast builders supply the majority of the Imoca fleet and also laminated Beam and Crossbeam. They transported the mast in one piece from Lorient in France to the headquarters of The Italian Sea Group (TISG) in Marina di Carrara in Tuscany.
"Artexplorer" is a stroke of luck for Perini Navi
Originally, "Artexplorer" was to sail under the TISG brand Admiral. However, after the shipyard group bought Perini Navi out of insolvency in 2022, it was clear that Perini's star logo had to be emblazoned on "Artexplorer". Like no other shipyard, Perini Navi grew up with sailing superlatives that combine technicality with drive and a sense of form. Once the 1,215 square metres of sails are unfurled at the touch of a button, the multihull cruises the Mediterranean at twelve knots in 15 knots of true wind, with charter guests or on its way to the next exhibition venue. From spring 2024 to autumn 2026, the Art Explora Festival will make guest appearances in 20 ports in 15 countries around the Mare Nostrum.
"Artexplorer" becomes a museum yacht when technicians set up the video tunnel and the crew stow upholstery and furniture in lorries, close off the fly and trampoline and cover tables, cupboards and floors with tarpaulins. Frédéric Jousset is certain: "Mobility and artistic creation are powerful tools for changing perspectives and sharing images and stories that create different relationships with the world." What's more, the festivals aim to reach all target groups and jointly create a new vision of the Mediterranean. The fact that a futuristic supersailer is playing a key role in the realisation marks a turning point.
Technical data of the "Artexplorer"
- Length over everything: 46,50 m
- Width: 17,30 m
- Depth: 3,50 m
- Gross tonnage: 497 Gross Tons
- Material: Aluminium
- sail area: 1215 square metres
- Mast: Lorima, 50 m
- Motors: 2x CAT C9.3
- Generators: 2 x 118 kW
- Solar system: 200 kWp
- Fuel: 36.000 l
- Water: 10.000 l
- Guests: 12
- Crew: 10
- Construction: Guillaume Verdier, Axel de Beaufort
- Exterior design: Nacira, Axel de Beaufort
- Interior design: Nacira, Axel de Beaufort
- Class: Bureau Veritas
- Shipyard: Perini Navi, 2023
- Charter: Fraser, 240,000 euros p.w.
