On board SES Yachts' 33m Far Niente, designed by Hoek Design

Elliptical sterns were popular from the Age of Sail long into the early 1900s, so you’d be forgiven for assuming that Far Niente is a classic yacht. But this clever stern does something that many classics do not.

“A vertical part of the stern below the bulwark opens up hydraulically, lowering the bulwark as well,” explains designer Andre Hoek, founder of Hoek Design Naval Architects. The opening section unfurls to be almost horizontal with the water’s edge below, and a telescopic passerelle emerges from the structure, making boarding from the dock a breeze.

Far Niente’s owners, however, originally had a classic refit in mind. “The owners had a 110-year-old hull that they bought to revive,” says Elif Yıldırım, managing partner of the Turkish shipyard SES Yachts and daughter of SES founder Sefer Yıldırım. Built for fishing in the North Sea, the 1911 boat was a type of vessel known as a herring lugger.

The owners knew from the outset that they wanted the yacht to be chartered, and it quickly became evident that getting the old hull up to commercial code would prove difficult and quite costly. “It would’ve been more of an investment than it was worth, so we started from zero,” Yıldırım says.

Hoek Design is experienced in creating modern classics. Its portfolio includes 56-metre motor yacht Blue II and many classically inspired sailing yachts.

“Once again, we have combined the timeless and elegant good looks of a classic motor yacht design with a fully optimised, high-tech underwater body shape, using all the modern design programming we now have at our disposal,” says Hoek. His studio was responsible for the exterior and interior design, and the naval architecture of Far Niente, though the owners were heavily involved in the interior styling.

From a design perspective, another advantage of this method of construction is that the structure of the yacht can be made visible inside. The beams that you see running athwartships across the ceilings on board aren’t affectations but are actually part of the yacht’s structure.

Showcasing the beams also allowed Hoek to raise the headroom to a lofty 2.3 metres in the main saloon and 2.25 metres on the lower deck and bridge deck. It’s an asset when you consider the low ceilings of many traditional classic yachts.

While showing me around Far Niente, Hoek points out design solutions that serve both form and function, such as the freeing ports hidden in the bulwarks that help drainage when a lot of water comes on deck and the tall waterfall margins where the deck curves up to meet the deckhouse.

“Normally the seams [between deck and deckhouse] would be lower, but this is much better because the seam between deck and superstructure is in the vertical part of the deckhouse, instead of in the corner between hull and deck,” says Hoek.

“But it takes a lot of wood and labour. This is like traditional boatbuilding. Not many yards do this anymore.” The same could be said of the wide, hefty cap rails, which, gleaming with varnish, conjure up the feeling of being on board a solidly built classic yacht. Other classic cues include the slanted foredeck and the funnel protruding from the bridge deck aft.

Per the owners’ requests, the interior feels decidedly less classic. They opted for a more contemporary style, which sees quarter-sawn grey washed oak used for the cabinetry, while the planked ceilings are painted off white. The floor is also in oak, but in a lighter grey wash than the joinery.

The mix of grey and white gives the interiors a welcome sense of simplicity and calm and puts the modern in modern classic. The owners chose the colour palette as well as all of the materials and furnishings, such as the fabric on the headboard in the master suite that depicts cranes flying skywards.

The yacht’s layout is a departure from your typical classic as well, with a main-deck master forward – a window-filled room that looks out over the foredeck. Cambered like a workboat, the angled foredeck is capable of carrying two seven-metre tenders, launched by a one-tonne crane.

While Far Niente is not a replica, she was certainly inspired by the lines of Dutch herring luggers of the early 1900s

Far Niente’s main saloon is bookended by two seating areas, a small lounge in the foyer with a pair of sofas facing each other, and two larger L-shaped sofas by B&B Italia set at the forward bulkhead, which Hoek says the owners will mainly use to watch movies. At the centre of the open-plan saloon is a long, custom dining table seating 10, topped in a grey marble. A petite and cosy upper-deck saloon rounds out the interior communal living spaces.

Far Niente’s range is 3,750 nautical miles while cruising at 11 knots. Sleipner stabilisers bolster the yacht’s comfort, and bow and stern thrusters aid in manoeuvrability.

“It was very interesting to design a classically styled yacht that technically and material-wise is a very modern yacht,” says Hoek. “She turns heads wherever she goes, and for a yacht this size, she ticks all the boxes.” From stern to smokestack, Far Niente might resemble a classic, but it’s her well-considered modern touches that will make life on board a treat for her owners and charter guests alike.

First published in the May 2025 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.