Royal Falcon One: Inside the spaceship-inspired superyacht listed for sale

When an ambitious owner asked Porsche to build him a spaceship on water the carmaker stepped up to the mark. The result was a 41m cosmic catamaran that must be seen to be believed – and now she’s searching for a new owner.

In the peaceful town of Saltsjöbaden on the outskirts of Stockholm, the Royal Falcon One looks particularly out of place. Small sailing yachts pass through this section of the archipelago, but its residents have never witnessed such an unusual vessel pull into its idle marina. Locals swarmed to social media to warn the world: aliens are coming.

It's true, Royal Falcon One looks like it has been plucked from the cosmos with two hulls, a sweeping superstructure and visor-like windows. But such a reaction won't come as a surprise to its owner whose brief was for a "spaceship on the water". “There are a lot of megayachts in the world but everybody looks the same,” he says. “If you have 20 boats parked in the marina you have to read the name of your boat to find it. I wanted to build something that looks different.” 

Royal Falcon One was to be the first yachting appendage of the Royal Falcon Club that offers exclusive timeshares and private jet solutions to a small but ultra-high-net-worth membership. The endgame was to build an entire fleet of Royal Falcons. And so, inspired by the high-speed catamaran ferries in Australia, the club's owner set about finding a designer who could bring his galactic vision to life.

It was a chance encounter with the chief executive of Studio F. A. Porsche on a flight from Singapore that led the project to the design studio. “I told him I was planning to build a big boat and he said to me, ‘why don't you consider Porsche?’". It would not be the first time the carmaker has ventured into the realm of yachting. In 2017, the studio teamed up with fledgeling shipyard Dynamiq on a 35 metre motor yacht, the GTT115, conceived as the ‘Gran Turismo of the seas’. "We understood each other’s vision of how to create something different and that’s how the whole thing started," the owner explained.

Royal Falcon One might not at first scream Porsche, but on second glance you notice that its curves are not unlike that of a Porsche 911 and the overhang of the upper deck is reminiscent of the rearview of a sports car. It's fast too - powered by a pair of MTU diesel engines and twin waterjets the 41 metre catamaran tops out at a zingy 37 knots.

The team called in Australian catamaran specialists Incat Crowther to consult on the naval architecture and the project spent nearly a decade in development before finally emerging from the Kockums shipyard. Saltsjöbaden was the first stop on the yacht's maiden voyage before heading to the Monaco Yacht Show for her global debut.

Royal Falcon One packs an impressive 492GT into its 41 metre footprint. The main deck – known as the capsule - runs continuously from the saloon through to an observation lounge the resembles an aircraft cockpit. There is no bulkhead to separate the two spaces, instead, a walkway runs from one to the other illuminated by fourteen RGB panels. Guests can wander from the dining table in the main saloon through to the forward lounge for the evening, with seating that hugs the forward starboard curve and a sit-up bar. White leathers, stainless steel and bursts of electric blue feature throughout, courtesy of Dubai-based design studio Greenline.

In the cabins, the beds are raised from the floor and appear to “float” in space. There are five cabins in total comprised of three guest suites positioned on the main deck and a VIP cabin and master suite found above. The master faces aft with its own private deck.

Crew operations are confined to the hulls with four crew cabins, chief engineer’s and chief offi­cer’s cabins, laundry, storerooms and other technical areas. A tender concealed beneath the aft deck drops down from the stern. 

The owner toyed with the idea of having the yacht finished in dark anthracite but thought the colour would camouflage her on the horizon. And Royal Falcon One was not built to blend in.

Royal Falcon One joined the brokerage market in October 2019. “This is not a boat for everybody. This is a boat for somebody who has the courage to look different; who has the boldness to come out of the marina to be looked at it,” the owner says.

Broker Alex G. Clarke at Denison Yachting said “it’s about finding that specific buyer". “I think she'll appeal to a lot of people but there'll be a limited amount of buyers, much less than there would be for a typical 500 GT monohull. You take that combination of Porsche Design, Incat Crowther and its Lloyds classification, and the build quality is right there. Now it's just getting people to appreciate and get on board the boat."

“The power cat is the way of the future,” says Clarke. “We have just so much activity on these bigger cats. And there's not much over 30 metres out there right now - and that's what makes this a special boat.” 

Royal Falcon One is listed for sale with Camper & Nicholsons asking €22,950,000.