On board the new YYachts flagship Bella

She’s certainly right about that, but the boatbuilder Michael Schmidt is himself a formidable figure in the yachting industry, and his uncompromising views have also shaped the Y9. Bella is a larger incarnation of the 21-metre yacht that Schmidt built himself for a round- the-world cruise, before discovering that he wasn’t that interested in what the world had to offer. And in that sense, the finished result is the distillation of his years of experience building sailing machines.

“I thought we needed to simplify the design. Otherwise it’s like an iPhone where I cannot use all the functions”

The basic idea was that the boat should be exhilarating to sail, but not complex; capable of fast passage times but safe; and, above all, exceedingly comfortable. And all that had to fit within a minimalist design. “When I started to build a new boat, I thought we needed to simplify the design,” says Schmidt. “Otherwise, it is like an iPhone where I cannot use all the functions. I think sailing should be reduced to what you want to do.”

Thus, the decks are flush and clear of obstacles. Sail controls are fully push-button, with a self tacking jib and a boom-furled mainsail. The Y9 really can be sailed single-handedly, although the boat is designed with a crew of three to four in mind. Even close-quarters manoeuvring has been debarbed, with the inclusion of a powerful bow thruster.

Designer Bill Tripp was enlisted to materialise this vision into the physical lines of the hull. “She’s similar to a [30-metre] in speed, interior and her long, clean look. Naval architecture is all about arranging volume for power and speed at sea,” he says. “In making the shape out of a very long waterline, wide beam and high righting moment, we simultaneously created a fast and powerful boat that gives room for an expansive interior.”

“It’s a different world. You feel like you’re in a luxury hotel, like you’ve come to a place you really want to stay”

Just as important as the lines themselves is the way that the hull is actually built, and here YYachts spares no expense. Prepreg carbon fibre is laminated around Corecell M-foam and post cured for optimum stiffness and strength with minimum weight. The same is true of the deck and bulkheads. Allied to that is a more than capable sloop rig, with a high-modulus carbon mast and V boom by Axxon. There is some choice around the keel, which comes as a standard 4.7-metre-deep fixed unit, a shallower 4.1-metre version or a 3.2 to 4.8-metre telescopic construction for switching between accessing shallow waters and optimising performance.

“A lighter boat makes the boat much easier to use,” explains Tripp. “We start a virtuous spiral where we’re able to have a little bit smaller rig, lighter engine, less fuel, and we evolve the boat into something that’s easier to use and less complicated.”

“The warm wooden panelled walls and curved interior elements seem to stretch the space to make the rooms appear more spacious,” says Norm’s Goldstein. “Finally, detailing the functionalities like sliding doors and built-in storage is a crucial part of our design, and in this case makes them blend in with the architectural framework of the boat, leaving no disruptive elements for this small space.”

Guest cabins are styled the same way, and are the subject of lots of flexible thinking from YYachts. One standard configuration, as seen on Bella, puts the owner’s cabin at the bow, with a queen-sized bed, its own sofa corner, twin wardrobes and a bathroom forward. Then there’s a twin guest cabin forward and a double aft. But an owner could alternatively take over the whole aft section of the boat, with walk-in wardrobes, a bigger bed and the full beam of the boat. Or, with smaller dimensions, four guest cabins are also possible.

And that is really the thing about this boat. The model may have a name and a carefully designed hull, but beyond that she is a blank canvas for a would-be owner. There’s already a raised- pilothouse model, and a fully custom version with styling from Andrew Winch. Two more of these yachts are in build, and each one will be different, tailor-made. It will be exactly the space that the owner wants it to be.

Or, as Bill Tripp commented when he first saw Bella’s interior: “It’s a completely different world - you feel like you’re in a luxury hotel, like you’ve come to a place you really want to stay.”

First published in the September 2023 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.