Stephens Waring Yacht Design, in collaboration with C.W. Hood Yachts and Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding, brings to life this contemporary, one-of-a-kind reinterpretation of the classic Downeast style, a Spirit of Tradition design for weekend cruising and entertaining family and friends.
The lucky few that can embark on the adventure of a custom yacht build usually have specific goals that bring them to our shop. The owners of the Hood 57 are no different. With many well-appointed power-yachts available on today’s market, why go custom with CW Hood Yachts?
The owner worked with C.W. Hood because he had owned smaller Hood-built boats previously and found their capable deep-vee designs perfect for handling the chop off the coastal waters of Massachusetts. Additionally, Chris Hood’s trustworthiness and attention to detail has been confidence-inspiring. With Marblehead as his home port, the owner’s plans called for day sails with family and friends, cocktail cruises and picnics with grandkids. But a boat able to pull trips down the Atlantic coast, too. A larger Hood design, capable of longer range cruising would enable this and more.
A custom built boat gives clients the opportunity to tailor unique details into their project: furniture, joinery, trim details, paint, and textiles. Even the two-stateroom layout in the Hood 57 is rare in a yacht of this size. This arrangement allows each interior space to be expansive and luxurious.
Weekend jaunts to Nantucket or multi-week journeys through the intracoastal channels are now easily within reach. It’s a comfortable boat with well-appointed interior accommodations that would give any party of 4 plenty of space and storage. Yet at top of the priorities, the yacht is easily handled and can be docked with a flick-of-the-wrist, she brings her owner and guests the feeling of luxury car performance with a top speed of 38 knots, all within the comfort of the plush 360˚ views.
As a collector of unique things, the owner’s decision to go the custom route meant that the resulting design would be one-of-a-kind. Many design elements take on unique focus during this process; our expression of the exterior styling and proportion on this 57 are a text-book example, nuance in design, that differentiates the yacht from the archetypal ‘Express Cruiser’ that smatters the market today.
A Unique Collaboration
For a project like this, the demand for expertise and experience spans a spectrum of resources involving three areas: client relations and product definition, exceptional design solutions, and highly choreographed production. Inside this multi-point relationship, Hood functions as point-man, a product developer executing a complex project, or product launch, by defining the product and coordinating highly skilled teams to accomplish fantastic results for the client.
Hood knew that exceptional partners were required by such a collaboration: Hood defines a product idea, informed by his client and with insight to his goals; Hood, then, develops that design with SWYD for our professional knowledge, our resources and strong pedigree; and, lastly, Hood engages the yacht’s construction with Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding, working carefully together, for their expertise and efficiency to meet the goals of this inspiring build.
All projects have a beginning. It was initial conversations between the customer and C.W. Hood Yachts that were aimed to develop the inception of ideas, defining the parameters and setting a tone to the project. C.W. Hood Yachts then became our client, engaging Stephens Waring to articulate these ideas into cohesive architectural solutions. This is how yachts are born. Where we’ve built a reputation for unforgettably elegant and head-turning designs, we’ve also enjoyed a lengthy history innovating the process for building custom-built yachts. For us, the goal with this project was not only to support our client’s aims, but to push these objectives into a ‘next-level’ — a level of design destined with refined style, as well as thoughtful approaches to its construction. The design and process was a natural fit for us: striking stunning lines and unique out-of-box solutions that would inform the heart of the CW Hood 57. A promising collaboration on the run.
Many of our design solutions require a strong team of skilled craftspeople. And most certainly, a design comprised of 3500 labor hours — 86 drawings and 42 CAD models — challenge the best technicians to assemble a state-of-the-art build, like the Hood 57. Known for their master-class level of craftsmanship, the production team at Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding is highly skilled and their involvement meant this collaboration would succeed– Lyman-Morse would execute the build with expertise and efficiency. Using a mix of resources, like their Haas CNC machine and other special tools, LM extended the innovative technology choices beyond the boat and into the actual construction process itself. Our designs often test the boundary for how we think of today’s watercraft and this alliance guaranteed our ability to deliver industry excellence in every detail of the Hood 57.
Here are some of the features that make this yacht truly special:
Exceptional Hull Shape: SWYD carefully crafted a hull shape that helps set this project above others; while the wide chine flats are aimed for running efficiency and tight handling stability, it’s a combination of elegantly flared sections and restrained tumblehome that gives the Hood 57 a striking appearance — helping modernize and evolve the lineage of Hood’s powerboats to that ‘next-level’.
Exterior Styling and Open Format: Boarding the Hood 57 is effortless through her open transom. No need to trek through luxury spaces when getting on or off.
The windows and doors of the Pilothouse open fully, and when combined with the elevated mezzanine and outdoor galley. The result is ultimate connection with the outdoors — an inviting space for enjoying time with family and friends.
Operations are cleverly disguised: a thoughtful ventilation system is integrated into the cockpit by bringing intake air through moisture eliminators installed into the sidewalls and then exhaust air makes its way through an elegant teak grille built into the aft-most settee located on the aft-deck. The cockpit deck itself can be raised by push-of-a-button hydraulic lift revealing access to the large Volvo power plants and IPS propulsion gear. It’s a mechanical technician’s dream!
From the cockpit, it’s onto the flybridge by way of a custom spiral staircase that leads you up through exquisite joiner work. The project required many detailed solutions — we have thousands of hours creating detailed models and drawings, like with all the custom hardware that went through extensive iterative 3D design process to help convey early ideas that would carefully inform and guide the development of the unique solutions sought by the owner. Lyman-Morse fabricated many custom pieces, including molds for various castings employed by their state-of-the art CNC machine. The spiral staircase in bead-blasted metal is just one example of the level of detail that went into this project.
Wholly unconventional, unique style points are employed to create unified appearances: a mix of soft curves and stronger, edgier elements that blend into features that define the flybridge also carry throughout the elegant superstructure. The stylish sheer-line defining the edge of the cabin trunk as it flows aft, reversing down to deck, is a notable cue that enhances the cohesive look and feel of the entire yacht–SWYD’s version of the Nike “swoosh” that is distinctive to its design.
Collaborative Power Source Development: The challenge of custom projects, such as this, is rarely in implementing ideas. But more that this fire-in-a-bottle only happens once, and is not always possible to see a process (usually pushed by tight timelines) allow us the luxury to refine complex ideas or evolve details, or even make a last tweak to a hull’s shape or to a hardware detail before heading into construction. We don’t always get this opportunity, but in the case of powering the Hood 57, we benefited from solid collaborators that supported our efforts in doing absolutely that.
The original brief called for a spacious yacht, as well as one that must be extremely maneuverable — bringing excitement and stable handling for her owner while running at speeds that exceed 40 miles per hour. When a project like this goes to Volvo for an IPS propulsion system, we have the benefit of working closely with Volvo engineers and the insights that result from Volvo’s proprietary performance prediction software. This feedback helps inform our work, giving us opportunity to consider small changes to parameters affecting nuances of hull shape, horsepower or changes to center of gravity. This study is one way to get the best results when integrating Volvo IPS equipment onboard a custom yacht.
The predictions we received back from Volvo’s CFD modeling helped us further evaluate various detailed hull dimensions, review horsepower requirements, and understand how this all affects cornering stability. The process is designed to give a chance at making a deeper review of our work and finalize tweaks to chine shape and deadrise that may benefit overall handling of the boat across many conditions. The result from this careful study illustrates this collaborative working style that defines the project and helps us ensure the best possible outcome for our clients.
The owners’ ultimate vision was one of pure boating enjoyment and a lifestyle on the water. We believe that we, along with C.W Hood and Lyman-Morse, have achieved just that. This boat has everything!
As designers, innovation is our ultimate vision and being part of a collaborative effort that strives for and ultimately achieves that end is an exciting way to work!
As always, if you or other sailing enthusiasts within your personal network would like to discuss a potential project like the Hood 57, please reach out to us directly by clicking here: info@stephenswaring.com
Images by: Billy Black Photography