As soon as the 34.l-meter Majesty 111 made her debut in 2023, she was met with wide acclaim by industry veterans and enthusiasts alike. This adulation is chiefly attributed to a new design team reimagining the direction of the Majesty 111, Phathom Studio.
The Majesty line, the flagship series of UAE-based builder Gulf Craft, are high-end luxury motor yachts introduced in 2003, ranging from 14 to 55 meters in length, and known for their premium quality. Yet the Majesty 111, a recipient of several accolades, and nominee for a World Superyacht Award, is a significant departure from her predecessors, principally in look and design.1
Upon stepping on board, guests will notice the asymmetrical, open atmosphere, achieved through stylistic choices which include having the staircase as part of the design or the pragmatic use of space. Moving further along in this 6-cabin yacht, adroitly integrated features —from a Jacuzzi with a glass bottom doubling as a skylight for the master cabin, to a TV unit installed within the bar in the sky lounge — were universally lauded for their contemporary ingenuity. Moreover, the 5-guest cabins, an unorthodox feature for any yacht below 40 meters, instantly propels her to the top of any charter list, making the Majesty 111 more appealing for any season. All these new elements combined completely rejuvenated the series.
The evolution of the Majesty brand is owed to the nascent studio already cementing its name with their first one-the-water project. Thanks to Phathom Studio’s sheer fecundity, the premium brand now sets its sights on global dominance and is ready to compete in the international yachting arena, rivaling the best European shipyards today.
Founded in 2019, Phathom Studio is a Dutch-based firm that’s already pushing the boundaries of yacht design with a level of dexterity amassed from its partners, who spent their formative years learning under the tutelage of the best in the game.
The Maritime Observer recently spoke to Sean Bekeschus, design partner at Phathom Studio, to learn about his artistic gumption. beginnings as a yacht designer, the challenges (and upsides) to building a name in the midst of a pandemic, and the journey behind designing the Majesty 111. We also touch on how the topic of sustainability is redefining luxury, and the underscored challenges surrounding it.
How did you know this was what you wanted to do? Is there a specific childhood moment you remember where you fell in love with boats?
I was a strange little kid, and since when I was 7 or 8 years old, I loved boats. I was always sitting and drawing them because I was really fascinated by them and knew it was I wanted to do. I was drawing layouts, profiles, and perspective sketches inspired by magazines such as Show Boats and Yachting. I also grew up on my parent’s boat in Canada and they would take me to boat shows as well. The idea of a yacht as a mobile environment where one could take their home and travel with a changing view was a fascination that I was inspired by stepping about some of the larger boats at the Toronto Boat Show.
Q: And from the outset, you’ve had an impressive résumé. Interning with Carlo and Dan at Nuvolari Lenard, to working under prolific designers such as Guido De Groot. How did these experiences shape you into the designer you are today?
Well first, I did an industrial design degree in Canada, which helped as a good general basis for design. I then did a master’s in yacht design at IED in Turin. That really helped in terms of networking and connections, and that’s how I ended up doing an internship at Nuvolari Lenard. Interning there was fantastic because they were such a profound studio. Dan [Lenard] and Carlo [Nuvolari] are fantastic, really personable, and as an intern you have a lot of time with them, which is fantastic for a large studio. They threw you into a project immediately, so I got some good hands-on training for the six months I spent there. Then I moved to the Netherlands with Guido De Groot, and that’s where I really started learning about the various aspects of a project. Because when you’re working for Guido, it’s a more intimate studio environment, so you’re not just working on one part of the project. I worked for Gudio for 15 months before going to work with another Dutch studio, Cor D. Rover.
All this led you to establish Phathom Studio. As a designer working under these veterans of the industry, how did you know when it was time to take the next step in your career?
To be honest I knew that I was eventually going to do my own thing. I knew it when I started working under other people. Even when I was working for Guido de Groot. I mean, it’s fantastic because you’re in a situation where you’re learning from impressive and experienced designers in the industry, but at the same time, you sort of feel limited as you’re always being looked over. You’re never really completely able to express yourself. So from very early on I knew it, but I wanted to gain enough experience before becoming confident and able to jump out.
And your various tenures prior to Phathom Studio must have been beneficial from a networking perspective, no?
Well, it was, but that’s not to say it wasn’t without its hardships. We started in 2019, myself and Raquel as design partners, along with Jacob, our commercial director, with Fabian and another designer subsequently joining. In the start. was difficult to find a client as a new studio. Even if you have a lot of experience working on well-known projects or studios, is hard. It’s hard to get a client who will actually trust you as a new entity to invest in new projects. It was not easy, but we were quite fortunate as a new studio.
Opening in 2019 was a curious time. The world shut down a year later, yet the yachting industry witnessed its best years ever. How was it navigating those uncertain times whilst still being a nascent studio?
For us, it was actually a blessing in disguise. We opened our firm without an investor, so we personally put in what we had into the company. So with COVID, it was an excuse not to travel to the shipyards and to the clients because you couldn’t. Everything was online and it was digital, so all of it was more economical. So by the time we met with enough people, founded relations, and worked at concepts remotely, we had already done so much networking, so that when things opened up it was possible to meet all these people.
Well, what a way to make a first impression with your first on-the-water project, the Majesty 111. For Gulf Craft, this is their flagship series and premium brand. So when you are approached with reimagining the Majesty line going forward, how do you move from there? Did you have a clear vision from the get-go or were there any considerations taken in order to preserve the ethos of the brand?
The 111 was our first project. It was originally intended to be a replacement for their current 100-raised pilothouse, and then the project ended up growing. We saw the potential of the Majesty brand, but we wanted to align Gulf Craft with the European and American markets. We wanted to slightly take them away from just being a Gulf-state product, to create more international appeal. With that in mind, we really wanted to boost the design aesthetics. We looked at various models and noticed they don’t have a consistent look, so we wanted to evolve the product, both in the exterior and interior. Essentially, we wanted to respect their DNA but internationalize the brand.
Just to touch on the point of giving the Majesty 111 an “international appeal”, what does that tell you about the different tastes and preferences of owners from a cultural standpoint? Are there any defining connotations?
When you think about evolving the product to meet the demands of an international market, you have to find the balance between all of these elements. For example, there is more formality with clients from the GCC market. There is a lot more emphasis on the separation of the family and the crew. Even in smaller boats, they would want to have a secondary galley that is out of the owner’s view. Whereas in the Western market, we are seeing a trend of much more casual spaces; more open and flexible. We would say there is less emphasis on material possessions and the rarity of materials. Everything is much more breathable. Owners are getting younger and spaces are opening up, you can see this with the Majesty 111. where we combined the staircase with the main saloon instead of having everything closed off. It gives it this grander architectural feel.
We must talk about the glass-floored jacuzzi. And the television set integrated into the bar on the sky deck. and the “James Bond” door in the lower cabin [a panel that could close off the VIP cabin]. Were there any challenges to the executions of these visions?
Gulf Craft was really open-minded to these ideas, first of all. We were shocked that they managed to take on these ideas. Especially with the jacuzzi, but they loved it. They really embraced all these technical selling features. The TV on the bar was nice because when it’s off you don’t really see it, and it’s kind of in an area where the position of the TV is perfect for viewing. It gives the area a second purpose. The door was actually a design consideration of the shipyard. They wanted to be able to separate the lower deck cabins from the vicinity of the open stairwell to keep noise to a minimum. Gulf Craft is a really skilled builder, and very capable of taking these technical challenges on. They also built the first two hulls in record time. In less than a year, I believe.
And in terms of layout, including five guest cabins, and six in total, in a boat under 40 meters is really unprecedented.
A 34-meter boat with six cabins is fantastic. I know that, for hull number 2, we did have to increase the crew capacity. We went and talked with the crew of the first 111 model to know how it performs and if there are any issues that we could improve upon. One issue they found is the crew-to-guest ratio being on the low side. We ended up, for hull number 2, placing the captains cabin on the upper deck, and having another, third, double-bunk cabin to increase the crew to 7.
With the sophisticated interiors and stylistic choices you’ve employed, did you run into any supply chain issues or delays when working on the 111, or was it a seamless process?
With Gulf Craft, they try to produce everything in-house. We would recommend, for example, a supplier for a particular material but if that material couldn’t come we would always have a backup. If the backup couldn’t arrive, Gulf Craft themselves would somehow try to construct it or produce it locally. There was always a backup in place so the project wouldn’t stay still for one material. Or, if there is a specific material that we want for the interior and there’s an issue with supply or lead times with delivery, we would just substitute it with something else until we could obtain the original material.
If we could turn our attention to the topic of sustainability in yachting, I know it’s of high priority to you, as we’ve notably seen with your work in Gulf Craft’s Nomad 101. When it comes to implementing environmentally friendly practices for interiors, what role does the designer have in making the client aware of these green alternatives, in your opinion?
With a client, you always have to respect their wishes. It also comes down to the knowledge and expertise of that particular client. Some clients come to the meeting knowing exactly what they want. They will weigh the advantages against the disadvantages, and quite often, it doesn’t make sense to go with a sustainable option. I think the technical aspects of these sustainable products are still in their infancy. With solar panels, for example, there is still a lot of development that needs to be done. To be able to integrate the panels nicer into the aesthetic into the design rather than just, slapping it on the side of the boat.
While with interior design, we are in a better position to advocate for the use of these materials. Especially since the evolution and the quality of these materials is constantly getting better. As a studio, we would go to material fairs around Europe that specialize in sustainability, so we’ve seen how these materials improved, from looking a little recycled and not having a refined feel, into products that are now very much in line with traditional marbles, stones, composites, and products you would use with yachts. So, I do think that’s changing, and the producers of these products are really learning how to create things that are more aligned with products that a client expects to see in luxury objects, such as yachts.
As designers, I think it’s important that we should act as client ambassadors. We should bring our client’s attention to these products, to show them the benefits they provide. For example, traditional clients were more focused on material rarity, they wanted polished metals or maybe a rare marble, or wood. The material importance for them was how rare something was. As younger designers designing for a younger demographic, we want to bring the owner’s attention to choosing more responsible products, based on their effect on the stakeholders involved, being communities or anything else.
but in the yachting industry, especially when it comes to the interiors, there is a complex dynamic of perceptions and luxury when sustainability is brought up. So where do you think the role of the designer and shipyard lies in communicating the more environmentally friendly options without diluting the allure of exclusivity and opulence?
Well, I think there is an issue but at the same time, these sustainable products need to perform and live up to their reputation as luxury products. A lot of it is in the hands of the sustainability producers. They really need to catch up if the industry wants to develop in this field. If you look back a few years ago, the producers of their materials were very grass-roots and small-scale. Small companies cannot perform to the fast delivery times and quantities expected from large shipyards. In our case for some sustainable materials selected, they couldn’t get it on time.
So with all the focus on sustainability, and experienced-based purposes of yachting, has the definition of luxury changed for you, since when you started your career?
From my point of view, the definition of what makes something luxurious is definitely evolving. Luxury in itself is becoming more understated. It’s becoming less of a visual thing and more experience-based. Luxury, for example, is having flexibility, more natural light, or products that are more breathable. We also see a lot of emphasis on health and well-being onboard. So luxury is basically an environment or space that can facilitate mental or physical well-being.
Finally, what advice would you give for someone aspiring to pursue yacht design, or is just starting out?
To develop a skill set in every area that I could. Whether that be a little more technical, or maybe drafting, learning more about naval architecture, the principles of yachting building, and construction. Also being more practical. Learning how to sail and actually being out on the water, to learning how to sketch. I think as a yacht designer, sketching is of the utmost importance and not enough people do it. We end up going too quickly to a finished design or render, and the client tends to miss that journey.
So, just to have a well-rounded understanding of the profession, and push yourself in areas that you are not very confident in. It will make you a more dynamic candidate in any position. ●
You can find Phathom Studio’s work over on Instagram and https://www.phathomstudio.com
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.