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After an exceptional journey of innovation and development at the Royal Huisman yard, the graceful 58m Ron Holland designed ketch Ethereal, with interior and Pieter Beeldsnijder, took to the water in November 2008 to begin the serious voyaging for which she was created.

Following sea trials out of Harlingen, a deepwater seaport in close proximity to the yard’s Vollenhove location, Ethereal will set sail for the Canaries and the Caribbean, where her owners excitedly look forward to enjoying their very first taste of this sensational craft with family and friends. Their experience will have been an extraordinary one, because, in so many ways, Ethereal is no ordinary yacht.

When owners Bill & Shannon Joy decided to build Ethereal they were inspired, first, by a great admiration for the Royal Huisman-built 43m ketch Juliet – also created together with Ron Holland and Pieter Beeldsnijder; and, second, by their desire to create “a private island” offering his family and guests every comfort and amenity, yet conceived and operated to deliver these in the most enlightened and progressive manner. To achieve these ends the project became, as Bill Joy described it, “a floating lab”.

Few off-the-peg technologies were available to meet the objectives of long range sustainability of operations, energy efficiency, flexible energy management, reduced operational cost and lower carbon footprint. So Owner and Yard worked together with some of the world’s finest specialists to develop solutions. These are not – and never can be – the ultimate solutions; they are steps along a road. But these steps take Ethereal further down that road than any private yacht built to date – with fascinating consequences for those who sail her…  

For more information, please contact:

Тел: +31 527 243131
Email: jurjen@royalhuisman.com