After last year’s lavish premiere of the Cristiano Gatto-designed flagship Majesty 175, the world’s largest composite production superyacht, Gulf Craft was able to start the shipyard’s 40th anniversary in 2022 with the official debut of the Majesty 120 at this year’s Dubai International Boat Show.
The 37m tri-deck with an 8.1m beam was the largest yacht on display at the “Superyacht Avenue” in Dubai Harbour, making its debut as host venue as the show was held for the first time since 2019. In fact, the first Majesty 120 was slated to premiere at the 2020 edition of the Dubai show, but plans were scuppered by the pandemic that led to a three-year gap between editions.
Despite the lack of boat shows reducing international exposure for the Majesty 120 over the past couple of years, five hulls have been sold, with three based in the Mediterranean and two more across the Atlantic in Florida.
Kostas Christodoulou, Gulf Craft’s COO, says the combination of the shipyard’s in-house design studio and the ongoing partnership with Italy-based Cristiano Gatto Design, responsible for the interior, has helped the Majesty 120 appeal to superyacht owners in various continents.
“The Majesty 120 has an incredibly detailed hull continuously studied through multiple CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations, so the vessel has a very low fuel consumption and increased speed. Meanwhile, our long-term partnership with the renowned Gatto Design team holds strong appeal for clients,” Christodoulou says.
“There’s a great synergy between Gulf Craft and Gatto Design where innovation, client satisfaction and refined luxury all come together to create a Majesty Yacht. Working with Cristiano underlines Gulf Craft’s push to reach more of a varied clientele with interiors that touch upon international aesthetics, rooted in Middle Eastern charm.”
Outdoor Fun
Gulf Craft handled naval architecture and the striking exterior of the Majesty 120, with the angular lines and reverse wheelhouse reflecting the new DNA of the brand’s superyachts and continuing design themes introduced on the Majesty 140, which debuted in 2019 and also features a Gatto interior.
Built in GRP and carbon-fibre in Gulf Craft’s main facility in Umm Al Quwain, the 200-tonne Majesty 120 has an impressive volume of 290GT. Machinery includes twin 2,600hp MTU engines and Kohler generators, yet she only draws 2m, allowing her to navigate shallow waters.
Outdoor guest areas start aft, where the wide garage can become a beach club once the tender is moved to the water and furniture is put in its place. If more space is needed for water toys, two jetskis can also be stored in the foredeck and deployed by a crane.
The aft cockpit on the main deck is completely covered and offers alfresco dining for 10 people around a large table, plus a wet bar to starboard by the saloon doors. Outdoor stairs to port lead up to the upper deck’s aft cockpit, which is only partially covered by the overhang. Again, portside stairs lead up and this time bring you to the outdoor social area on the Majesty 120 — the sun deck supreme!
Gulf Craft says the sun deck is 30 per cent larger than on yachts in its class and it’s easy to believe. It starts aft with a free area that can fit several sun loungers. The central area covered by the hard top includes a large L-shaped seating area to starboard, while to starboard is a long bar with three stools. The crowning glory is forward, where steps lead up to a jacuzzi flanked by large sunbathing areas.
There’s another outdoor area, forward of the wheelhouse on the upper deck, where there’s a wide C-shaped sofa and two tables facing a large sunbathing area.
International Interior
For the interior, Gatto and his team worked to a brief that called for a minimalist design to cater to international tastes, resulting in a clean, contemporary look. The indoor areas include an upper-deck saloon, which has a large L-shaped sofa facing aft to a bar and TV on either side of sliding doors to the aft deck.
On the main deck, guests are greeted by a large, carpeted saloon that can be symmetrically laid out with a chair, long sofa and curved coffee table on each side as well as an aft-facing sofa that includes a pop-up television in the backrest. Forward is the formal dining area, delineated by wooden flooring and both this area and the lounge are flanked by huge, one-piece windows that bathe the entire saloon area in natural light.
The door to port leads to the pantry and the main galley, which also includes a dining area for crew. The starboard door leads to the lobby and the sumptuous full-beam owner’s suite, which starts with a hallway flanked by a walk-in wardrobe to port and drawers below a big window to starboard.
The main bedroom has a ‘floating’ forward-facing king-size bed and bedside tables, while there are sofas on both sides and a desk-cum-vanity table in the aft port corner. The bed faces an elegant, open-style bathroom with twin sinks and large mirror, while there’s an enclosed head to starboard and a large shower to port, both rooms finished in marble.
The lower deck has an interesting, asymmetrical layout, with the stairs leading down to a port-side guest lounge, a child friendly room that includes an L-shaped sofa under two hull windows facing a TV on the bulkhead as well as a desk-cum-vanity aft facing a window with porthole.
The guest lounge leads to the four en-suite guest cabins, comprising a twin to starboard, VIP stateroom in the bow and two double cabins side by side midships. The yacht also has accommodation for up to seven crew.
Technical Advancement
Aside from the engines and generators, electrical power is used for all onboard equipment and systems, whether it’s the fin stabilisers, thrusters and steering or the balconies and passarelle. The 120 is the first Majesty superyacht to have all-electrical systems, which reduces noise and maintenance, yet one technological advancement stands out.
The Majesty 120 is the first Gulf Craft model and first production yacht of her size to feature a heat-recovery system. On most yachts, heat produced by the air-conditioning chillers and generators is typically dispatched to the sea through heat exchangers, but on the 120 it’s used to warm water and even specific cabins when needed.
“On top of energy saving, the heat-recovery system on the Majesty 120 gives the opportunity to have more advanced temperature control in the cabins,” Christodoulou says. “With a closed circuit of hot water existing in parallel to the chilled water circuit, the fan coils can adjust individually the temperatures of any room either over or under the ambient.
“It’s a very important feature during late spring or mid-autumn in the Mediterranean or winter in the Middle East and parts of Asia, effectively expanding the cruising and charter season.
During those seasons, while ambient is about 23-25°C, some passengers like to have cooler cabins than this and others want warmer cabins. On the Majesty 120, this can be achieved with the minimum-possible energy.”
The European debut of the Majesty 120 at this year’s Cannes Yachting Festival will widen the audience for this key model from a thriving shipyard with a stated ambition of becoming one of the world’s top five superyacht builders by 2025.
This article first appeared on Yacht Style.
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