2012 Zeelander

First unveiled at the Monaco Yacht Show to a well-heeled chorus of public cooing, the Zeelander 44 is not your everyday boat. Designed and built in the Netherlands specifically to cater for a supremely solvent client base, this high-end take on the classic lobster boat exhibits the painstaking detailing of an art installation.

While most boat builders embrace straight edges and simplified moldings as a means of increasing production efficiencies, the Zeelander 44 is all graduated curves, sweeps and seamless fluidity. In fact, it has the feeling of something painstakingly ground into pebble-smooth perfection by the sculpting actions of wind and water – and that is by no means an accident.

The idea was to create a boat that would always look in its element and the result is not just a very beautiful and distinctive craft, but one on which nothing feels ordinary. In addition to the fact that it takes 42 individual molds to generate the parts required to build the Zeelander 44, there is tremendous pleasure to be had simply in examining the curves of the hull windows and the fabric paneling; the near perfect finish of the arching steel guardrails and the swept and faceted joinery.

The cockpit is divided into both covered and open dining areas. Even the ‘wood’ trim beneath the guardrails is a hardwearing artificial material, individually hand-painted to look like natural wood grain by a local artist. The quality of her work confounds belief and it’s one of many touches that helps make each Zeelander 44 feel like a one-off original.