A Double celebration for Couach
French custom superyacht builder Couach is celebrating the start of its 120th anniversary year with the completion of not one but two landmark projects.
The Arcachon-based company launched the fifth unit of its 2300 FLY model at the end of March and is preparing her for delivery.
Couach also recently delivered the remarkable, fully-customised 4400 FAST FLY project to her owner.
2300 FLY LAUNCH OF HULL #5
This elegant and sporty 23-metre, fast-planing yacht features a composite hull, superstructure and flybridge. The 2300 FLY model remains one of the most popular in the shipyard’s stable, and the latest launch continues its legacy. The timeless, discrete design is characteristic if the Couach pedigree, with a focus on performance. She is undoubtedly one of the best Couach yachts to have been produced to date, as was testified by many of those attending the launch ceremony.
Couach’s Project Manager for the yacht, Pascal Boyer, commented at her launch: “This yacht always surprises me; she is surely one of the best Couach boats, her seaworthiness is excellent.”
The 2305 FLY has been built for a first-time yacht owner who admired a friend’s Couach for a number of years and subsequently decided he wanted one for himself. The yacht features a great deal of customisation for a project of this length, particularly in relation to the general arrangement of the guest accommodation.
Instead of the usual three guest cabins, the client chose to have two larger guest cabins, with an additional dressing area for the owner’s suite. The interior design’s grey and beige palette remains refined and relaxed throughout the yacht, to instil a “holiday spirit” and so as not to detract from the surroundings. Oak and felt have been used across many of the yacht’s spaces.
The yacht has a beam of 5.37 metres and a draft of just 1.50 metres, and fully loaded she has a displacement of 50 tonnes. She features zero-speed gyroscopic stabilisers for guest comfort at anchor, and has twin MAN 12V 1400 diesel engines providing a cruising speed of 24 knots and a top speed of 34 knots.
One of the most attractive things about the 2300 model, says Couach’s CEO Walter Ceglia, is the fact it remains accessible to owner-operators, rather than relying on professional crew for navigation. This means that the yacht can be enjoyed directly by the family who want to spend their holidays in complete privacy. “The 2305 FLY is a very beautiful vessel with a serious presence,” added Ceglia. “She combines the comfort of a yacht with exceptional seafaring capabilities. She cuts through the waves.”
The yacht was launched on Thursday 16 March, at the same time as Ceglia celebrated his first full year at the shipyard, and so this launch was all the more symbolic for the shipyard, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary in 2017.
4400 FAST FLY DELIVERED
Launched at the end of 2016, the fully custom, fast-planing 44.8-metre 4400 FAST FLY was recently delivered to her owners in time to fully make use of her over the upcoming 2017 summer season.
The 4400 FAST FLY, a true masterpiece and high point in Couach’s legacy to date, all interior and exterior design, as well as naval architecture, was carried out in-house at the shipyard.
She sports a composite hull and flybridge, featuring fibre glass, carbon fibre, Aramat® and Kevlar® materials, and is equipped with zero-speed gyroscopic stabilisers. With a cruising speed of 17 knots and a top speed of 24 knots, the 4400 Fly Fast represents the very pinnacle of Couach’s yacht building accomplishments to date. “The most rewarding element of this project is the quality of finish that we have been able to achieve,” commented Ceglia. “At Couach, we constantly strive to progress, to make each project the best that it can be. We are always looking to renew and improve our yachts.”
The unique, fully customised yacht is the sister ship to 49.5m M/Y La Pellegrina and 49.3m M/Y Belongers. Tailoring the yacht’s interior was a particular focus for the project, which features a combination of exceptional materials including bronze, oak, treated leathers, engraved glass, engraved marble, Dacryl® with copper inlay, and metallic resin. Many decorative elements were created specifically for the yacht, hand in hand with the client and the captain.
The Project Coordinator for the yacht, Jean Yves Corvisier, said on her completion: “This yacht benefits from the experience of her two big sisters. I believe that the 4400 FLY is the apotheosis of what we are able to accomplish at Couach. From a design and decoration point of view, as much as from an innovation and technology point of view, an enormous amount has been achieved.”
Approaching from the gangway, the main deck aft has a large seating area from which to enjoy the ever-changing views while shaded from the sun. This leads into the main salon with a number of independent areas from which to enjoy a private moment, as well as a large sofa and TV area for film nights on board. The galley and a crew service area are located amidships, before reaching the full-beam VIP cabin to the front of the interior.
The lower deck is primarily dedicated to accommodation for guests and crew, including a full-beam master cabin amidships and two further guest cabins, one a double and the other a double convertible to a twin. To the rear of the lower deck, the six-metre Novurania tender is launched from a port-side door.
The upper deck aft features an expansive sun pad area leading into the formal dining area with seating for up to 12 guests as well as a bar area, sofa and chairs. Amidships there is a double cabin on the starboard side, and a pantry on the port side, with the captain’s cabin adjoining the bridge. Expansive sunpads between the upper deck and foredeck provide further lounging space from which to enjoy the surroundings, leading down to a seating area perfect for a sundowner on the main foredeck.
The flybridge has a lounging space to the aft, a dining table for seating of up to 10 guests, and a large seating area and wet bar.
“The whole team did an excellent job on the 4400 Fly Fast, and the owner’s representative was fantastic in his role of knowing the tastes of the client. He contributed greatly to the progress of the construction of this yacht,” concluded Ceglia.
