The world’s largest true sportfisher, Special One — with interior, exterior and naval architecture by Dutch studio Vripack Yacht Design — wins at Kitzbühel, scooping the coveted award for Best Naval Architecture – Semi-Displacement or Planing Motor Yachts in the BOAT International Design and Innovation Awards 2025.
The awards ceremony, which forms part of the annual Superyacht Design Festival held in Austria, saw a tightly contested evening of accolades and celebrations.
According to the judges, the decision in the Best Naval Architecture – Semi-Displacement or Planing Motor Yachts category came down to two boats, “the souped-up Royal Huisman sportfisher Special One and the ultra-fast Heesen motor yacht Ultra G.” In the end, the judges deemed the speed and agility demands of Special One’s naval architecture to be too special to pass over.
Commenting on the decision, the judges said: “Special One is unique in her scale and scope — she can go from zero to 30 knots in a minute, her turning circle is double her own boat length, she can go backwards at seven knots, and she’s designed to operate in the Gulf. There’s simply nothing like it.”
Alongside the yacht’s unique performance, speed and agility, the judges also highlighted the yacht’s novel engine room air intake system that allows the yacht — which is powered by a new line of twin V20 MAN engines — to stay cool even in balmy Arabian Gulf waters as another notable design feature.
For Vripack, the most challenging element of Special One’s holistic design was undoubtedly the naval architecture, largely because a 52m sportfisher capable of sailing efficiently at 30+ knots has never been done before. Success came down to the studio’s decision to steer away from a traditional deep V sportfisher hull in favour of a semi-displacement (or super-displacement) hull form with a single chine and anti-chine-slap spray rail and sharp bow entry angles for a comfortable ride.
It’s coupled with a huge flair at the bow and an elegant tumble home at the stern, which is typical for a sportfisher.
“We optimised the yacht’s basic hull shape to reduce resistance at both fleet-cruising speed of 14 knots and 30 knots top speed, without compromising one or the other,” explains Vripack’s co-creative director, Bart Bouwhuis.
“This is enhanced by further resistance reduction obtained via smooth volume distribution over the whole length of the vessel, careful alignment of the chines and tunnel edges and a subtle S-shape in the aft ship buttocks.”
All appendages were thoroughly analysed, such as rudders, shaft brackets and bow thruster scallops. Significant care was given to the water intakes, exhausts, sounders, anodes and welds, and optimal driveline efficiency was gained by maximising the thrust from the propellors.
Alongside fierce weight management during the build, all the accumulated efforts resulted in an impressive extra 2 knots over the estimated 30 knots, and 10% lower fuel consumption than was originally predicted. Two 6.5-ton gyro stabilisers also reduce close to 80% of the roll.
Addressing the yacht’s impressive turning circle highlighted by the judges, Bouwhuis notes: “Notably the yacht has no central skeg, which not only reduces resistance but gives Special One a unique turning behaviour allowing the captain to effortlessly give full rudder at full speed without the vessel heeling more than 3.5-degrees, with an aggressive turning circle diameter of 2.5x ship’s length. On sea trials, less than 1 degree of rudder angle was required to keep a solid straight course.”
“We are thrilled to have Special One acknowledged by the judges in this coveted awards category,” adds Bouwhuis.
“For the owner, building his first full custom superyacht was a dream come true. Besides the yacht’s great fishing ability, the amount of onboard comfort that it offers the owner and his guests, especially how well the layout works in terms of easy flow and functionality for a multi-generational family, makes this recognition on the world superyacht stage all the sweeter.”
