Contemporary Classic
“Yes! This can be done,” Outer Reef Yachts’ team responded emphatically after a request was made for a high degree of interior customization aboard the 860 cockpit motoryacht Ti-Punch. The new build’s owners wanted a thoroughly modern, open interior—a layout incongruous with the traditional, classic exterior of an Outer Reef Yacht.
Built exclusively at the Tania Yacht Company in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, each Outer Reef is designed and constructed with seakeeping and reliability at cruise as a top priority. Past interior designs by the builder’s in-house team are an extension of that safe, conservative theme, and Ti-Punch’s owners wished to push those boundaries. “We were asked by the owners to work with Destry Darr Designs on the interior,” said Mike Schlichtig, general manager of Outer Reef Yachts, Fort Lauderdale. “They wanted a modern interior that suited their taste inside a boat that had a very traditional look from the outside while also giving them the handling and sea-keeping characteristics they would not compromise on.”
The result was a cockpit motor yacht that fully utilizes the generous 21-foot beam and offers a feeling of openness from the wheelhouse that extends through the midship galley and main-deck saloon. Intricate design details for faucets, sinks and mullions were conceived by Destry Darr Pethtel, the Fort Lauderdale interior designer who guided the yard to create the owner’s dream interior.
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“Every detail was included in the layout drawings,” explains Pethtel. “While the main deck extends from the saloon to the wheelhouse, an electric wall can be raised between the galley and wheelhouse for privacy.” The wall is acrylic and features a decorative wave pattern that matches the galley cabinets. Pethtel visited the yard in Taiwan to achieve a custom look with the different grain patterns of the wood—all of which is high-gloss, light beech wood on the lower deck and darker walnut on the upper decks.
An amber-glass sink in the dayhead on the main deck is characteristic of the tasteful elements. The round bowl is centered on a light-and-dark granite countertop, and a shiny faucet reflects the amber coloring as it arches over to deliver water. Pethtel also visited various stone suppliers in Taiwan and assisted in the selection of specific stone slabs.
All Outer Reef vessels are fully rigged with appliances, electronics, A/V, and décor at the factory in Taiwan then delivered to any of Outer Reef’s 14 locations worldwide. General manager Karl Lin and lead engineer Chaucer Chen sea trial each boat, utilizing the builder’s prime location right on Kaohsiung Harbor with direct access to the ocean. By the time the yacht is delivered to the client it has undergone extensive sea trial testing, which reduces the final commission time. This fourth-generation boatbuilding company employs 130 people and has built boats exclusively for Outer Reef Yachts since 2001, when the company was founded by Jeff Druek.
Ti-Punch has Furuno electronics for navigation and KVH communication equipment contracted through Concord Marine Electronics in Fort Lauderdale. Utilizing the latest in CAD design, all the specifications of the electronics’ sizes are exact in the design, and the equipment is delivered to the shipyard. “Everything just plugs in,” Schlichtig said. “We send container loads of equipment over and ensure that the physical dimensions of the models don’t change; the last thing you want is a TV size to change and then it doesn’t fit.”
Ti-Punch sleeps eight guests in four cabins, and there are crew quarters for four, with a full galley and lounge. A starboard staircase accesses the lower deck, and the layout begins with a VIP queen cabin and ensuite head forward in the bow, and a queen guest cabin to port. An additional small guest stateroom with upper and lower berths is to starboard. The king master suite is amidships and forward of the engine room, with an ensuite bathroom aft of the bed to port and a large walk-in closet to starboard. The owner may access the engine room through a doorway in the closet.
Ti-Punch can be operated from the main deck wheelhouse or the flybridge control station. The wheelhouse features twin Stidd helm chairs facing a dash with three large multi-function displays forward and engine controls to the right, looking through five large forward window panels that offer excellent visibility. The flybridge is accessed from either an interior starboard staircase near the wheelhouse or a staircase off the aft deck. A hardtop covers the two L-shaped settees with tables that face forward to the flybridge helm. Windows are made of flexible clear material that can be in place during weather or removed to let the breeze flow through. Further aft on the flybridge deck is a galley and grill, and all the way aft is a davit and chocks for a tender and personal watercraft, with a stainless-steel rail around the outside for safety.
While the modern, open interior is inviting and spacious for group gatherings, Ti-Punch offers more intimate areas as well. On the bow, for example, a settee against a Portuguese bridge offers the perfect place to sit and watch the world while under way. The high freeboard of the bow area shields you from spray, yet if it gets too rough it’s a short trip back inside. Then there’s the fishing cockpit aft, equipped with a Bluewater fighting chair for hauling in big fish. The deck is covered in non-skid and there’s plenty of storage for fishing and dive gear. Walk down through a starboardside door to a huge swim platform that’s fitted with decorative-yet-functional stainless steel safety rails.
“The owner embraced the build process of Ti-Punch,” said Druek, Outer Reef’s president and CEO, who is personally involved in every sale and design, and only sells his boats direct throughout Outer Reef’s worldwide in-house distribution network. “It may seem like a big departure in interior design, but it’s not a departure for our willingness to please and build anything the customer wants.”
Specifications
LOA: 86’3″
Beam: 21’0″
Draft: 5’6″
Displacement: 95 tons
Power: 2x Caterpillar C-18 diesel engines @1134-hp each
Fuel/Water Capacity: 3,500/500 U.S. gals.
Econo Cruise/Top Speed: 8/17.8 knots Range @cruising speed: 4,000+ nm w/ 10% reserve
Price: Upon Request
Contact
Outer Reef Yachts
1850 SE 17th Street Suite 101
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
(954) 767-8305
outerreefyachts.com
Doug Thompson, Southern Boating March 2014