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Discussion Thread on Lurssen Kismet II Review...

Discussion in 'Lurssen Yacht' started by YachtForums, Mar 29, 2016.

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  1. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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    I'd like to share a few things about our review of Lurssen's 312' Kismet II...

    We first toured the Redefined Kismet over a year ago, along with a select group of yachting media. I was in Jacksonville on a Naval project (about 5 hours away) when I got a call from Lurssen asking if we could get our crew over to Bahia Mar the next day for a one-time opportunity to tour Kismet II. I left Jacksonville the next morning at 4AM to arrive in Lauderdale for a 10AM walk-thru.

    I called Tom Serio and asked him to join us for detail shots. He took the day off from work (he works full time in disaster management for Verizon Wireless), but upon our arrival we were informed we were not allowed to take pictures. Bummer! We need detail shots to write 5000 word reviews! We proceeded with the tour and frankly, it was overwhelming. We had an hour to digest the workmanship and engineering that took 100's of craftsmen and contractors several hundred-thousand man hours to complete. An hour aboard this boat was a mere teaser.

    We were expecting professional photography to arrive within 3 weeks of our tour. I followed up for several months, but to no avail. Finally, at the 2015 Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show, we got a thumb drive with images; some 9 months later. I don't know about you guys, but I can't remember what I had for breakfast, none-the-less the millions of details onboard Kismet II from a year ago.

    Although Judy took notes during our original tour, it simply wasn't enough for a YF review. To pull this off, we needed to get back onboard Kismet for an extended tour and time to jot down hundreds of notes. It took about 2 months of communications and scheduling with the captain and purser, but we nailed down a day the boat would be in South Florida, which happened to be right smack in the middle of the Miami Boat Show! Another bummer. I was home sick for the Miami Show, but Judy being a trooper, got down to Miami and made this happen.

    It took Judy about 80 hours to write the review and it took me another 10 hours to format, edit and upload it. A BIG Thank You to Judy Waldman who put forth an incredible effort, but also to Lurssen who makes all of us step-up our game. Kismet II is not only a stunning execution of engineering, it's an absolute miracle of mingling materials into a synergistic symphony.

    Hope you enjoy the review... http://www.yachtforums.com/review/lurssen-yachts-312-kismet-ii-superyacht.26253/

    Carl
    ApreMare likes this.
  2. T.K.

    T.K. Senior Member

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    Simply wow.......

    Thanks for the great write-up.
  3. Loren Schweizer

    Loren Schweizer YF Associate Writer

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    Kudos Judy (honorable mention to Carl) for a Mega Review of a small city masquerading as a yacht.

    "Hertz where it hurts", indeed.
    Ha!
  4. captholli

    captholli Senior Member

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    Why was the build team of project managers and engineers from ***** Yacht and Ship left out? Kyle Fultz was still running the first Kismet while the second was being overseen by ***** and Simon England? They returned for an encore three times over for this owner and had spectacular results as published by many publications.
    Bias on YF's part? Credit is due to the build team yes?
  5. captholli

    captholli Senior Member

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    like the editing , lets try this than. Narom yacht and ship credit is due no matter the politics.
  6. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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    • Like "lifting" our reviews and publishing to their website without giving credit to the source?
    • Or because Mr. naroM was arrested and served time for tax evasion?
    • Or that several of their brokers have blatantly spammed YF, then tried to use the PM system to solicit owners & buyers?
    • Sorry, not a ***** fan. (rhyme intended)
  7. captholli

    captholli Senior Member

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    I appreciate your honest answer. I figured it was politics due to the principle of the brokerage house but it shouldn't be an indictment against one of the most talented and respected build team of managers & engineers in the industry and Judy's /yours lack of recognition to those responsible for this build to that effect was glaringly obvious to those in the know of large yacht construction. I'll leave it at that.
  8. captholli

    captholli Senior Member

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    YF members need to know that vessels like Kismet II aren't just built by the builders yard but by owners /brokerage house build teams of engineers and project managers laying out a specification and time line amongst the smallest of minutia in detail to convey the owners request or desires for his or hers $$$ and dreams.

    I'm not a fan boy of naroM any more then you are Carl, but I'm certainly a card carrying member of what Simon England and Assoc. bring to the table as their track record speaks for itself.
  9. JWY

    JWY Senior Member

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    Thanks to those who posted comments.

    The names mentioned as being relevant to this project was never discussed between me and Carl as to include or not. The names captholli mentioned was never presented in any PR sent from Lurssen. I have correspondence with several people associated with Lurssen and Kismet; I interviewed Captain Olav who spent generous time with me the day I was aboard, as well as chief engineer, chief stew, and 2 additional crew members. This is in addition to the interior project manager and others who were aboard during my first brief visit a year earlier at which time a broker of the company mentioned gave the group a brief walk-through. An email I later sent to the brokerage was not answered nor phone call returned. The owner refused my request for an interview, twice. So if these names were so relevant, I'm sorry no one thought to mention them in my 13 months of working on this review. In a build that took 36 months, I am sure that a lot of relevant workers went unmentioned but I have no dog in this fight and had no reason to intentionally exclude someone. Additionally, I am sure that our YF readers know that it took teams and reams of involved engineers and managers and wouldn't expect mention of lengthy cast of characters.

    I find it interesting that the only negative comment on a very difficult yacht to access and review comes from a captain touting the role of a brokerage company with accusations of intentional slight.

    Thanks, Loren, for appreciating my humor :)

    Judy
  10. HTMO9

    HTMO9 Senior Member

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    C0ngratulation to Judy and YF for this review. Well done, indeed. Kismet II is a spectacular yacht regardless if you like her interior style or not. To bad YF was not allowed to take its own pictures. But most likely the management company or the ownership had sold the exclusive rights of making pictures to this photographer. From what I have heard, this ownership was not very easy to deal with.

    IMHO, the size of the role of those management / broker companies in one of those megayacht projects is exaggerated. In many projects, a management company is only involved, because they buy the delivery positions from those high ranking yards without having a real client. If a client then wants a yacht from one of those yards with a reasonable delivery date, he has to go via and with one of those management / broker companies. Sorry to say but this is a win win situation for the yard. If a broker buys the next 8 or 10 delivery positions (in words eight to ten !!!), the yard has a full orderbook for several years. The whole risk is on the broker company. Thats why they collect so much money from their clients. The broker takes a well calculated risk but a huge amount of profit.

    The management part of the deal is by far not as big as suspected. Even with a big and complex project like one of those 90 Meter projects built by Luerssen, a management company is not needed. With a trustworthy yard like Luerssen, you need an external and internal designer, a good naval architect (in this case Luerssen), a good owner representative and most likely a build or construction captain.

    Taken the example of the Luerssen 90 Meter Class, the naval architecture part is pretty standard. If you compare the general arrangement plans of several yachts of this class like Quattroelle, Phoenix II, Solandge or Kismet II, you will find their hulls are identical, the complete machinery and its layout is identical and also most of its general internal layout is either identical or at least very similar. Each yacht has its individual gadgets and its design. But most of this is proposed by the designers and choosen with the advisory of the yard, the build captain and the owner rep. Only an absolutely unexperienced client will approach a broker / management with the simple order: " build me a nice and spectacular megayacht and do not bother me with details" :). And most important to me, those management companies may turn a very nice megayacht project (for the sake of their convenience and their profits) into a semi custom project.

    A good owner rep with a solid reputation is a little management company of its own. He is backed up by his own team and capable of hiring external expertise, if neccessary and communicates with the build captain and the ownership. I would have no problems whatsoever starting such a project with an owner rep like for example KIWI and one of our captains at one of those yards located on the Weser River or at Vollenhove, NL. With a yard in the northeastern Med or far east, I am not so sure about that.

    Who needs a management company for building a boat? Taking part in a yacht or ship building project (as the owner) is more exciting than owning her afterwards. And I would not need one of those "crazy" artists, as my yacht would not have one of those expensive pieces of "art" in the staircase :D. I say again, Kismet II is a spectacular yacht, IMHO the internal design and this bow emblem are a little bit over the top.

    Just my 2 (Euro) cents
  11. JWY

    JWY Senior Member

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    Thanks, HTM. I appreciate your comments and input of experience. By way of private emails, there appears to have been "ulterior motives" or "vested interest" in the above posts. Too bad that clutters the quality of posts.

    For a point of clarification, on my second tour of the yacht, I asked permission to take photos with my iPhone. Having my own photos becomes critical in helping to write the review. In the end, many of these photos were used in comprising the DETAILS section of the review.

    Judy
  12. K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Thanks for the vote of confidence HTM09.
  13. Chasm

    Chasm Senior Member

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    Maybe arrange a tour of the plunge pool? ;)

    Good for YF that I'm not doing the reviews, I guess I would have called off the whole thing right at "No photographer". :D

    Nice work, and a good explanation for the contrast between staged pro shots and selfies in the glass doors.
  14. HTMO9

    HTMO9 Senior Member

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    Some yards, management and most of all charter companies try to keep making pictures of yachts under their contract under close control. By hiring a professional photographer, they want to assure, he only makes pictures as wanted and in the quality as accepted. And only that will show the product in their opinion in the best possible way and light. Having media running around on a yacht with cameras (they believe) will not assure that.

    IMHO, if I am confident about the quality of my product and I would have decided to go public, I would not have any problems, if media would be making (interior) pictures of my boat on their own. With Kismet II, the restriction came for sure from the management company or the ownership. A piece of art and some picture on the wall, shown in wrong light or from the wrong direction, can look pretty cheep or silly. But as the invitor, I can assure, by careful selection of the media invited, that my product will be shown as wanted. IMO, inviting YF under the lead of Judy and Carl, is the most careful selection one can take, period!

    On the MYS 2013, I was invited to visit Quattroelle. After receiving a pair of soft shoes, I was briefed by the charter company not to make pictures with my own camera, as I would be provided with a complete media kit including a data stick with a complete set of high res pictures. After I complained with the Luerssen staff, I was allowed to take pictures with my own camera but strictly for private use only. Later I was free to move around the complete ship as long as I wanted and without a guide. Only when entering the crew quarters and delicate technical spaces, I asked to be accompanied by a higher ranking crew member (bosun or first mate), a procedure I adhere to even on my own ships.

    What I like on Judys review very much, is her showing crew area and machinery details. This is left out on almost all reviews by magazines. Only by taking the crew area and the high gloss guest area in relation, will give you a complete picture of those "floating cities". The most spectacular yacht will loose with poor crew quarters and crew rest aereas. Pity that most companies do not provide general arrangement plans with their media kits. With a liitle maritime background, one can read in a high res GAP like in a book and that for hours. But Quattroelle is still my favorite ship of the Luerssen 90 Meter class of yachts. Too bad she disappeared to the middle east like many other beautifull large yachts.

    What would the world be without boats, regardless of size and purpose, as long as it floats :).
  15. Pete C

    Pete C New Member

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    Unfortunately, to my disappointment, the jaguar is not a hunk of metal:



    Probably better so they can either take it off easily for crossings or if it gets taken off it is likely cheaper to replace.

    Pete
  16. Pete C

    Pete C New Member

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    Oops. I missed that the jag was only on during game time. :)
  17. German Yachting

    German Yachting Senior Member

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    She has just announced being for sale.
  18. Milow232

    Milow232 Guest

    We will see if they announce a new Kismet project at the MYS.
  19. Gage Rowden7

    Gage Rowden7 Senior Member

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    If they do I would not be surprised if it is much bigger and a Lürssen Build.
  20. pierberio

    pierberio New Member

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    Lurssen announced the build of a 116 mt. yacht due for 2022: is she the new Kismet?