In this year’s Best of the Best, we continue to honour the brands and people who have continued to create covetable products, even in the midst of a global pandemic. Here we have Lürssen’s Nord win ‘best gigayacht’ in the wings and water category
The most compelling – and closely guarded – launch this year was Nord, delivered to its owner after completing sea trials in the North Sea. It’s impossible to hide a 465ft, eight-deck yacht equipped with two helipads, but builder Lürssen remained tight-lipped about the details. Dan Lenard, of Venice studio Nuvolari Lenard, which was responsible for the yacht’s interior and exterior, describes Nord as a “warship wearing a tuxedo” but likewise declined to elaborate.
Nord’s swimming pool, helipads and fleet of tenders are well-documented, and project manager Moran Yacht & Ship says the boat can accommodate 36 guests across 13 staterooms, plus 58 crew. Visually, the gigayacht is beautifully balanced, from its tiered decks to the rectangular bow to the blue-and-black superstructure counterbalancing the white hull. “Whether you like the design or not, it must strike you,” Lenard says. “Nord is a serious ship, first and foremost, but she also transcends the traditional language of yacht design. We have entered a new direction.”
Lenard’s words go beyond self-promotion. Whether interior images ever appear or not, if Nord is as well conceived inside as out, it surely lives up to the designer’s final description: “An explorer with the elegance of a gentleman’s yacht.”
