A reader from Dartmouth sent us this photograph of one of the more illusive new superyachts. She’s called EOS, was launched in Germany from the Lurssen yard and has been the subject of a complete publicity black out. We know this much – she’s about 300ft loa, she was designed by Bill Langan in the USA (he used to be with Sparkman & Stephens) and Rondal/Huisman supplied the rig. The naval architecture was completed by the Lurssen team.
She was photographed in Dartmouth a couple of weeks ago and we presume she’s en route to warmer climes. There are echoes of Jim Clark’s Athena here, the big difference being that she appears to be Bermudan rather than gaff-rigged. It’s a good-looking hull – not sure about the superstructure though.
How owners vary in their attitude towards publicity is something I ponder regularly. “You can say anything you like about the yacht but I’d prefer it if you didn’t use my name,” is a common response to delicate enquiry. Legally, there’s nothing to stop us ignoring such a request but in very short order one would be left with few contacts in the industry. As one lawyer put it – “it really depends on how important your relationship going forward is likely to be.”
Over the last five years three yachts have been at the forefront of the news, Mirabella V, Athena and now Maltese Falcon. They are all very different yachts but have one thing in common – they are owned by Americans. Members of the press have enjoyed virtually carte blanche access to both yachts and owners resulting in a publicity fest. It’s been fun and the yachts have taken the industry to new levels.
It’s a pity EOS hasn’t been made similarly available.