Inside A 220-Foot Superyacht With His And Hers Suites

By Rachel Ingram

Sparta was designed for an owner of refined taste. The 220-foot superyacht is the epitome of fine craftsmanship, with Winch Design interiors and bundles of bespoke features including a “Gaudi-esque” sauna and his and hers owner’s suites. Built by Dutch yard Heesen, every element has been artfully considered, from the teak marbling in the full-beam spa to the family-friendly, open-plan layout that flows throughout. Even the sporty red and black paints on her dynamic hull are custom.

Sparta is in the final stages of her build, but with the original owner no longer able to take delivery, she’s just hit the sales market – excellent news for potential owners. Richard Kaye of Arcon Yachts, which project managed the build and is handling the sale, says: “After unexpected circumstances, the boat has become available a lucky owner to buy it. The whole boat is extremely exclusive. People say this a lot but we’ve been involved in this project from day one, so that’s nearly five years now, and this is a really a one off.”

As the finishing touches are added at the Heesen yard in Oss, The Netherlands, Kaye reveals all the details of this impressive motor yacht and what makes Sparta so special.

Sparta features an unusual layout with guest cabins on one level and a ‘his and hers’ master deck. Why was this done?

They’re all on one level for the family. You’ve got a massive cabin the full width of the boat which has a disappearing wall ­so you can split it into two cabins if you’ve got children on board. Upstairs, you’ve got the owner’s cabin forward with his own private balcony deck and cinema area on the bow. For this size of a boat, this is very unusual. It’s fantastic because if you’re in the marina reversed in, you’re not on view to anybody.

The deck has a double ‘his and hers’ cabin, which was an owner’s choice, but we have an option to convert one into a saloon when the boat sells if two master bedrooms are not needed. It would be very easy to create a complete owner’s deck with a bedroom, two massive walking wardrobes and an aft cockpit lounge.

The whole yacht been designed for a family with open-plan spaces that are connected. A lot of ‘Mickey Mouse’ boats have lots of different sections to them and you can lost, but this yacht has a complete flow.

Also, instead of covering up the beach clubs like a lot of boats to, the whole back is a beach club – when you open up the back doors into the lounge in the dining room, you’ve got nearly got two thirds of the boat visible. You could call it an ‘infinity boat’ because you have this view which looks over the ocean continually from every angle.

Sparta has a truly stand-out spa. How did you create such an impressive spa?

We’ve gone a bit nuts in the spa. Starting in the lift, there’s Alex Hull-designed oak wooden paneling which goes from sky to Earth to sea as you descend down the three decks of the yacht. The spa itself is very luxurious, even down to the marble choices – the floor is laid with teak marble which looks like teak.

It’s enormous – at 15 metres wide, it’s the full width of the boat – and it’s all open plan. In the centre, we’ve got a massive hot tub spa with two relaxing chairs on one side and a commissioned art panel behind. There’s also a steam room, gymnasium, hairdressers and a sauna – but we haven’t just put in a traditional sauna; we’ve put in a sauna with a difference. It’s like a piece of art. It’s a bit Gaudi-ish, with no flat surfaces and carved roof lights. It’s very special.

The interiors have a big emphasis on craftsmanship. How did you find the artisans and which are the most special pieces?

Winch Design designed and drew everything up, and then they commissioned artists to create what they drew. Some pretty famous artists have carved panels and made items for all over the boat. In the dining room alone, the table and the coffee table and the lamp shade are by three different artists. The coffee table looks like a stone sliced in half, like an oval. The exterior is like a tree, but inside it’s actually marble. It’s unbelievable.

The details are incredible; even the tap handles are bespoke. All the marble in the boat is rounded, which is quite difficult. We’ve chosen the blocks of marble from around the planet and selected the right veins to go in the right rooms to get the right impression. That’s the level of detail we’ve gone into.

Even the red and black paint has been developed just for those areas. If you look closely, the black has a metallic taint to it with a tint of grey. The burgundy is also really particular. It changes with the weather – when it’s sunny, it really pops.

We’ve also got a limo tender which is a direct copy of the big boat and comes as part of the package. It’s a one-off design built by Tender Works which took three years to make.

What kind of owner do you think would be interested in buying Sparta?

Somebody who doesn’t need to prove themselves to anybody. This is a project that’s done in such a high taste with a high level of design, so you’re not buying this to show off it; you’re buying this because it is an unbelievable boat to own and to be on. It hasn’t got gold splattered everywhere; it’s got copper. And it’s not done in a gaudy, in-your-face way, it’s done in a very high-end design way.

It’s taken an awful lot of people an awful long time to build this bespoke boat because it really is a custom from the ground up. I think whoever buys it will have to be the right owner; it’s not going to be somebody who buys it on a whim. It’s going to be someone who walks around and appreciates everything we’ve done.

Sparta has been listed for sale with Arcon Yachts. Delivery scheduled for late August 2023. Price on request.

Via Forbes