Akalam, the 32m sloop designed by Barracuda Yacht Design created a spectacular sight against the Cornish cliffs and castles of Pendennis and St Mawes when on sea trials this week.
During her trials she achieved 14knots under power and over 11knots sailing, with a wind of 20-25knots in the Bay.
Built by Pendennis Shipyards Akalam is a technically advanced yacht. The elevated pilot house with a large glass area provides the yacht with her with a distinctive profile with plenty of glass along her sides as the huge windows form an almost unbroken vista from the interior of the vessel, enhancing the cruising experience by allowing as much natural light in as possible.
The design presented challenges, as Iñigo Toledo, of Barracuda Yacht Design, explained, "Bearing in mind the larger than normal window area in the hull sides, Barracuda has successfully alleviated any potential concerns about the integrity of the rig by ensuring rig tension is focused on the double-bottom rigid structure, thereby diverting most of the stress away from the hull".
Under sail she has been designed for ease of handling and will carry a self-tacking jib and no running backstays. A retractable dagger board increases her draught from 3.6m to 5.5m allowing a wide range of cruising and anchoring opportunities.
The social areas and master cabin are both of a substantial size and comparable with yachts of a much bigger scale and are complemented with an impressive 60 m2 covered aft deck space. This was achieved on the aft deck by positioning the coamings and seating positions right out to almost the full beam width.
The interior by Javier Muñoz consists of contemporary styling, with neutral cream leather and upholstery balanced by hand crafted features in a mixture of mixture of sycamore, grey tinted zebrano with further accents of olive and panga woods.
The yacht is now in the finishing stages at Pendennis prior to handover to the owner.
- Construction: Aluminium
- LOA: 32m (105.6ft)
- Draught: 3.6m (11.88ft keel up)
- Beam: 7.6m (25.3ft)
- Builder: Pendennis
- Naval Architects: Barracuda Yacht Design
- Interior Design: Javier Muñoz
- Owner's Representative: Iñigo Toledo
