You certainly can’t say that Reliant Yachts, the brainchild of industry veterans Jim Ewing and David MacFarlane, is stuck in a rut. The first boat they produced, the Commuter 40, was about as traditional a classic Downeast boat as you could get, with its beautiful tumblehome, wide teak decks, low profile and long sheerline. Although it was made in Turkey, its heart and soul clearly were in New England. The next two boats were different iterations of the first.
Now the company has announced the contract for a fourth boat, the Reliant X40, that redefines the genre. The X40, says Ewing, “is a modern interpretation of the express yacht and reflects the owner’s desire for a sporty, contemporary design that will be at home on the Riviera.” Indeed, the X40, scheduled to be delivered early next year, will be used as a luxury tender to a new mega-yacht being built in in Italy.
But shifting with the times is not new to MacFarlane and Ewing. MacFarlane is the former president and CEO of Alden, plus Cal, Ranger and Rampage. Ewing is the former executive VP of Alden and president of Trumpy (and also an accomplished artist, whose renderings now grace the pages of Soundings). And Ewing said he does not see the new X40 as a departure from their more traditional, classic designs. “Of course for a yacht to be truly classic it needs the context of time to establish historical merit,” he said, “but for any yacht that has achieved classic status, the fundamental principles most certainly were impeccable use of space, attention to detail in both styling and performance, and execution of the build.” And the X40 will have all that, he said.
A luxury yacht, the X40 will be built with carbon fiber composite and designed to reach a 40-knot top speed. It will have fingertip joystick control, a Seakeeper gyro stabilizer, removable top, leather seating, a genset, air conditioning and state-of-the-art electronics.
For more: http://reliantyachts.com
