A British Royal Yacht for the 21st Century

Michael Bond, designer of the luxury high performance Rumbler 505 Sport Tank supercar offers his own vision of a future 21st Century Royal Yacht in response to the issues raised by the British Prime Minister Mr Boris Johnson.

May 2021 and the British Prime Minister Mr Johnson promotes the idea of building a new Royal Yacht to show the world that Britain will continue to play a major role in the world economy. A showcase for British talent and a floating exhibition of the best of British engineering and design, the Royal Yacht would be a long term investment to help stimulate new trade around the world.

To support Mr Johnson in this ambition Michael Bond, designer of the Rumbler 505 Sport Tank, the high performance luxury sports car inspired by the superhero comicbook Batmobile, offers his own interpretation of such a Royal Yacht for the 21st Century: The High Liner superyacht.

High Liner

The High Liner is a bold, dramatic style that embodies recent innovations in hull design, luxuries for the most powerful royal personage in the world and a wide range of facilities for practicality and pleasure.

Able to stand on par with the scale and style of modern superyachts, the High Liner features the latest in X-Bow design for a smooth voyage across oceans and a spacious interior across several decks to deliver a wide range of accommodation, conference, exhibition and leisure facilities.

Like all superyachts the stern features an amply-equipped Beach Club opening from the sides and stern when at anchor. This gives ample additional space for any use the owner desires. Additional side hatches open for a visitors’ reception midships and larger access to a forward garage to carry everything needed for leisure, promotional demonstration of new products and active security for any Royal owner.

That owner can have one private deck to themselves, for their personal quarters and staff secured from the rest of the ship when required.

The top deck extends almost the whole length of the ship, providing ample space for outdoor activities, banquets, conferences or just a sun/sport deck for a private owner and guests. This is also the flight deck for a rear helipad and lift down into a modest hangar for upto five advanced helicopter designs that can be provided as part of the purchase package. At the bow the fight desk sweeps up a few degrees as a ski jump for micro jumpjets, drones or other specialist aircraft.

Midships, ascending from visitor reception up to the top deck is a broad viewing gallery and core atrium. This opens up the interior decks into a central space to enjoy the outside view in safety and comfort. This becomes a focal point for casual meetings and conversation, with space for terraced gardens and calming waterfall feature if desired. With a suitable interior this could also offer space for a theatre for lectures, conferences or entertainment.

Carbon-Neutral

Michael Bond’s work for the Rumbler Sport Tank is translated into the High Liner through the new hybrid carbon-neutral engine system. This aims to deliver more power-to-weight than conventional engines and drive the ship at higher speeds for sprints when needed using stern jets rather than propellers. The cleaner carbon-neutral engine technology inherent in this system has the potential to deliver a world export industry worth, in Michael’s estimation, many billions of pounds a year and thousands of British manufacturing jobs if fully approved by the government.

Hull Design and Options

The High Liner is designed to function as an expedition superyacht, capable of safe and comfortable exploration into arctic environments. This includes some ice breaker capability if any owner wishes to explore the most extreme frozen ends of the world. This is another reason for the extensive enclosure of the upper structure, insulated, air conditioned and hardened against extreme weather and sea conditions likely to be met anywhere in the world.

In designing the High Liner Michael Bond has considered the option of producing a limited edition set of several hulls and a series of customised designs of the upper structure to provide a unique experience and style for each owner. This allows the core design and construction costs to be distributed across a range of vessels for several customers, while sharing the core technology for ease of support.

The core design is also adaptable for military use, creating budget micro-aircraft carrier or long range high endurance patrol and survey vessels for other clients who want to take advantage of the High Liner.

Finance

The Prime Minister Johnson is proposing a £200 million cost for a future Royal Yacht. Michael Bond believes that this is far too inadequate for a true representation of British design and engineering excellence expressed in the High Liner if it is to compare well with the superyachts owned by other heads of state and private ultra-rich owners. However, by merging the High Liner into a series production of several ships for private and military/security clients and integrating the business model into the plans for the limited edition Sport Tank Michael believes it is possible to deliver the Royal Yacht, subject to British government approval, at substantially lower cost while creating and sustaining hundreds of jobs in British manufacturing.

Subject to approval, funding and the success of the development Michael has already identified a need for at least two High Liners to private clients with more likely to follow.

Press Information

If you wish to view and use the illustrations for press purposes suitable imagery is available here: GreyScale High Liner & Colour high Liner