Not all yachts are built to sit pretty. For some, it’s all about experiences and activities. When Guido Krass, founder of Australian shipyard SilverYachts, envisaged his 280-foot sports activity vessel Bold, a floating Range Rover is what came to mind. Now in its third year circumnavigating the world since its delivery, the yacht built for wild adventures is on the market for the first time.
European industrialist Krass, with his business suits and glasses, doesn’t look like your typical explorer. But then, the all-aluminum, anthracite gray Bold doesn’t look like your typical yacht.
Designed by Espen Øino, the fifth yacht in the Silver fleet marries a modern, glass-filled Manhattan loft interior with a rugged, military-style exterior.
The yacht’s stern becomes a playground with the toys, tenders and additional dock space.
Courtesy Moravia Yachting
“The design brief was for a hyper-masculine, sports pickup truck,” Capt. Todd Leech, Bold‘s captain, told Robb Report. “He wanted to go really fast and throw anything in the back.”
And by “anything,” he means two 34-foot tenders, a 20-foot cabin RIB tender (called Brave), Sea-Doos, laser sailing dinghies, transparent kayaks, mountain bikes, paddle-boards, surfboards, electric jet foils, kite surfboards, wakeboards, mono skis, multiple drones and a selection of foil boards.
The 4,300-square-foot aft deck contains a certified heli landing area that can accommodate a helicopter like the boat’s AW109–which Leech refers to as a “magic wand” since it can help create magic on shoreside visits. The aft sections of the bulwarks also unfold to create terraces over the water.
The main salon has a floor-to-ceiling immersive wall as well as full views of the exterior.
Courtesy Moravia Yachting
“Time and distance become irrelevant when you have a helicopter at your disposal,” says Leech. “A four-hour car ride is a 15-minute heli ride, so you can go fly-fishing at the perfect river, navigate mountains and reach remote locations with ease.”
The upper deck serves as a second heli-deck, which means Bold can carry two helicopters for heli-skiing or remote charters that need a self-rescue option.
When evening falls, a circus tent raised by the boat’s 43-foot crane transforms the aft deck into a lounge area of dreams, while the dedicated helicopter hangar doubles as a gym, yoga room or disco with an integrated sound, media and light system.
The cockpit area is one of 15 social areas across the boat.
Courtesy Moravia Yachting
The toy box is matched by the skill set among the 22-strong crew, who are divers, surfers and sailors. The helicopter pilot is a professional kitesurfing instructor. Leech himself is a keen surfer and professional diver. He’s currently learning to wing foil and takes on much of the yacht’s onboard photography and videography.
“We have a fairly casual owner who likes to blur the lines between crew and guests. If we’re enjoying a beautiful water sports day, the guests have fun and a group of the crew have fun with them. It makes for a great atmosphere,” says Leech.
Bold has the capacity to carry a submarine if charter guests or future owners desire it, though it’s not something that Krass is into: His priority was to be able to spend time on board and not feel like he was on a yacht.
The yacht’s winter garden can be fully enclosed with glass walls, but still allow full views of the water.
Courtesy Moravia Yachting
It’s achieved through the airy, open-plan interior, including a full-beam winter garden ringed by glass that can be neatly folded away, and a ludicrously roomy dedicated owner’s deck with a 3,229-square-foot sky lounge. The interior combines teak and oak panelling, metallic painted features and oak and marble flooring. It’s a design request that came into its own when Covid hit.
“The design spec was to enable him to spend two months aboard in one go, though I doubt he was ever really going to do that,” says Leech, who was build captain on the project. “I think one month would’ve been enough, but Covid changed the world. The whole family ended up spending three months on board together. Thank goodness the boat was designed to cope with an end-of-the-world scenario.”
Since her 21-day maiden voyage from Perth to Sardinia, Bold has covered over 90,000 nautical miles in three years, cruising from Fiji and Papua New Guinea through to Canada, the Caribbean, all the way through to the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Australia.
Its Airbus Corporate Helicopter circling the vessel at the Monaco Yacht Show.
Courtesy Guillaume Plisson
Bold’s 23-knot speed comes to the fore in areas like the Riviera, where bucket-list destinations, like Portofino and Monaco are 200 to 300 miles apart. Sitting in the Exumas in nine feet of water with its shallow draft is another advantage of the design.
During lockdown, cruising Nova Scotia without sighting another boat for days and sailing New York’s East River under the Hudson bridge without seeing another person for seven hours made for eerie experiences.
Key design features include a massage room that doubles as a hospital, a 16-person dining table, and on the sundeck, a Nikki-beach vibe with a Jacuzzi by day, and night club with a fire pit by evening. “We have around 15 different outdoor areas for socializing,” says Leech.
The heli-deck is an easy landing spot, while the helicopter can be stored in a special garage.
Courtesy Moravia Yachting
The yacht’s 5,500-nm range is matched by a nearly 800-gal. heli-fuel storage tank, the capacity for a year’s worth of frozen food and the ability to carry up to 96 passengers while cruising. For sleepovers, Bold can accommodate 16 guests across eight suites.
Next stop is southern Patagonia to sight the frostbitten Andes and icy fjords. It’s a first for Leech by boat, and the ideal location for Krass—who reportedly always has one boat in design, one in build and one in use—to enjoy his world explorer while planning the next evolution in the Silver fleet.
Bold is listed for sale with Moravia Yachting for an undisclosed amount.
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