LADY Kathryn V Bring together a top-notch team of designers, architects and builders with very experienced owners, and the result is Lürssen’s new 61 metre – a beautiful yacht with practical touches words: By Roger Lean-Vercoe photography: Klaus Jordan

Lady kat h r yn V Experience certainly counts when building a yacht; not just the experience of the designers A paean to the outdoor lifestyle (below), the sunbathing and dining area aft of the spa/ sundeck is furnished with steamer chairs and three large dining tables. The spa pool forward is overlooked by a large circular sunbed on the deck above (opposite) and the builders but, perhaps more important, the knowledge and dedication of the owners. In the case of Lady Kathryn V, it would have been hard to find a more talented team of designers than Espen Øino, who designed the exterior, Adam Lay...

The owners’ preference was for a traditionally panelled style and a layout that created smaller, intimate rooms with distinct functionality be found on many yachts of this size but the uppermost sky deck – a lofty and relaxing viewpoint – provides a wonderful ‘belvedere’, whose addition demonstrates the confidence of this yacht’s owners to ask for something different. Of course, the addition of side decks to Lady Kathryn V ’s bridge deck has, effectively, removed some interior capacity, but this voluminous yacht has ample to spare. Again, her knowledgeable owners had ideas on how a yacht should...

Warm wood and Chippendale-style furniture come together in the main deck saloon and the dining room further forward, a design counterpoint to the owners’ well-loved painting of a beach scene, which on this yacht has been set behind the Steinway (below)

On the main deck, the grand entrance to the yacht takes the form of an amazing atrium, clad with honey onyx Lady Kathryn V ’s main deck thus houses an intimate, comfortably furnished lounge in its aft portion from which an alcove extends forward, housing a Steinway grand piano opposite a superb Chippendale-style sideboard. The lack of windows beside the piano has been transformed by artwork into a purposeful design feature. The second room, just forward, is a totally delightful, fully enclosed, dining space that houses a superb 12 seater table, which at the twist of a handle, can be reduced to...

The master suite is yet another convincing justification of the owners’ call for smaller, more intimate rooms passageway leads to a cloakroom to store guests’ outerwear (an often omitted necessity) and on into the main deck pantry and galley, passing through the lift that unites the tank deck with the spa/sundeck. The lift’s two sets of doors that open to both the crew and guest areas, give it double functionality, as a service lift for the crew and a passenger lift for guests, while during formal dinners in the dining room both sets of doors can be left open to create an alternative service...

The suite’s true surprise is the balcony room whose secret entrance is concealed behind panelling in the bedroom The owners’ quarters feature a panelled study (above) with all traces of modernity concealed. The balcony room (below) is a stunning feature, where the hull door hinges down from a space behind the bedroom. The shower (right) is impressively large the railings and awning erected by the crew who, incidentally, can gain access without passing through the bedroom, this is an equally good spot for private relaxation on the two steamer chairs, or perhaps for a secluded breakfast. Five further...

Safety and functionality are important concerns on the bridge (above), where tried and tested equipment wins out over the latest high-tech. The seven metre Westport tenders (top) offer a range of uses from practical to formal consume some 545 litres per hour cruising at 12 knots. Forward of the guest cabins, the lower deck crew area has seven well sized cabins – six with twin bunks and one with three – to house the yacht’s maximum of 15 crew, while the captain is accommodated traditionally in a double cabin aft of the bridge. Like the other yachts in the series, Lady Kathryn V also has a sizeable...