Linda lou
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Two toTango It takes a Lürssen and a Trinity to cover the dance floor for this cruising couple. 86 february 2007 | SHOWBOATS.COM

Building a custom yacht is not an exercise for the faint of heart. It takes vision, determination, patience, organization, knowledge and more than a little good humor. It is little wonder then that many yacht owners opt for semi-production boats or brokerage boats already proven on the high seas. Doug and Linda Von Allmen, however, are not like “many yacht owners.” Last fall they took delivery of two new and very different yachts, simultaneously, and they are still smiling and, by all accounts, quite sane. What is their secret? “Well, it wasn’t supposed to happen like that,” Linda Von...

Linda Lou {linda lou} (47.9-meter) semi-displacement Trinity with an interior by American-born Evan Marshall, who now resides in London. The Trinity, their second, is a tri-deck. The Lürssen, their first, has four decks. The Trinity has a flag-blue hull and a classic dark mahogany interior; the Lürssen is all white and features more contemporary styling and light woods. If it seems these boats are like night and day—that’s precisely the idea. They perfectly match their owners’ varied tastes and enable different cruising options. “Originally I contracted with Lürssen for a fifty-meter...

There was only one problem: As the couple got to talking about the boat, they realized how much Linda likes boating in Florida and the Bahamas. The Lürssen’s draft posed a barrier to trips to Florida’s Key Largo Ocean Reef Club, the slip behind the couple’s Fort Lauderdale home and most of the islands they frequented. Doug went back to the boat show. The Von Allmen’s last Lady Linda had been a Trinity, the 150-foot ex-Bellini. The product and the people were a known entity. “Doug came to the stand, and the first thing I did was show him a list of thirty-five improvements we had made to our...

Linda Lou The full-beam master suite has a generous sitting area to starboard. Lacquered lacewood furnishings harmonize with peach-colored Ambra onyx. and whose work has graced many a big Benetti. Meanwhile, the Trinity’s space planning was being revised by the yard’s design team led by Geoff van Aller. They all began with the same directions: Make the windows big, the spaces flow and the decks open; eliminate hallways where possible and tighten up sprawling staircases. Interestingly, the owners chose not to compromise the designs to appeal to charter, which might have suggested that the...

The bridge-deck lounge (above and right) incorporates lots of seating and a dance floor. The top-deck panorama lounge (below) is finished in Spinneybeck leather and teak. Shortly after the layouts were approved, the Von Allmens decided to bring Evan Marshall aboard to help create the Trinity’s classic interior. Marshall was already involved in another project at the yard, Zoom Zoom Zoom, and the Von Allmens had met him, coincidentally, at a Lürssen party years ago and worked with him developing plans for a house in St. Louis, Missouri. Marshall’s ideas for bridging American and English...

Linda Lou A sunny lounge (top) fronts the Jacuzzi forward of the panorama lounge. Outdoor seating is found everywhere, such as in this cozy corner on the bridge deck (right). lacewood on the bridge deck and teak in the panorama lounge. “We just pull up On the main deck, the gloss joinery gets an extra lift from gold grillwork in an “X” and “O” deco motif. Rather than contort air anchor and travel to flow while trying to hide or minimize the air-conditioning ducts, wherever we like Zuretti boldly made the ventilation part of the crown molding, in the view.” a pattern that mimics the light...

Reader’s Resource: Linda Lou Lürssen Yachts, Zum Alten Speicher 11, 28759 Bremen-Vegesack, Germany, tel: +49 421 6604 166, fax: +49 421 6604 170, www.lurssen.com Builder: Lürssen Yachts Year launched: 2006 Naval architecture: Lürssen, styling by Espen Øino Naval Architects Interior design: François Zuretti/ owner Exterior styling: Espen Øino/owner Owner’s representative: Ingo Pfotenhauer Classification/certification: Lloyd’s ✠100 A1 SSC Yacht Mono G6 LMC UMS, MCA compliant LOA: 196'10" (60.00 m) Beam: 37'6" (11.47 m) Draft: 11'6" (3.50 m) Max. speed: 16.2 kn Cruising speed: 14 kn Range:...

Lady Linda {lady linda} Another design feature shared by the yachts is the gallery-style approach to the master suites, both of which feature beautiful decorative elements extending forward of their foyers such as beautiful inlaid stone floors, backlit glass panels and artistic overhead details. They both also feature handsome wine cabinets. The entrée to both staterooms is through an office area. On Linda Lou, the focal point is a chic, freestanding deco desk in zebrawood; on Lady Linda the desk is an Italian antique reproduction. “I thought Doug would use the office on Linda Lou, but it...

a hand-painted ceiling soffit of sky and fluffy clouds. “It’s something I love to do because yachts rarely have a place for large pieces of art. In the salon, for example, we created a dramatic focal point with the hand-painted mural next to the dining table. The mural actually covers storage cabinets, but it brings something unique to the room,” said Marshall. “Throughout the project, when we talked about furniture, hardware, fabrics and accessories, Linda always asked, ‘Is this being done elsewhere?’ or, ‘Are you using this on other projects?’ She doesn’t want to follow a trend. She...

Lady Linda Lady Linda’s master suite (above) features emerald, rainforest and light green onyx to contrast the joinery. There are three king-size staterooms (right) on the lower deck. Lady Linda. It took Evan and I a while to convince Doug these really were the right stools.” Responding to a question of whether there was any sense of competition or favored status between the two yachts and their build teams, the owners’ representative, Ingo Pfotenhauer, echoed the “no” that others involved with the builds gave to the same question. Both yachts, for example, feature rare and exquisite stone...