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LIONHEART Claasen Jachtbouw

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In Photo: Striking J-Class sailing ...

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Hoek-designed 43,40m (142ft) sailing yacht Lionheart is the first of a breed of aluminium J-Class yachts, with a refit by Pendennis is 2015 and another on in 2019/2020 by Huisfit at Royal Huisman. Originally designed for the Ranger syndicate by Starling Burgess and Olin Stephens, superyacht Lionheart was launched in 2010 as the largest J afloat. Lionheart is all aluminium, which is unusual for other Js, and her 17-metre (56 foot) overhang is making her a very special sailing yacht.

NOTABLE FEATURES: ~ One of the most popular racing yachts in the world ~ Superb performance & capabilities ~ Winner of Superyacht Regattas and the J Class Regattas

From the comfort point of view, Hoek Design also gave Lionheart yacht two deckhouses and two cockpits, with one of each reserved for the owner. The owner’s cockpit leads into his suite as well. This method of ensuring privacy is one that Hoek Design has previously engaged aboard yachts like Adele and Athos.

For the racing aspect on the other hand, Hoek Design made sure that the J class super yacht Lionheart would be stiff. She employs horizontal stringers as a result, making her weigh more, however definitely fulfilling the stiffness need. Hoek Design also analyzed the performance of all the J-Class yachts built back in their heyday as well as the newer ones, to analyze what could be achieved with Lionheart superyacht. And, as expected of a proper racer, Hall Spars built the spars, and Harken carbon winches were chosen.

LIONHEART Specifications

Luxury yacht Lionheart measures 44 metres and is a genuine super J with a maximum waterline length. The hull is built in high tensile Alustar plating and extrusion materials to provide maximum stiffness. Hoek Design also performed carried extensive research into the masts and sails in order to enhance Lionheart’s racing performance. Built to MCA classification, Lionheart represents one of the very few J-Class yachts available for charter.

2015 Refit: The 2015 refit of the beautiful J Class yacht LIONHEART at Pendennis included her five-year survey programme and exterior paint.

Yacht Accommodation

LIONHEART can accommodate a maximum of 8 guests in 4 cabins.

Amenities and Extras

We do have available further amenity, owner and price information for the 43.40m (142') yacht LIONHEART, so please enquire for more information.

LIONHEART Disclaimer:

The luxury yacht LIONHEART displayed on this page is merely informational and she is not necessarily available for yacht charter or for sale, nor is she represented or marketed in anyway by CharterWorld. This web page and the superyacht information contained herein is not contractual. All yacht specifications and informations are displayed in good faith but CharterWorld does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the current accuracy, completeness, validity, or usefulness of any superyacht information and/or images displayed. All boat information is subject to change without prior notice and may not be current.

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"She must be aesthetically pleasing to the eye and completely balanced in terms of appearance and performance, both inside and out. All our yachts share details which make them easily recognisable; timeless above-water appearances with a modern performance configuration below enabling our Owners to cruise the world in comfort and style." - Hoek Design

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Claasen Shipyards

J -class lionheart, finalist world superyacht awards. claasen jachtbouw in zaandam is proud to announce that the 43.90m sailing yacht lionheart is nominated for the world superyacht awards..

She was chosen out of 100 yachts together with seven other yachts in the category Sailing Yachts 30 to 45 meter.

Lionheart is accompanied by: Che by Sunreef Yachts, Clear Eyes by Pax Navi, Imagine by Alloy Yachts / Dubois, Ipharra by Sunreef Yachts, Lady B by Vitters / Dubois, Nilaya by Baltic / Reichel Pugh and Thalima by Southern Wind Shipyard.

Lionheart is designed for cruising as well as racing, and is therefore being built to MCA classification. She is one of the very few J-Class yachts available for charter as the majority are not built to class. Her deck layout shows two small deckhouses with sleek and low profiles as well as two small cockpit areas.

The aluminium hull was constructed at Freddie Bloemsma’s specialist hull yard. Lionheart is the 17th yacht built to Hoek Design drawings by Claasen. Construction management was in the hands of Nigel Ingram of Marine Construction Management in Newport, USA.

She is the largest J in existence. Tremendous 17-metre overhangs on a LOA of 44 meters have created a fascinating super J.No expense has been spared to ensure that she is competitive on the race course, utilizing Hall Spars vast experience to build the carbon spars, and Harkens race proven carbon winches. www.jclassyachts.com

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• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

J Class Lionheart on the move

• September 4, 2008

One of a number of new J Class yachts was moved through the Dutch canal system recently to Claasen Jachtbau

Here’s Lionheart, one of a new batch of J Class yachts taking shape in Holland. The picture shows the black painted aluminium hull arriving yesterday by barge at Claasen Jachtbau near Amsterdam from her fabricators Freddie Bloemsma. Today she was due to be moved onto hard standing where her main engine and generators were to be installed before being manoeuvred into a shed where she will be completed. She’s not due to launch until 2010.

Lionheart is a version of one of the seven Ranger models submitted by Olin Stephens and Starling Burgess in 1936 to Harold Vanderbilt who eventually defended the America’s Cup in 1937 against Endeavour 11. The existing, new Ranger with her distinctive ‘barrel’ bow was the yacht Vanderbilt chose but Lionheart is based on another model, which, of course, was never taken any further.

Andre Hoek, the Dutch naval architect who designed the modern, full size interpretation of the yacht, said that most of the bow detail in the original drawing had never been completed so he was able to work on this to the satisfaction of the owner. For more detail and pictures of Lionheart plus more J Class news read the October and November issues of Yachting World.

Lionheart, JH1

Original lines: Burgess/Stephens / Modified lines: Hoek Design & Naval Architects

Image Credit:

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Lionheart is the first modern replica J Class to be built in aluminium and was launched in July 2010. The original owner who commissioned JH1 was a repeat client of Andre Hoek who had then simply sought to build the fastest J Class yet.

Hoek developed their own VPP (velocity prediction program) software to analyse all the existing J Class designs before CFD and traditional tank testing with 6 metre long models. Hoek identified the J Class Ranger as outstanding from a family of seven Burgess and Stephens designs which were originally submitted to Harold Vanderbilt in 1936, and it was this design that was used for Lionheart.

The design showed exceptional promise as a very good all-rounder, fast on all points of sail in light, medium and heavy winds. Designed at 43.4m she was to be the longest on the waterline at the time.

In terms of deck and rig hardware, Lionheart fully utilised modern superyacht and grand prix race yacht technology where appropriate, significantly moving forwards J Class construction and specification using the most powerful winches and hydraulic systems available to optimise sail handling and trimming, keep all up weight down and to deal with the high rig loads.

Lionheart is the first J Class to have adopted a double cockpit layout with a private owners’ cockpit and deckhouse aft of the wheel and, forward of the wheel, a large guest cockpit leading to the main companionway and deckhouse. This allows the working area of the boat to be separated from the guests, improves communications between the afterguard and allows more of the working crew to work inside a cockpit rather than on the deck.

True to that original promise, Lionheart has been the standout performer on the race course since she was launched. From 2014 when they won in Menorca, Palma and Sardinia until 2017 when she won the seven boat J Class Superyacht Regatta and the J Class America’s Cup in Bermuda, followed by the inaugural J Class World Championship in Newport RI.

Then under the guidance of tactician Bouwe Bekking, the Lionheart project evolved to the highest level thanks to their desire to improve as a team. Each regatta saw Lionheart make comprehensive daily briefings and debriefings, they optimised their performance package and trained hard as a team. And over the years the owner became one of the most accomplished, competitive helms in the fleet. Bekking retained key core crew from the Brunel round the world race programme he skippered.

Lionheart has cruised extensively since 2017 and was expected to return to the race course in 2023 before their plans were put on hold.

Length at waterline

displacement

upwind sail area

spinnaker sail area

2013 Saint Barths Bucket

Lionheart 2nd

2013 Superyacht Cup Palma

2013 les voiles de saint-tropez.

Lionheart 3rd

2014 Menorca Maxi

Lionheart wins

2014 Superyacht Cup Palma

2014 maxi yacht rolex cup, 2015 j class falmouth regatta, 2015 rys bicentenary regatta cowes, 2016 maxi yacht rolex cup.

Lionheart wins on countback with Velsheda

2016 Les Voiles de Saint Tropez

2017 saint barths bucket, 2017 america’s cup superyacht regatta, bermuda, 2017 j class america’s cup regatta, 2017 j class world championships, newport.

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J Class yacht: Lionheart

With the launch of the new J Class Lionheart the renaissance of this classic, 1930s racing class continues to deliver outstanding, elegant and powerful yachts. While the use of modern materials and new design technology is permitted with replica J Class yachts and strict rules are applied to the hull shape, each new design is subtly different and Lionheart successfully combines comfort and outstanding looks with breathtaking sailing.

A fundamental tenet of the modern J Class rule is the hull design, which must be based on one of the original 18 1930s J Class designs from the drawing boards of L Francis Herreshoff, Frank C Paine, Charles Nicholson, the American design duo of W Starling Burgess and Olin Stephens, and Swedish designer Tore Holm.

When the owner contacted the Hoek Design office in 2005, five of the 18 designs were already taken. Intensive research indicated that, potentially, the fastest hull design available was one of the five Burgess/Stephens designs submitted to Harold Vanderbilt for the original Ranger, but discarded. Quickly, the designs for Ranger 77F Model were reserved and the J Class Lionheart project moved a further step forward.

Construction of the yacht’s aluminium hull was undertaken at Bloemsma Aluminiumbouw in Makkum, northern Holland, before shipment south via barge to Claasen Jachtbouw for all interior work and system-fitting.

The yacht’s Burgess/Stephens-Ranger design-DNA is immediately apparent in the soft knuckle at the bow, unlike the ‘English’ Charles Nicholson Js with their uninterrupted sweep of the hull forward producing needle-sharp bows.

A second, striking impression is the double cockpit layout with a private owner’s cockpit and deckhouse aft of the wheel and a large guest cockpit leading to the main deckhouse and companionway forward of the wheel. While the J Class Association has strict rules for replica hull designs, the deck layout is a matter of personal choice as long as the overall appearance is in keeping with the original J Class style.

This layout overcomes the problems of an exposed helm position and cramped seating when the small, dayboat-style cockpit is used for sail storage when racing. Its benefits are clear with the exhilaration of standing behind the exquisite binnacle and helming unbounded by a cockpit combing, yet clear of the mainsheet and traveller and in close communication with crew or guests sitting in the large, forward cockpit.

The interior of J Class Lionheart is intentionally simple and practical, based on the owner’s belief that 90 per cent of the time on board is spent on deck. For the crew area forward of the mast additional sail storage space has been sacrificed for extra accommodation on the premise that a cramped crew is more likely to jump ship after the first cruise or regatta.

The guest accommodation consists of three twin cabins and the owner’s full-beam cabin furthest aft, each with an en suite head and shower. J Class rules forbid portholes, so the guest cabins have skylights, while the owner’s cabin is filled with light from the aft deckhouse, which also provides immensely comfortable interior seating or a pilot berth with views to the horizon from the large side windows.

Under sail, the experience is unlike any other breed of yacht. Although stanchions and guardrails can be fitted for cruising or offshore voyages, when removed, the lack of obstruction provides an incredible view along the sweep of the varnished toe rail to the uncluttered foredeck and aft across the enormous stern overhang.

Lionheart is an exceptional addition to the J Class fleet and has brought a new approach to many aspects of replica J Class design. How she will match up to the five existing Js on the race course is yet to be seen.

Photography by Ed Holt

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Yacht, IMO 1012323

• VesselFinder
• Miscellaneous

The current position of LIONHEART is at West Mediterranean reported 4 mins ago by AIS. The vessel LIONHEART (IMO 1012323, MMSI 249613000) is a Yacht built in 2016 (8 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Malta .

Position & Voyage Data

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Recent port calls, vessel particulars.

LIONHEART current position and history of port calls are received by AIS. Technical specifications, tonnages and management details are derived from VesselFinder database. The data is for informational purposes only and VesselFinder is not responsible for the accuracy and reliability of LIONHEART data.