As the name suggests, Project Meteor is a futuristic concept craft with out-of-this-world styling.
The design is the result of a collaboration between Dutch naval architects Vripack, who were responsible for the design inside and out, and Van der Velden, a family owned yard specialising in custom-built metal boats.
Project Meteor is an 82ft all-aluminium hard-chine sports coupé with a maximum beam of 24ft 7in. Thanks to an unusual reverse-angled glass transom and a swooping hard top that stretches all the way aft, its profile has more in common with supercars than boats.
The proposed powertrain is pretty meteoric, too – no less than three 1,920hp MTU diesel engines hooked up to MJP waterjets. This will give it a predicted top speed of 41 knots and a fast cruise of 27 knots, even when fully loaded.
Just as importantly it will keep the draft down to a mere 3ft 9in, allowing it to creep into shallow anchorages. The interior is equally otherworldly with a split-level saloon that drops down from the raised helm, dining and bar area forward to a more intimate sea-level lounge at the stern.
Surrounded on three sides by glass and with a 10ft opening sunroof overhead, this should be a great place to sit and relax, either at anchor or when powering along. A section of the glass transom folds down to create a bathing platform and grant access to the interior.
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Just two large doubles occupy the lower deck, each on slightly different levels to maximise headroom under the saloon. Both have their beds set diagonally across the beam with bathrooms behind the bedheads.
Up front there’s room for a crew cabin with discreet access from the foredeck and a deck locker large enough to store a personal watercraft, presumably with a crane to lift it in and out. The anchor is stowed on a fold- out stem to keep it safely out of sight.
Van der Velden has built around 25 motoryachts since it was founded in 2006. Its largest to date is the aluminium fast-displacement 112ft trideck explorer superyacht, Lady Lene, which launched in October 2021.
