Ultra-exclusive Zeelander 8 set for launch

The new flagship of Zeelander's ultra-exclusive fleet looks precisely how you would anticipate.

The new Zeelander 8 adopts the brand’s trademark lobster boat design with barely a straight line in sight.

It pursues the same painstaking attention to detail and almost obsessive focus on refinement.

And it uses the lovely extendable tumblehome transom that we’ve enjoyed so much on the Dutch brand’s smaller boats.

But there’s much more to the new Zeelander 8 than just style…

Zeelander 8: cruising practicalities

Preliminary drawings suggest that the new Zeelander 8 will offer three double cabins and space for up to three crew, as well as a drive-in tender garage, which builds on the system developed for the Zeelander 6 and 7.

There will be added flexibility at the bow too, thanks to a deep-set transverse lounge ahead of the extravagantly swept screen.

And in spite of its sheer scale, a quad rig of top-spec D13 IPs-1350s will see this boat to 40 knots while keeping sound levels in the saloon whisper-quiet at no more than 72dBa.

Can you actually afford one?

The first boat is due for delivery in the summer of 2024 but if precedent is anything to go by, the only thing more astonishing than the Zeelander 8’s ‘modern-classical’ beauty is likely to be the immensity of its ‘billionaire-baiting’ price tag…