Global Explorer

I received an e-mail today from Ron Holland, who is collaborating with Cheoy Lee on an exciting expedition yacht called the Marco Polo project. (See the Cheoy Lee 45-Meter Marco Polo design portfolio article we published a few months ago.)


He attended the sea trial last week, which went quite well; in fact, he says it met their highest expectations:

"The variable-pitch propeller and different power settings allow us to fine tune and confirm our original goals for long-distance fuel-efficiency operation (long-distance range will be over 6,000 NM!). We were also able to verify Marco Polo's handling and manoeuvring capability (bow and stern thruster control) and the unique "get home" capability of the forward Schottel Vector drive system (which is one of Marco Polo's outstanding unique safety features, without comparison in existing yachts)."

The yacht will be handed over to her owner in Hong Kong in July. More photos and a full feature story to come later this year in the pages of PMY.