In 2016, Graeme Hart took possession of the 107.4-meter Andromeda, formerly known as Ulysses, a robust and versatile explorer designed to accommodate a 21-meter multihull on its foredeck. Now, eight years later and under new ownership, Hart’s vision endures, albeit with a hull color change and updated fairing. This 2016 feature from the BOAT International archives, by Stewart Campbell, provides an in-depth exploration of Andromeda.
Andromeda possesses an enchanting and wide-eyed charm. If you gathered a group of 10-year-old kids, fueled them with sugar, and tasked them with designing a boat, it might very well resemble this vessel—complete with a remarkable inventory: six motorbikes, two ATVs, a helicopter, a twin-hulled 50-knot support boat, a Sealegs amphibious RIB, and a full-on landing craft. It’s like a Tonka truck with a hull—an iceberg-dodging, wave-crunching, mile-munching, ocean-eating, horizon-conquering monster. The 107-meter explorer yacht appears strikingly out of place when first spotted, anchored off genteel Cap d’Antibes, with no snowy peak or dreamy atoll in sight. Despite being a fair distance offshore, it still dominates the horizon.
Eclipse is also present, but from a distance, it’s challenging to discern that the Blohm+Voss yacht is 55 meters longer than Andromeda, whose 6,000 gross tonnes and six decks tower above the waterline. Its toughest-kid-in-the-anchorage aesthetic was a bold statement from its commissioning owner, Kiwi billionaire Graeme Hart, and his collaborator on the exterior styling, Kyle Dick, of OscarMike Naval Architects in New Zealand. Hart emphasizes that the portrayal of strength is not misleading; Andromeda is a boat meant to be utilized to the fullest, embodying a theme of cruising without limits. Dick notes their aim was to achieve an “expedition style with real presence,” and they succeeded.
Andromeda marked Graeme Hart’s fifth superyacht (his sixth, the 116-meter Ulysses, was delivered by the Norwegian yard Kleven in 2018). Each step up the chain in yacht size, from a 49-meter Feadship to the current 6,000GT Andromeda, reflects Hart’s pursuit of the perfect balance in three key elements: seakeeping, volume, and support.
Hart explains, “I’ve always aimed for the best seakeeping because, in a Force 9 gale, people can get pretty fragile.” Volume is the second element, allowing for comfortable gatherings of friends and family without overcrowding. The progression from a 49-meter Feadship to a 1,000 gross tonne boat and now Andromeda at 6,000GT reflects this pursuit of optimal volume.
The third element, support, revolves around tender operations and various activities. Hart, shaped by an active boating lifestyle in New Zealand, stresses the importance of having a suite of support activities on board. From biking in the landing craft to helicopter reconnaissance, Andromeda is equipped for a diverse range of adventures.
