What it takes to improve on “nearly perfect”

With extensive photography, video, and background material, Royal Huisman now shares Project 408, the new 65m / 212ft Aquarius. Built for returning owners who described their previous, Royal Huisman Aquarius as “nearly perfect”, the brief was not to reinvent, but to enhance comfort, performance, and space. Shaped by an experienced team and lessons learned, Aquarius opens a new chapter in superyacht elegance. 

“This Royal Huisman ketch eliminates compromise to exceed her owners’ expectations for speed and comfort”

The ultimate compliment clients can pay a shipyard is to return for a second vessel. But when these owners labeled their first yacht “nearly perfect”, the bar measuring excellence is set very high. This is precisely the story behind Royal Huisman’s second Aquarius delivered in 2025. Its meticulous brief called for the same elegance and family comfort as the world cruising ketch delivered to her experienced husband and wife owners in 2018, but with more volume and accommodations, and even more spirited sailing performance.

"We loved our first yacht, which was ‘perfection’ in our eyes. " 

The owners of Aquarius  

The brief called for an additional ensuite stateroom in the guest complement and one more double crew cabin. The owner's gym and media room would be enlarged. Beyond that were requests for a larger engine room and service areas and more storage to support longer passages. To accomplish this, volume would need to increase by 45 percent. Drawing a successor with greater length and beam was not the challenge. But ensuring this new 65m / 212ft edition would be faster and more responsive would mean the design and build team would be pulling out all the stops for a yacht with retro looks but rocket-like performance. The owners were clear that the perfect yacht for their lifestyle would also be capable of regatta success.

The value of collaboration and lessons learned

Having paid close attention to the development of their first custom build, including several shipyard visits during construction, and having been so pleased with the outcome, the owners found reassembling the original team for the next boat to be an easy decision, with owners’ project manager Godfrey Cray, captain James Turner, Dykstra Naval Architects, Mark Whitely Design, and superyacht builder Royal Huisman back for another round.

"We feel the extra length the most when we stand at the bow and look sternward! The foredeck is massive and the length is most apparent when looking aft from the bow.” 

The owners of Aquarius 

With the teamwork brief, the team, and the design strategy for the larger boat now established, the second Aquarius benefited from a highly credible list of 728 ideas compiled by the owner's captain and the crew. Based on their experience sailing with the family for six years, the list identified practical interior changes for daily living, smart maintenance improvements, and requests for more galley space, systems, and storage. Rather than an abstract wish list, these lessons learned in actual use dovetailed with the ambition to improve on "nearly perfect...

The photo book Aquarius in pictures: link (opens new tab). Or read on in the full press release with extensive photography and background material: link opens new tab