Elandess
| 74.5 m LOA, 12.8 m beam, 2,065 GT | |
| Delivered 2018, sold 2022 and renamed M'Brace | |
| Exterior and interior by Harrison Eidsgaard | |
| Semi-submerged Neptune lounge glazed above and below the waterline | |
| 8 m sundeck pool, 22 tonnes, warmed by waste heat recovery | |
| Twin Caterpillar engines, 16 knots top, about 6,000 nm range | |
| 12 guests in six staterooms | |
| Four BOAT International Design and Innovation Awards |
The Neptune lounge
The room that defines Elandess sits at the waterline in the bow, a lounge whose oversized windows extend from above the surface to below it. Guests sit in armchairs and watch the sea split across the glass, half sky and half underwater world. In harbour it is a curiosity, on passage it becomes the most requested space aboard, and nothing else in the fleet resembles it. On a moving sea the view changes by the second, half light and half deep water, which is exactly the theatre the room was designed to deliver.
Building glazing through the waterline of a classed steel yacht is a structural and regulatory problem most yards politely decline. Abeking & Rasmussen engineered the apertures, the glass and the surrounding structure to satisfy class without diluting the effect. The lounge is the clearest example in the fleet of the yard treating an ambitious design idea as an engineering assignment instead of a negotiation.
Harrison Eidsgaard, bow to stern
The London studio Harrison Eidsgaard drew Elandess outside and in, giving her a taut, athletic profile with a near-vertical bow, a dark blue hull and a superstructure that steps back in clean, low tiers. The design earned its recognition formally when Elandess collected four awards at the BOAT International Design and Innovation Awards, spanning her exterior styling, interior design and layout.
Inside, the studio arranged accommodation for 12 guests across six staterooms, with an owner's suite positioned for privacy and light. The interior language is contemporary and calm, built around natural materials and long sightlines to the sea. Where Amaryllis argued for ornament, Elandess argues for restraint, and together they bracket the range of what the yard executes with equal conviction.
Glass through the waterline, 22 tonnes of pool in the sky, and four design awards to show for it.
Twenty-two tonnes of water on the sundeck
Her second signature sits at the top of the yacht, a pool eight metres long and two and a half wide, holding 22 tonnes of fresh water high above the waterline. Weight at that height is the enemy of stability, and carrying it took naval architecture of real seriousness, tank arrangements, structural reinforcement and a stability book written around the load.
The detail worth repeating at dinner is that the pool is warmed by waste heat recovered from the yacht's own systems, comfort engineered out of energy that would otherwise vent to the sky. It is a small item on the specification sheet and a precise indicator of the house culture, in which even indulgences are expected to be thermodynamically respectable.
Numbers an owner actually uses
Elandess runs on twin Caterpillar engines of 2,000 hp each, good for 16 knots at the top and a 14 knot cruise, with a range in the region of 6,000 nautical miles. Her 2,065 GT of volume rides on a 12.8 metre beam over a steel hull and aluminium superstructure, the yard's standard construction executed to its standard tolerances.
The operational profile this produces is the point, transatlantic legs without bunkering anxiety, quiet efficient cruising and machinery any port engineer in the world can support. A crew of around 21 runs her. Nothing in the engineering package chases headlines, because the headlines were reserved for the Neptune lounge and the pool, which is exactly the division of ambition a disciplined yard should offer.
A clean history and a strong sale
Elandess was delivered in 2018, cruised extensively under her original owner and was sold on the brokerage market in late 2022, continuing her career under the name M'Brace. A 74 metre yacht changing hands within a few years of delivery, counted by the trade press among the notable sales of her year, is a liquidity event that tells buyers the market prices Lemwerder pedigree with confidence.
For a prospective client of the yard she remains the reference project for design ambition delivered without drama, on a scale large enough to prove the point while keeping the intimacy of a true family yacht. Ask a broker to name the most complete Abeking & Rasmussen of the last decade and Elandess is the answer that comes back most often, usually delivered without a pause for thought.
Engines and systems
| Main engines | 2 x Caterpillar 3516C DI-TA S.C.A.C. Series II, 1,492 kW (2,000 hp) each. One source names the model 3516B instead - a minor discrepancy; the power figure agrees across sources. |
|---|---|
| Propulsion | Shaft drive, twin 5-blade fixed-pitch propellers. |
| Generators | 3 x Caterpillar C18 SCAC, 438 kW each at 1,500 rpm. |
| Stabilizers | Quantum Marine XT non-retractable active fins. |
| Thrusters | Brunvoll electric bow tunnel thruster, 240 kW; Voith electric stern thruster, 200 kW. |
| Tankage | 150,000 litres fuel; 30,000 litres fresh water. |
| Speed and range | Top speed 16 to 16.5 knots depending on source; cruise 14 to 14.5 knots; range about 6,000 nm, though sources disagree whether that figure is quoted at economic cruise or at 12 knots specifically. |
| Hull | Steel hull, aluminium superstructure; classed Lloyd's Register; flagged Cayman Islands; 2,065 GT, 12.8 m beam, 3.45 m draft. |
| Signature glazing | Neptune lounge glass wall supplied by GL Yachtverglasung, panels up to 490kg, crane-installed. No storm shutters fitted - the yard's project manager said the panels' own strength made them unnecessary. |
| Crew | Reported as 23 or 24 depending on source. |
What owners and crew report
Owner satisfied with the finished yacht
"I think the boat exceeds our expectations. She's sleek, solid and incredibly comfortable," the commissioning owner told BOAT International on delivery. BOAT International's own feature kept him anonymous as "the owner"; press including the South China Morning Post and autoevolution independently name him as Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman.
Lloyd Dorfman, commissioning owner (named by SCMP/autoevolution; BOAT International's own feature quoted him anonymously)The family-suite layout was built for real multi-generational use, not for show
"We certainly put the family suites' arrangements through their paces this summer," the owner said of the six cabins that combine into three suites for his children and grandchildren.
Lloyd Dorfman, commissioning ownerThe hidden bridge keeps the working wheelhouse undisturbed by guests
"No obvious access to the bridge from guest areas keeps it a quiet and focused workspace," said the yacht's captain.
Chris May, Captain of ElandessThe Neptune lounge's glazing fell entirely outside existing classification rules
"There is nothing like it in the rules. It's not prohibited, but just not considered in the existing rules," said the owner's technical representative on the build, on the extra risk assessment needed to get the below-waterline glass approved by Lloyd's Register and the flag state.
Edmund (Ed) Beckett, Burgess Technical Services, owner's representative on the build
What is good, and what to watch
Strong points
- A genuinely novel, award-winning loungeThe Neptune lounge's glass wall extends roughly a third below the waterline in panels near 10cm thick, some weighing 490kg and crane-installed. It helped Elandess sweep four categories at the BOAT International Design and Innovation Awards in January 2019.
- Family-first engineering, stress-tested by the family it was built forSix near-identical cabins combine via concealed connecting doors into three suites for three generations of one family, a layout the owner said was actually used hard over a full summer rather than left for the brochure.
- A quiet owner's suite verified against the build contractBOAT International reported the master suite measured around 10 decibels below the yard's own contracted noise target - a checkable result, not a vague comfort claim.
What to watch
- The bespoke glazing has no established repair pathwayBy the owner's own technical rep's account, the Neptune lounge structure sits outside existing classification-society rules and was approved through bespoke risk assessment. Any future repair or reglazing likely needs the same non-standard engineering review rather than an off-the-shelf process.
- A long-range displacement profile, not a fast yachtCross-checked specifications converge on 16 to 16.5 knots top speed and 14 knot cruise - a deliberate steel-hull tradeoff for range and comfort, but not a yacht built for speed at 74.5 metres.
Practical detail
| Build cost | Reported at roughly EUR 87m / USD 115m at delivery in 2018 (SCMP, autoevolution) - not a figure the yard has disclosed itself. |
|---|---|
| 2022 sale | Sold 2 December 2022, brokered by Dominic Millman (Burgess, seller's side) and Glenn Runyan (Seattle Yachts, buyer's side); last asking price was EUR 130m. Neither broker disclosed the actual transacted price, so reports citing a sale figure are repeating the asking price. |
| Current name and ownership | Renamed M'Brace after the 2022 sale. Current ownership has never been officially confirmed - some outlets attribute her to Michael Jordan, but no broker, registry or the person himself has confirmed it, so treat that as unverified. |
| Charter | Sources disagree: YachtCharterFleet lists her actively chartering from USD 880,000/week plus expenses, sleeping 12 guests, while RU Yachts' own brokerage listing for the same hull states she is currently not for sale and not available for charter. |
| What is not published | No verified annual running cost, no confirmed current owner, and no confirmed actual 2022 sale price - only the asking price is on record. |
Questions owners ask
How big is the Abeking & Rasmussen Elandess?
74.5 m LOA, 12.8 m beam, 2,065 GT. Delivered 2018, sold 2022 and renamed M'Brace.
Who is the Abeking & Rasmussen Elandess for?
An owner who wants award-grade contemporary design with engineering signatures no sistership can copy.
What is the Abeking & Rasmussen Elandess good at?
A genuinely novel, award-winning lounge. The Neptune lounge's glass wall extends roughly a third below the waterline in panels near 10cm thick, some weighing 490kg and crane-installed. It helped Elandess sweep four categories at the BOAT International Design and Innovation Awards in January 2019.
What are the drawbacks of the Abeking & Rasmussen Elandess?
The bespoke glazing has no established repair pathway. By the owner's own technical rep's account, the Neptune lounge structure sits outside existing classification-society rules and was approved through bespoke risk assessment. Any future repair or reglazing likely needs the same non-standard engineering review rather than an off-the-shelf process.
What do owners and crew report about the Abeking & Rasmussen Elandess?
"I think the boat exceeds our expectations. She's sleek, solid and incredibly comfortable," the commissioning owner told BOAT International on delivery. BOAT International's own feature kept him anonymous as "the owner"; press including the South China Morning Post and autoevolution independently name him as Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman. (Lloyd Dorfman, commissioning owner (named by SCMP/autoevolution; BOAT International's own feature quoted him anonymously))
Who it is for: An owner who wants award-grade contemporary design with engineering signatures no sistership can copy.