Bilgin 163
| 49.95 m LOA (163 ft), 9.25 m beam, 499 GT | |
| Two hulls delivered | Eternal Spark June 2024, Camila May 2025 |
|---|---|
| Both hulls sold before delivery, in 2022 and 2023 | |
| Twin Caterpillar C32 engines, 16.5 knots top, 12 knots cruise | |
| Range around 5,000 nm, displacement steel hull with aluminium superstructure | |
| 12 guests in 6 suites, crew of 10 | |
| 21 m sundeck with jacuzzi, sunken beach club with sauna and ice fountain | |
| Exterior and naval architecture by Unique Yacht Design, interiors by Hot Lab | |
Four guest decks under 500 gross tonnes
The 163 was conceived around a simple piece of arithmetic. Below 500 GT a yacht escapes a tier of manning, class and compliance obligations that adds permanent weight to running costs, and most builders answer the constraint with three decks somewhere in the mid 40 metre range. Bilgin drew a 49.95 metre hull with four open plan decks and certified it at 499 GT. The extra length goes into waterline and deck area, which is where guests actually feel it.
The result reads a class above its paperwork. Eternal Spark carries five bars and six outdoor social areas, a 21 metre sundeck with jacuzzi and a 12 metre bridge deck aft, plus a sunken beach club that fits a sauna, an ice fountain and a wet bar at the waterline, an inventory more usually associated with 60 metre boats.
Eternal Spark opens the series
Construction of the first hull began in December 2019, and she sold in 2022, two years before completion, in a deal brokered by SuperYachts Croatia. Launched in February 2024 and delivered that June, Eternal Spark introduced the series with a Hot Lab interior worked in more than 60 natural finishes, among them 14 different marbles, arranged around a full height round glass wall in the main saloon and a floating staircase.
The awards came quickly. In 2025 she took two trophies at the International Yacht and Aviation Awards, was named best yacht over 40 metres at the Design et al awards and reached the finals of the BOAT International Design and Innovation Awards. She also runs an active charter program, which gives a prospective 163 buyer the rare option of trying the platform for a week before committing.
Two delivered sisters and a trophy shelf, on the platform the 170 and 173 now stand on.
Camila answers in a quieter voice
The second hull began as Project Ame and sold in 2023 to an experienced, US based client, with FGI Yacht Group working the sale alongside the yard's commercial team. She was delivered in May 2025 as Camila, and she shows how far the same platform can travel in character. Hot Lab kept the architecture and changed the temperature.
Where Eternal Spark is theatrical, Camila runs on warm neutral tones and tactile materials, organic shapes, integrated lighting and stone that ranges from travertine to Calacatta Gold and Carrara. The studio calls the concept Architecture for Voyagers, and coverage at delivery framed her as the quiet luxury reading of the series, proof the 163 can hold two very different owners' briefs.
The numbers that make the case
Both hulls run twin Caterpillar C32 engines for a 16.5 knot top speed and a 12 knot cruise, with range in the region of 5,000 nautical miles, on a displacement steel hull with aluminium superstructure and a 9.25 metre beam. Accommodation is for twelve guests in six suites, with a crew of ten running the boat.
Those are serious passage making figures for 499 GT, and they translate directly into how the sisters are used. Eternal Spark's first seasons mixed private cruising with charter work, and the sub-500 GT format is exactly what the premium charter market books first, which matters to an owner who intends the asset to earn between family trips.
The platform that founded a family
Everything Bilgin now builds below 55 metres traces back to the 163. The 170 stretched the platform to 51.85 metres with a longer bridge deck, the 173 pushed it to 52.7 metres at the same certified tonnage, and trade press counts seven yachts across the combined 52 metre family's order book. That momentum began with this hull form.
For a buyer the 163 is the version with the longest track record. Two delivered sisters mean the platform's seakeeping, noise levels and charter feedback are known quantities, and the shared engineering behind the newer series keeps parts, crew familiarity and yard support deep for decades. Both hulls also sold before delivery, Eternal Spark in 2022 and Camila in 2023, forward demand that supports values on the way out.
Motoren und Technik
| Main engines | 2x Caterpillar C32 ACERT diesel, 1,450 hp each |
|---|---|
| Fuel tankage | Around 55,000 litres, giving the quoted 5,000 nm range at 12 knots |
Was gut ist und worauf zu achten ist
Stärken
- Sold out before deliveryBoth hulls found buyers ahead of completion, a stronger signal than a broker asking price
- Award-winning first hullEternal Spark collected international awards in the year after her June 2024 handover
- Beach club and sundeckA 21-metre sundeck with jacuzzi and a sunken beach club with sauna and ice fountain, generous for a sub-500 GT yacht
Worauf zu achten ist
- No generator detail publishedAs with the smaller 156, genset specification does not appear in any broker or yard material found
- No independent owner account yetCoverage so far is yard and broker material; no owner or captain has spoken publicly about her in service
- CAT C32 is a mid-range choiceCaterpillar's C32 is a proven workhorse, but it sits below the MTU main engines the smaller 156 carries, a trade the 1,450 hp figures make explicit
Praktische Angaben
| Price | Not published. Both delivered hulls, Eternal Spark and Camila, were sold before completion, in 2022 and 2023 |
|---|---|
| Built at | Bilgin Yachts, West Istanbul Marina, Turkey |
| Delivered hulls | Eternal Spark, handed over June 2024, went on to collect international awards in her first year; Camila followed in May 2025 for an experienced American owner |
Für wen: An owner who wants the most proven expression of Bilgin's sub-500 GT platform, with two delivered sisters to inspect and a charter record already in the market.