Aquarius II

• LOA 65 m, performance ketch in Alustar aluminium
• Naval architecture by Dykstra, interior by Mark Whiteley
• Rondal carbon rig, 67.5 m main and 60 m mizzen masts
• 1,958 sq m upwind, 4,671 sq m downwind, Doyle sails
• Lifting fin keel, 4.8 m raised, 7.6 m deployed
• Four guest cabins, owners' deckhouse, expanded gym
• Semi-hybrid generation with battery load smoothing
• Delivered May 2025, St Barths Bucket debut 2026

The rarest brief in yachting

Most custom projects begin with an owner describing a yacht that does not exist. Aquarius II began with owners describing one that did, their own. After years of family cruising and regatta wins aboard the 56 metre Aquarius, a boat they regarded as close to perfect, the couple returned to Vollenhove with the simplest and most demanding brief a yard can receive, the same yacht again, with more space and even better performance.

Royal Huisman answered by reassembling the original team in full. Dykstra Naval Architects drew the naval architecture and exterior lines, Mark Whiteley designed the interior, Rondal engineered the rig, and Godfrey Cray managed the project for the owners, the same constellation that produced the first boat. Nothing in the collaboration needed fixing, only scaling, and the yard registered the build as project 408 and set about that scaling with unusual care.

What nine metres buys

Length works quietly in an owner's favour. The step from 56 to 65 metres reads as modest on paper and delivers around 45 percent more interior volume in practice, because volume compounds in three dimensions while length grows in one. That arithmetic gave Whiteley a fourth guest cabin where the original carried three, an expanded gym, larger social areas and an owners' deckhouse arranged around a wraparound sofa with the best view on board.

The exterior discipline lay in keeping the profile honest at the new scale. Dykstra adjusted the forestay height and the ratio between the masts, and drew the deckhouses proportionally lower, so Aquarius II presents the same balanced, classic silhouette as her predecessor with no visual hint of the extra size. Hull and superstructure are Alustar aluminium, the high-strength alloy the yard has made its signature, on a displacement of around 400 tonnes.

Her owners judged the first Aquarius close to perfect, then ordered the same yacht again with nine more metres and 45 percent more volume.

A rig drawn to win again

The owners' stated ambition was sailing performance commensurate with the length increase and a continuation of the winning record. Rondal built the carbon rig, a 67.5 metre main mast and a 60 metre mizzen carrying the company's integrated sailing system, with structured luff sails developed with Doyle. She sets 1,958 square metres upwind and 4,671 square metres downwind, serious canvas managed by systems a cruising crew can run.

Beneath the water a lifting fin keel gives her two characters, 4.8 metres of draught with the keel raised for harbours and shallow cruising grounds, 7.6 metres deployed for grip when the racing starts. The systems are current as well, semi-hybrid power generation with battery load smoothing, so the hotel load runs quietly at anchor and the machinery footprint stays modest for a yacht built to sail.

A familiar home, properly scaled

Whiteley's interior for the first Aquarius was one of the most admired of its generation, and the owners asked him to carry its character forward without copying it room for room. The result keeps the calm paneling, natural light and family warmth of the original while spending the new volume where it is felt most, in the guest accommodation, the gym and the social spaces that hold a crowd after a race.

The scaling extends where guests never look, which is the tell of an experienced owner. The galley, crew mess and laundry all grew, and an additional crew cabin supports the larger operation, because service on a 65 metre yacht only feels effortless when the spaces behind the scenes are sized for it. This is a layout drawn by people on their second boat together, and it reads that way.

Delivered, and straight to the start line

Aquarius II left the Vollenhove construction hall in the autumn of 2024 for outfitting in Amsterdam, was launched in October, stepped her Rondal masts and spent the winter in sea trials. Royal Huisman handed her over on 28 May 2025, and she began her maiden voyage to Falmouth within days. The racing chapter opened on schedule, with her St Barths Bucket debut in 2026 in the largest fleet the regatta had assembled since 2015, exactly the arena her predecessor won twice.

For the yard she is the definitive repeat commission, and for any owner weighing a first Huisman she is the data point that matters. The clients who knew the product best, after years of hard use across oceans and race courses, came back and ordered a bigger one from the same team. Very few builders at any price level can produce that kind of evidence, and it is worth more than any award on the shelf.

Para quién es: The owner who already knows exactly what works at sea and wants it again at a larger scale, with the racing edge intact.