SES Yachts turns 50 and enters semi-custom with the 36m EPOQ
A custom yard opens a semi-custom door
SES Yachts has spent five decades building full-custom sailing and motor yachts one at a time. EPOQ is its first move into semi-custom, a three-model range spanning 24 to 46 metres, and the yard is leading with the 36-metre. That hull comes in three platform layouts: a split-deck arrangement and two tri-deck options, so an owner picks a configuration rather than starting from a blank sheet.
The pitch is a defined platform with a known price and a known timeline, set against the open-ended cost and schedule of a one-off commission. Ocean Independence is the exclusive sales partner for the series, which puts a large brokerage network behind a yard that has mostly sold direct. For a first-time SES buyer, that is a lower-risk way into a custom builder.
The hull is the running-cost argument
EPOQ is built around Van Oossanen's Fast Displacement Hull Form, a shape meant to hold the efficiency of a displacement hull while allowing higher speed than a displacement boat normally reaches. For an owner that reads as fuel burn and range at cruising speed, the two numbers that decide what a season actually costs to run.
The design is by London studio Sturge & Toth, who took a cue from the Belle Epoque era but kept a contemporary profile, a concave hull that runs into a rounded transom, and teak detailing. On the sundeck a glass-bottomed jacuzzi sits directly over the main-deck al fresco dining area, separated by switchable glass that shifts from translucent to clear.
Where it sits on a buyer's shortlist
The 24 to 46-metre bracket is the most contested part of the market, with slots at Benetti, Sanlorenzo and Heesen all chasing the same buyer. SES enters on provenance, a 50-year custom record, plus a named naval architect and an efficiency-first hull rather than on price alone.
A full-custom yard adding a semi-custom line is also a signal about where the work is. It tells a buyer the field of yards competing for a sub-500 GT build is widening, and that a builder known for one-offs now wants repeat, faster-turnaround business. That is more choice on the shortlist, which is the owner's gain.
What is good, and what to watch
Strong points
- Fifty years of full-custom experience behind a new, faster-turnaround lineSES is not a new yard learning the business - it is a five-decade full-custom builder applying that record to a semi-custom platform, backed by a named naval architect (Van Oossanen) and a London design studio (Sturge & Toth) rather than an in-house-only team.
- A defined price for onceAt EUR 19.95 million for the 36-metre, EPOQ gives a buyer an actual number to compare against rivals - something the open-ended cost of a one-off SES commission never offered.
What to watch
- The range is not finishedOnly the split-deck layout is complete; the two tri-deck options are still at roughly 95 percent, so a buyer choosing those configurations today is ordering ahead of the final platform.
- No performance figures publishedRange, cruising speed and tankage are all absent from the launch materials, so the Fast Displacement Hull Form's efficiency claim cannot yet be checked against a number.
- Too new for any owner or sea-trial accountThis is a launch announcement for a semi-custom line with no hull yet delivered, so there is no owner or independent test to report - expected at this stage, not a defect in the reporting.
Practical detail
| Price | EUR 19,950,000 for the 36-metre EPOQ, per Boat International. |
|---|---|
| Platform status | The split-deck layout is complete; the two tri-deck options are reported at 95 percent complete - the range is still being finished, not fully ready to order off a shelf. |
| Sales channel | Sold exclusively through Ocean Independence, rather than direct from the yard as SES has sold its full-custom work. |
| Series range | Three models planned at 24, 36 and 46 metres; the 36-metre leads the line. |
| What is not published | Range, cruising speed, fuel and water tankage, and a delivery timeline for the first hull. |
Questions this story answers
What happened?
After 50 years of one-off builds, the Turkish yard SES Yachts is opening a semi-custom line called EPOQ, from 24 to 46 metres. The first hull is a 36-metre drawn by Sturge & Toth on a Van Oossanen fast-displacement platform, sold only through Ocean Independence. For a buyer it is a shorter, more predictable route to a custom-yard yacht, with the fuel argument of a displacement hull and the speed of a semi-displacement one.
What is good about it?
Fifty years of full-custom experience behind a new, faster-turnaround line. SES is not a new yard learning the business - it is a five-decade full-custom builder applying that record to a semi-custom platform, backed by a named naval architect (Van Oossanen) and a London design studio (Sturge & Toth) rather than an in-house-only team.
What should an owner or buyer watch?
The range is not finished. Only the split-deck layout is complete; the two tri-deck options are still at roughly 95 percent, so a buyer choosing those configurations today is ordering ahead of the final platform.
Who reported this?
BOAT International, SuperYacht Times, Ocean Independence.
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