Hygge: Vripack's 41m scandi seadream

Smart design is what Vripack does best. It’s a sentiment that the Dutch design studio’s latest delivery – the 41m superyacht Hygge — drives home in style. While the footprint may be routine, the layout certainly is not. It wraps a warming ambience around the owner’s extensive needs for accommodation, social gatherings and multi-generational family time, all while maximising space, volume and capability.

Built by MCP Yachts in Brazil — the same shipyard that delivered the award-finalist Vripack-designed 37.46m Queen Tati in early 2023 — Hygge is a full custom explorer with a real point of difference. With limitations on length imposed by the yard’s facilities, Vripack, which penned the exterior and naval architecture, opted to go bigger rather than longer.

Hygge boasts the largest volume (380 GT) to date for a full aluminium motor yacht built in South America. With interior design by Leonardo Rotsen, Hygge accommodates 10 guests in an incredible seven guest cabins — including an upper deck forward-facing owner’s suite with his and hers bathrooms and a private terrace — and further accommodation for 10 crew. The configuration is made possible by Vripack’s savvy interior arrangement. Relocating the galley and laundry room to the lower deck portside freed up the main deck midsection for four guest cabins. A further two guest cabins are located on the lower deck starboard side.

“We split the lower deck into two areas,” explains Bart Bouwhuis, co-creative director at Vripack. “Both sections have separate access and stairways allowing service to continue unimpeded across all decks, and guests to enjoy their time together in privacy. It also means the main deck is given over entirely to guest use.”

Another key design feature is the split-level wheel house on the top deck, which grants advantageous panoramic lines of sight for the captain. Aft of the wheelhouse is a jacuzzi surrounded by tan-coloured sunpads to create a hub of sociability for guests. On the lower deck, a beach club with spa, gym, sauna and large swim platform offer more guest areas to enjoy. Formal dining is in the sky lounge, al fresco dining on the main deck aft, while private banquet seating forward of the master suite creates a convivial space for togetherness.

Furthermore, the owner’s selected cruising grounds of Brazil, the Caribbean and Med are well-served by Hygge’s semi-displacement hull, which is reminiscent of a fast naval war frigate. It delivers a top speed of 23 knots, and long cruising speeds of 18 knots.

“Hygge is built with a full-aluminium hull that allows for unmatched internal volume, lightness and autonomy,” says Damien Chaves, director of engineering at MCP Yachts. “She is a 40m superyacht that offers the comfort of a 50m, yet with a draft and lightness that allows her owner a more dynamic, versatile and sustainable range for global exploration.”