Rossi Navi, one of the great mega-yacht builders from Viareggio, announced a design competition for a 50 m innovative yacht with an environmental note. Since green boating was possibly our most notable endeavor, J&J decided to participate.

Even though we had no experience in designing vessels that size, the office went for it with passion, saying: We need to think out of the box. 

Our idea was to design the most environmentally responsible mega-yacht of this size enabled by recent developments of technologies and design. The concept was new in many areas: in guest convenience and comfort AND in protecting the environment. We designed the 50 m Green Explorer (50 m GX) to be a vessel 50 m x 9.5 m in size, with just over 300 GRT measurement, built in aluminum, which was Rossi Navi’s preferred material. The naval architecture called for a very low-drag slim hull capable of achieving the cruise speed with minimal energy consumption. Propulsed by twin Schottel 500 kW electric motors, with 1 MWh of Lithium battery pack, and with support of twin 65 kW regeneration micro-turbine generators and the 20 kW photovoltaic roof the 50 m GX would have a zero-emission range of 140 nautical miles at cruising speed, a maximum speed of 16 knots and a cruising range of 5500 nm. The total emission of CO2 on a yearly ocean cruise would be of up to 40% less than with a classic diesel propulsion, with 5 times less NOx, 150 times less CO and 35 times less micro-particles emission, and 10 times less VOCs. 

The 50 m GX offered ten guests five extremely comfortable cabins, with the master cabin forward giving all-around views and full privacy. The aft deck included a close-to-the-sea level, enabling the use of a full range of toys and tenders, and effortless access to the sea and the shore.

The design won the heavily contended Rossi Navi Design Challenge in February 2020. Several members of our team did a great job on the project, with most of the 3D design sculpting work done by Jalen Vogelnik and Egon Murić (both now founders of the new VOM Creations studio), and splendid work from young designers Mirko Oprandi and Gianluca Bina. 

The 50 m Green Explorer is still waiting for a buyer; perhaps there are too many new, unusual technical solutions and technologies… But time is on the side of 50 m GX.