Harnessing the design talents of both Rob Doyle (superyachts) and Juan K (raceboats), this sloop promises to be an outstanding performer when she’s finally delivered in 2024.

Part of the key to her success will be the lightweight aluminium hull. Exhaustive study of the classification rules has enabled the designers to pare back the aluminium skeleton of the boat to strip out weight, while lots of nice-to-have-but-rarely-used features on board have been ditched.

“She’s not a million miles away from a carbon hull,” says Doyle. “There have been amazing advances in aluminium structure. The trend over the years has been ‘add stuff to boats’ and we’ve started going ‘you don’t need that, you don’t need that’ if you use it once a year. You can create tonnes of savings and start spiralling in the right direction rather than the wrong.”

She features a centreboard system for the lifting keel which has been adapted from small-boat technology. This makes repairs relatively unobtrusive in the event of a grounding. The boat has hybrid propulsion and features regeneration and solar technology.

Mark Whiteley has designed the interior, which revolves around flush level decks. The raised deck saloon has panoramic views through vast panes of glass with minimal mullions, making the interior exceedingly bright.

Gouwerok in the Netherlands built the bare hull, which was then shipped as deck cargo to Omikron Yachts in Greece for fitting out.

Argo 54 specifications

LOA: 54.00m / 177ft 2in
Beam: 9.65m / 31ft 8in
Draught: 3.70-9.50m 12ft / 2in-31ft 2in
Displacement: 264 tonnes

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