Established in 1969 in Auckland, New Zealand, McMullen & Wing are one of the most passionate shipyards when it comes to heritage, design and the promotion of their home country. This is mirrored in their most recent projects currently being developed, consisting of three very different series by three very different designers.
The first of the three new series comes from Canadian designer Greg Marshall. Named the Diamond Series, Marshall uses the best elements from his design of the 45 metre Big Fish, which McMullen & Wing completed in 2010. She is currently undertaking her sea trials in New Zealand, with her outfitting reported on just last week.
Second is the Blade Series from British studio H2 Yacht Design, and combines Mediterranean style with blue water capability. Last in the series is the Flow Series from Dutch design studio Vripack. Offered in a 44 and 51 metre versions, each design will have an impressive range of 5,000 nm and 5,700 nm.
Here we talk to CEO of the company, Michael Eaglen, who told us the inspiration behind the development of the new concepts as well as explaining why they will never chase brand recognition.
What were you looking for when you decided to develop the McMullen & Wing’s concept?
It goes right back to the underlying purpose of the whole programme, which was to promote truly inspiring yachts which highlight the uniqueness of McMullen & Wing, in product, process and place. As a product, McMullen & Wing’s yachts have a reputation for reliable innovation, a go-anywhere capability and deep, lasting quality. As a process we offer the true custom yacht experience. Our place is New Zealand, and McMullen & Wing is deeply rooted in our heritage having played a key role in every step in New Zealand’s journey into the international yacht building scene.
We started out very clear that these were to be yachts for amazing adventures: yachts which would appeal to adventurous clients. These are also clients who will value the heritage and reputation of McMullen & Wing, who will truly enjoy the process of creating their yacht – engaging with a designer, visiting the shipyard in New Zealand, and ultimately taking delivery of their yacht in New Zealand.
What were the deciding factors when it came to choosing the studios involved?
Early in the programme we decided to partner with three designers. We wanted to offer a range of concepts which might appeal to a range of clients, but even more than that, we wanted the programme to support our underlying message that we are a custom shipyard, and we work with dozens of designers from all over the world.
Once we were clear on the background, it was relatively easy to choose the designers, really. We obviously wanted to choose three different and yet complementary firms who each represented a subtly different place in the market, yet could all claim clear and specific relevance to the underlying objectives.
The first partner on the programme was Greg Marshall, with whom we have been friends and collaborators for many years. We built Big Fish with Greg, and are also working with him on our current 50 metre project. Both of these yachts already fit the brief perfectly as capable and very personal custom yacht projects. Being from British Columbia, Canada, Greg and his team have a deep connection to the environment around them which we relate to very closely and is reflected in the yachts they design.
McMullen & Wing describes itself as, “A Jack of all trades, and a master of every single one.” Do you think that with the launch of these three very different series you have proved this philosophy?
In one sense these yachts are all very different, but in another they each answer a similar brief. Clearly they are all very different in style, but as a custom yacht builder that’s normal. To us, as steel and aluminium displacement luxury expedition yachts, these three families of yachts are intended to represent just one corner of our capability.
In 2010, McMullen & Wing launched the 45 metre Big Fish. Was it always the intention to create a series, or did this come following the huge success of Big Fish?
Like all our projects, Big Fish was a one-of-a-kind, designed in response to a specific client’s brief. For Greg as the designer, she was of course a development of all yachts that have come before her, but in herself she was something entirely new and one-off. But she was, and still is, a spectacularly popular and successful yacht which has attracted enormous attention.
She has also led to a number of new concepts following various of her key themes, some for her original owner and some for other clients. Indeed our current 50 metre project draws quite directly from Big Fish in styling terms, although she also is borne of a very personal creative journey in many less visible ways, and she too is intended for a similarly adventurous life.
Ironically for all this attention, neither Big Fish nor our 50 metre project could quite be built the same way again, due to regulatory changes which have occurred since they were begun. So we and Greg could see that we needed some yachts which responded to the popularity of Big Fish and reflected the various learnings from her 100,000+ nautical miles. Thus was born the Diamond Series: the 2015 development of Big Fish.
The full interview with McMullen & Wing is featured in the fourth issue of the SuperYacht Times newspaper. Subscriptions are available here.
Source : http://www.superyachttimes.com/editorial/4/article/id/15610
