Since Feadship’s Royal De Vries yard initially built Utopia in 2004, the 234’9” (71.6-meter) megayacht has returned twice for refits. The most recent refit, which wrapped up in June, commenced in March, making for a pretty tight timetable.
The timing was also fortuitous. Most megayacht owners seek warmer climes in the winter months for the type of work that Utopia underwent, which included a repaint, reconditioning of the teak decks, a new sewage-system installation, and new shore-power converters. But, given Feadship’s past performance and Utopia’s reliability (she’s covered more than 46,000 miles in just the past two years, for example), the owner felt it was a good choice. The De Vries Makkum refit facility also had an available bay, making for an even easier decision. As Utopia’s captain, Kevin Collins, explained a few months ago, “We could easily have waited another year for this refit. However, when he heard that a dock was available in March, the owner changed his cruising plans and sent us off on our third Atlantic crossing in seven months.”
What’s next for Utopia? While she’s in Amsterdam as of this writing, her cruising schedule in recent years makes it easy to understand why Capt. Collins describes the future as holding “adventures.”
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