Lynx Yachts got its start in the same way as many Dutch shipyards: building an elegant, bespoke, displacement motoryacht whose conservative looks and canoe stern gave it timeless appeal.
But Lynx’s founder, mechanical engineer Slim Bouricha, had plans for more. “I wanted to set up a brand that would build reliable and seaworthy boats with a strong focus on operability and maintainability, yet with a modern flair,” he says.
His experience in shipbuilding and oil taught him that ideas from workmanlike offshore support vessels were creeping into the world of superyachts, with support vessels being launched to carry all the tenders and toys that wouldn’t fit on the motherships. It seemed to be an avenue worth pursuing, so Lynx’s next project was the YXT, or Yacht-X-Tender, a 78-footer with a capacious aft deck that could take not just a 38-foot RIB, but a Land Rover as well, stowed belowdecks in its own weathertight compartment.
Now, the Lynx Crossover 27 attempts to provide the best of both worlds as a practical, powerful load-carrier as well as a comfortable platform for adventurous cruising. The first 27, Avontuur, made its debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September 2022. It’s the shipyard’s seventh build, with Diana Yacht Design for naval architecture, styling by Bernd Weel, and interior design by Franck Darnet.
Externally, the Crossover 27 certainly fulfills the brief. The aft deck spans 750 square feet and is served by a 3.5-ton hydraulic crane on the starboard side. That crane is ready to hoist the Super Air Nautique G23 ski boat the owner carries, along with Avontuur’s 16-foot, general- purpose Ribeye tender. Up a level, four personal watercraft can be stowed, with their launch and recovery via a crane with 1-ton capacity (the boat carries 211 gallons of gasoline for water toys).
On a conventional yacht, this upper area would be fitted out with sunpads—and if owners prefer to recline with a cool drink, Lynx is happy to oblige. “Yes, we can always customize the layout to accommodate an owner’s requirements,” Slim says, “as long as this is done within bulkheads and structural elements.”
The yard can also fit alternative engines, if an owner has a favorite. Bigger fuel tanks? “We can easily increase capacity for those who need transoceanic range,” he says. Additional steel can be built into the bottom and hullsides (8 mm steel is used for the bottom and 6 mm for the hullsides on Avontuur) for adventures in the ice. The aluminum plate in the superstructure is 5 mm thick and the windows in the pilothouse are 12 mm thick.
The layout on Avontuur, built for an American client who will base the boat in California, shows the kind of customization that can be achieved. Belowdecks, rather than having twin-berth staterooms forward, Avontuur has a large en suite guest stateroom to port. The remainder of the bow is given over to a pair of twin-bunk cabins with heads, for crew or extra guests.
Farther aft, in almost the widest section of the hull, the standard double-berth staterooms are replaced with a bulkhead on centerline. The owner’s stateroom is to port, and a smaller en suite stateroom with twin berths is to starboard.
Abaft the engine room, where the standard layout includes a couple of guest staterooms, Avontuur has practicalities for an active, expedition lifestyle: washer-dryers, stowage racks for boards, wetsuit hanging lockers, life jacket stowage, a chest freezer and gym equipment.
Just abaft amidships (with this being a round-bilge, displacement design), the engine room is spacious with excellent service access and 6 feet, 7 inches of headroom. From here all the way to the stern, I felt as if I were aboard a boat a good deal larger than 89 feet.
The deckhouse is on two levels, with seating and a high-low folding table for drinks or dinner. Up two steps, the open-plan galley is to port, opposite the lower-deck companionway. The wheelhouse is forward, overlooking a seating area on the bow.
Avontuur has the shipyard’s recommended power installation: a pair of 850-hp Cat C12.9s that easily push the Crossover to its optimum hull speed of around 12.5 knots. Lynx’s data suggests a fuel consumption at that speed of 45 gallons per hour, giving a cruising range, with a 5 percent reserve, of 1,000 nautical miles. For more economical passagemaking, at 10 knots, the Crossover reportedly consumes 26.4 gph, which translates to about 2,100 nm. At 14 knots, consumption rises to more than 84 gph, and range drops accordingly, to 700 nm.
The Crossover is designed to appeal to active, adventurous owners. Its long range and low center of gravity should ensure comfort and confidence on long passages. For those who like the idea but want a shorter length overall, the yard’s eighth project, a 75-foot Crossover 23, is just getting underway.
Lynx 27
LOA: 89ft. 6in., Beam: 23ft. 4in., Draft: 6ft. 3in., Displacement: 286,596 lbs., Engines: 2x 850-hp Caterpillar C12.9, Fuel: 4,755 gal., Water: 687 gal., Info: lynxyachts.com
This article was originally published in the March 2023 issue.
