Exploration and performance sit happily alongside comfort on Akula, finds Captain Jonathan Sullivan.
“I am only interested in doing worldwide itineraries, particularly when the further reaches, such as the polar regions and Galápagos Islands, are included,” says Akula’s Captain Jonathan Sullivan of the 195-foot Rossinavi’s world-girdling cruising program. It’s a fitting sentiment for a captain of an explorer yacht built by her owners to cruise far beyond the distant horizon.
In his early upbringing, Captain Jonathan stayed much closer to shore. He was born in Yorkshire in the UK, but was raised primarily in South London. No one in his family was particularly passionate about the ocean, but his father had a friend with a boat. “I remember being taken out on a speedboat by one of my father’s friends off the coast of Penzance, which was quite understandably memorable,” he says of cruising this famous stretch of Cornish coastline.
He started his professional yachting career with Boston Putford in the North Sea and then progressed through the ranks, operating large and small ferries, cruise liners, expedition vessels and research vessels. “My first private vessel was a research vessel, and this piqued my interest in the private yacht world,” he says. “I enjoy the adventure that yachting offers, rather than being in a fixed, commercially oriented world.”
Prior to Akula, he worked on board expedition cruise vessels, most recently as relief captain on 56-meter explorer yacht Alucia. A base for research and documentarians, Alucia hosted Sir David Attenborough and his TV crew when filming on the Great Barrier Reef.
Jonathan won’t be completely leaving his research vessel roots behind on board Akula as the yacht will sometimes serve as a base for scientific research. The upper aft deck is designed to hold laboratory containers, and the owners are already collaborating with scientists from Oxford University to host them on board. “The vessel has a lot of deck space and garage space, meaning it would be very easy to add additional items and equipment to facilitate operations anywhere in the world,” Jonathan says.
The ability to host scientists on board is just one of the many specific and highly personalized details. Akula is a first-time custom build for experienced owners who started their boating lives as sailors, which inspired details such as handholds integrated into the interior decor to keep guests safe in any sea state.
As the owners will spend months at a time on board, they each have dedicated spaces for their hobbies. The owner has his office, called “the man cave,” as well as a workshop on the lower deck. His wife has her own dedicated office as well, a “craft cave,” where she can spread out her projects on a custom-built desk. There’s also a spa area with a sauna — the perfect place to warm up after expeditions ashore.
“This is a yacht that is born to explore the world,” says Akula’s interior designer Francesca Muzio, founder of FM Architettura. You feel that the moment you step inside the mud room, which greets guests in place of a main salon on the main deck. Not just any mud room, this is a luxurious space where owners and guests can slip off wet exploration gear with ease before stowing them away to dry in air-conditioned closets. This is just the start of Akula’s creative layout. There are no social spaces on the main deck — instead, a spiral staircase winds its way up from the mud room to an expansive upper deck lounge. There’s also connected interior and exterior observation lounges where guests can take in the passing views.
The upper deck lounge is framed by arched columns, inspired by the ribcage of a whale, that are clad in Kevlar from recycled sails. Sustainability was paramount to Akula’s brief, and besides the recycled sails, eco-friendly materials such as rattan wallpaper, naturally finished leather and untreated wood are used throughout. “The owner gave us the challenge to use sustainable materials, and the concept for the interiors is inspired by environmental respect, with conscious use of materials and their application while maintaining a high attention to detail,” Francesca says.
Akula’s brief also included creating comfortable crew accommodations, functional crew spaces and excellent provisioning and storage. “The crew quarters are large and spacious, with a good degree of privacy built into them,” Jonathan says. “There is also a large mess, which is equipped with two TVs, games consoles, etc. This is both a good space for meals and also for entertainment and relaxation. The vessel is also equipped with Starlink, which is provided for the crew, a very welcome bonus for everyone.”
Her performance exceeds expectations, Jonathan says. “It is one of the most maneuverable vessels I have had the pleasure of operating,” he says. “It is also one of the smoothest vessels I have been on, and alongside the general soundproofing [and diesel-electric propulsion], it makes for a very peaceful yacht to operate.”
Akula has already made her way around the Med and is inching her way northward, visiting Scotland, Norway and Greenland before crossing the Atlantic and then the Panama Canal with many far-flung locales on the itinerary. Captain Jonathan has clearly found the right yacht — and Akula has found the right captain for her worldwide adventure