The Ocean Alexander 100 Skylounge is all about entertainment, both inside and out, just as her open flybridge version is, but it is also a more than capable of ocean passages.
She’s got different space used in different ways: The enclosed Skylounge on the upper deck has a wet bar and day head, with a larger wet bar and a large electric grill just aft, outside on the bridgedeck.
For privacy in port or to enjoy breezes at anchor, she has a lounging area at the bow, plus the usual dining/lounging areas aft. Because she’s capable of ocean passages, there’s a Portuguese bridge. Best of all, an optional main-deck master changes the flow for owner and guests. Twin Kohler 55 kW generators, twin remote-control winches and bow anchors, chilled water A/C and bow and stern thrusters are among the many standard features.
The designs of Evan K. Marshall are readily apparent in this traditional configuration, with a single-level deck running from the salon to the galley. From there, it’s up two steps to the casual gathering and dining area forward, or, in the case of the configuration featuring the main-deck master, the door to the owners’ suite. Ocean Alexander allows the owner to personalise the décor to match the owners’ preference with a generous allowance that also covers the bedspreads and soft goods.
Sumptuous Saloon
The 100 Skylounge offers formal dining for eight as well as a saloon for gathering and entertaining. To starboard are both a wet bar and a day head, both within close proximity to the salon and dining areas.
The galley in the 100 Skylounge is quite unusual for a motoryacht of nearly any size. First, it’s quite large. Secondly, in the configuration where the master is placed on the lower deck, the galley can be isolated from the rest of the yacht in the traditional fashion – or it can be used as a “country kitchen” with an adjacent raised bar and dinette. No matter if the galley is strictly for staff or for guests as well, it will easily accommodate the needs of a master chef to create gourmet meals. It has a large stand-up refrigerator/freezer, wine cooler, four-burner stovetop, deep sink, dishwasher, and pantry cabinets.
Veteran large motoryacht owners know that while there may be some minor bragging rights with exotic, terribly expensive “high-status” brand names in kitchen appliances — when they go on the fritz, there is rarely authorised service nearby. That is why Ocean Alexander has carefully selected all appliances to be both high quality and widely distributed around the world. We have seen sinks from Franke Professional Series and Elkay as well as Whirlpool garbage disposals.
When the main-deck master is not spec’d, the 100 Skylounge can have a more relaxed dining area that will probably be used mostly by the owner and family when guests are not aboard.
Skylounge Helm
Evan K. Marshall also designed both of the helm stations for the Ocean Alexander 100 with cues taken from the builder’s much larger 120 model. It incorporates a “floating” display pod with three touchscreen multifunction displays and matching wood and Ultraleather finishes. Doors open to decks on either side and provide sightlines for the captain while he/she docks with an optional remote control. Stidd leather helm seats have adjustable and folding arms, and footrests, as well as a control pad in the armrest of the helm seat.
The Ocean Alexander 100 Skylounge, like the open flybridge version, has a 4.6 m tender on the aft boat deck which can be launched/retrieved by a hydraulic davit. The skylounge is a true second saloon with an elevated view and a high level of luxury, complete with a wet bar and day head. A second access point to this deck runs from the formal dining area into the enclosed skylounge, allowing a transition while remaining protected from the elements.
Accommodations Deck
The lower decks are accessed from stairs in the saloon that lead to a central marble foyer. Custom-designed stone is all water-jet cut and includes stainless steel inserts for durability. All bulkheads in the hallway are fabric covered.
All staterooms on the 100 Skylounge are en suite. The countertops in the heads are all marble with china sinks, and floors are marble for all but the master head, which gets a separate treatment. The shower compartments are seamless fiberglass with one-piece, clear-glass doors with stainless steel hinges fastened to granite frames.
As expected, the 100 Skylounge features a full-beam master on the lower deck, and in the version shown here, Ocean Alexander installed the popular “his-and-hers” head arrangement separated by a common shower. What makes this dual bathroom both possible and practical is the fact that there is a large, walk-in closet for madam to port and an adequate hanging locker for the man of the cabin to starboard.
The king-size berth is on centreline for minimum discomfort from ship’s movement. Large hull side windows to either side, which provide spectacular views when underway, and fresh air through opening ports.
Main Deck Master Stateroom
One optional feature that will undoubtedly attract a lot of attention to the 100 Skylounge is the main deck master stateroom, which changes the feel of the entire boat. The skylounge allows the glass-bridge helm station of the boat to be located on the upper deck. This helm position frees up the forward end of the main deck, an area that includes the huge windshield, to be used as the master stateroom.
Ocean Alexander has clearly put a tremendous amount of thought into the design, using a lower-deck area forward for the master head and dressing room. But the considerations don’t end there, for the design team added what is called a “night head,” essentially a day head to starboard on the main deck, allowing the owners to avoid using the stairs at night.
Two VIP Configurations
Because the main deck master requires use of the forepeak for a head and walk-in closet, the lower deck in this configuration offers two different choices for the VIP stateroom. The first is a full-beam stateroom amidships – what is essentially the master stateroom on other configurations remains unchanged – with his-and-hers heads sharing a centerline glass shower. In other configurations, this stateroom serves as the master, so its appointments, including a portside desk and a starboard chest of drawers, are augmented by huge hullside windows with opening ports.
The second available configuration are twin VIP staterooms, each located amidships, each en suite with an athwartships queen-size berth. Both encompass the expected quality joinery and level of luxury demanded of the Ocean Alexander shipyard.
Between the master and VIP staterooms are two guest staterooms with twin berths that convert to queens.
Crew Accommodations
Crew’s quarters on the Ocean Alexander 100 Skylounge are large and comfortable. With such an emphasis placed on chartering, an equal amount of emphasis needed to be placed on where, and how, to berth the crew. The crew’s quarters are located just abaft the engine room in the stern of the boat. The captain gets a queen-size berth with an en suite head. This is ideal, particularly for the husband/wife teams of captain and chef.
Two additional crew staterooms can sleep four more crew, with an expandable single-berth cabin, and a Pullman berth above to port and bunk beds in the starboard cabin. Both share a head which is positioned adjacent to a separate crew galley/dining area. The location at the stern, with access through the lazarette to the swim platform, allows the crew to come and go without bothering the guests or owners.
Turnkey Delivery
Smaller boats have long touted the “turnkey” feature to add to the attractiveness of the buyers’ experience. Sometimes this just includes bedding and towels, other times it adds dishes and cutlery. At Ocean Alexander it includes all of the above, plus full fuel tanks, all safety equipment (fenders, lines, throw ring, fire extinguishers…etc.), a full spare-parts package (bilge pumps, LED lights, zincs, filters, wiper blades, touch-up paint, fuses, an engine parts kit from CAT and Onan…etc.), a wheel puller for the propellers, a 10-man life raft, a full china set and cookware right down to the salt and pepper shakers, a toaster, electric mixer and measuring cup… just to name a few items.
Performance
With the 2,600-hp MTU 16v 2000s turning Shanghai 52 4-blade props in slight tunnels, we reached a top speed of 26.4 kts at 2450 rpm. Her best economic cruise is subjective to whether she’s being operated at displacement or planing speed and the range is fairly linear throughout the power curve. That said, at the recommended MTU cruise setting of 80% load, we were running at 22.2 kts with a 200 gph fuel burn that produced a range of 399.9 nautical miles, while still holding back a 10% reserve of the boat’s 4,000 gallon (15,142 L) total fuel capacity.
As for her handling, I was most impressed with the 100 Skylounge’s turning capability. I mean this thing handles like a sportboat with tight turns and instantaneous responsiveness. I mean seriously… this is a 100’ (30 m) yacht with the same turning radius that we’ve seen in most express cruisers.
Observations
While clever engineering plays a big part in the roominess of the Ocean Alexander 100 Skylounge, she’s also more spacious because of her 7.01m beam. Clearly this oceangoing yacht can handle all sorts of activities, including entertaining a large crowd for both cocktail and dinner parties, as well as local sight-seeing day trips.
PULL QUOTE
The skylounge version in effect creates a “penthouse” on the water.
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- Boat Design Name: Ocean Alexander 100
- Year Launched: 2018
- Builder: Ocean Alexander
- Designer: Evan K. Marshall
- LOA: 30.53m
- LWL: 26.80m
- Beam: 7.01m
- Displ (Dry): 104281 kg
- Max Speed: 26.4 knots Construction: GRP
- Fuel Cap: 15141 litres
- Water Cap: 2461 litres Engine Make: 2 x MTU 16V2000 @ 2600hp
- Drive Train: Shaft
- Generator: 2 x Kohler 55 kW
- Thrusters: Sidepower
- Anchor Winches: 2 x Maxwell VC2500 hydraulic
- Air Con: Dometic
- MFD: 24” Garmin 8600 Series
- Priced From: $AUD13,359,000
RPM | Knots | L/h | L/NM | Range (NM) |
550 | 6.0 | 22.7 | 3.800 | 3500 |
1000 | 10.0 | 79.5 | 8.000 | 1700 |
1250 | 12.5 | 170.3 | 14.000 | 970 |
1500 | 15.6 | 276.3 | 18.000 | 750 |
1750 | 17.7 | 442.9 | 26.000 | 520 |
2000 | 19.8 | 647.3 | 33.000 | 410 |
2200 | 22.7 | 787.3 | 35.000 | 380 |
2450 | 26.4 | 1014.5 | 39.000 | 340 |
