Building on Success and Sound Principles
An interview with Bas Mulder
Bas Mulder was 1 year old when he accompanied his father on a tank test. He participated in sea trials on Dillinger in 1991, fully 9 years before he officially joined the firm. Like his father, his background in boat building is important; he ran the yard and supervised the hull construction of the current holder of the world’s fastest motor yacht title, The World is Not Enough (42m), launched in 2004. Now owner of Mulder Design, he describes how the studio is moving with the times along with project manager Marc van der Werf who also looks after business development.
Q: Some of your recent concepts are larger than any of the Mulder Designs currently on the water and some are explorers, which is a bit of a departure.
BM: There is no question that larger yachts, like our 70m Crystal concept, give you more room to develop a design. With our explorers, we think the trend is to design yachts that can perform that function without looking like a traditional explorer. For example, we have a client now for a fast explorer and it’s definitely not what you would expect.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration?
BM: Cars and architecture- buildings and homes, mostly. I look at things that are very far away from yachts and if there is something there that is attractive and that works, I may see if it could be applied to a yacht. That’s where the exterior staircase on Crystal came from, for example. A staircase doesn’t have to take up room in the middle of the structure. From cars, I take the detailing and the tension of the intersecting surfaces, the changes in reflection, shadow, a little knuckle, and a little curve.
Q: You mentioned that you do not like the phrase holistic design, why?
BM: Because it’s a trend word and to most people it is meaningless. We always keep everything in mind – the mission, the crew, mechanical spaces, headroom, accommodations, exterior spaces, tender stowage. . .We prefer to supply the total package of naval architecture, layout and styling because it is better for continuity. With many of the smaller production boats we do, we provide interior design as well.
