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King of Carbon: Michael Schmidt of YYachts

• January 25, 2022

An Admiral’s Cup winner and former owner of Hanse Yachts, Michael Schmidt launched YYachts in 2016 to build 70-100ft carbon-fibre sailing yachts that are fast, luxurious and easy to operate, with sales rising for the upcoming flagship Y9.

Michael Schmidt developed YYachts to build carbon yachts

Michael, can you give a brief overview of your yachting life, in building, selling and racing?

I have been involved with boats since I was a little boy. I grew up on the water in Kiel and I went sailing whenever there was time … or not! Later, with the brokerage company Schmidt & Partner, I traded in yachts of all sizes, then with Yachtwerft Wedel I built some of the fastest IOR racers of the 1980s (including Pinta, Düsselboot, Outsider and Container ).

In 1985, as skipper of Rubin , I won the Admiral’s Cup for Germany. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, I moved to the former GDR (East Germany), founded a new shipyard in the historic Hanseatic port of Greifswald in 1990 and gradually built it up into a big player. When I left there and virtually retired, the YYachts brand slowly emerged as I was looking for a yacht for myself.

Over a dozen units of the Y7 have been built

What exactly what were you looking for?

I was looking for a light 80-footer with a good design that I could even sail alone. When I didn’t find anything like that on the market, I started with my own concept. The real challenge is to reduce a yacht to the essentials. That way, there are fewer sources of error and only a very small crew is needed.

Our credo at YYachts is ‘the simpler the boat, the purer the sailing experience and the greater the pleasure’. In addition, a yacht must be as light as possible so that it already sets sail when others are still motoring.

Schmidt built Cool Breeze (the first Y8) for himself

Having decided to build your own yacht, why did you choose Lorenzo Argento for the design of Cool Breeze , the first Y8?

Lorenzo, who worked for Brenta Yacht Design at the time, won the design competition. At YYachts, we like to work with Italians. Their understanding of design harmonises perfectly with the demands of us and our customers.

It seems like a major investment to start a new shipyard and brand, so what led to the desire to create the Michael Schmidt Yachtbau facility on the Baltic Sea and the YYachts brand?

I have not only invested in yacht building but in different areas and industries. The construction of the shipyard was necessary because there was demand. And only in a modern shipyard can production be as controlled as is absolutely necessary for such yachts.

Michael Schmidt Yachtbau began operating in late 2016

The entire production facility was built from scratch in record time in 2016 and was ready for production in December of the same year. We are passionate about building light, fast sailing yachts from 20-30m offering maximum comfort. Everyone at the shipyard loves the sea, just like our yacht owners do.

Can you tell us about your facility and production methods?

We build the hulls, decks and rigs exclusively in carbon-fibre and use our specially heated paint shop to finish them to perfection. Each yacht is oven-tempered to permanently bond the many layers of carbon-fibre and resin together, giving the hull strength and solidity.

The specially heated paint shop

The production area is equipped with modern, technologically advanced systems, but at the same time simple and straightforward to live up to YYachts’ ‘keep it simple’ philosophy. We develop concepts that simply work but do not sacrifice comfort or good design.

In the production process, the various components and interior areas of the boats are built in modular processing to optimise production time, efficiency and precision of assembly. This allows YYachts to reduce production times and avoid downtime. Production time is around six months for the Y7, 11 months for the Y8 and no more than 18 months for the Y9, YYachts’ flagship.

What are the advantages of carbon?

Carbon-fibre is the forward-looking material that will revolutionise yachts in the coming decades. It was the preferred construction material in aerospace and was then successfully used in high performance sports such as Formula 1, America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race.

The Y7 is YYachts’ best-selling model

Today, YYachts uses this advanced material to produce lightweight yet luxurious carbon yachts that are very easy to sail. In the design and manufacturing of our yachts, the hull, deck, entire structure, bulkheads and rigging are made of carbon-fibre, predominantly epoxy resin. This achieves very high strength and rigidity with a low weight.

Compared to conventional builds, our yachts are up to 50 per cent lighter, which improves sailing performance. Our yachts are optimised for low weight in every detail, so they sail at very good speed even in light winds. This also means transfers under engine can be largely dispensed with, which significantly reduces fuel consumption, an example of our focus on sustainability.

Why is sustainability important to you?

Because the wind is free, sailing is one of the cleanest, most ecological ways to travel and enjoy your holiday. We make concrete efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels on board and minimise our ecological footprint.

The custom-built Tripp 90 uses eco-friendly Lignia wood for its decking

YYachts has introduced many innovations over the years such as replacing teak decks with Lignia wood, a natural wood with a much lower ecological footprint. This wood is an alternative to the classic Burmese teak, which is heavily affected by deforestation.

Other new, innovative developments at YYachts include using sandwich materials made from flax or recycled PET bottles to replace traditional construction materials.

Instead of implementing complex high-voltage propulsion systems, we run the yacht with two engines, each with an additional alternator that charges the large battery banks in less than 10 hours. In addition, we install solar panels on the fixed bimini that provide another 4-8kW of charging power during the day.

Interior of a Y7

Why did you choose Bill Tripp to design the Y7?

Bill Tripp is one of the world’s best designers and naval architects. He’s very experienced and the yachts he has designed have won numerous regattas. His standards are the same as ours. By using carbon-fibre and lightweight material in the luxurious interior of the Y7, we achieve a high sail-carrying capacity and a large keel weight, which results in a fast 70-footer.

Due to the modular construction, the layout can be adapted to the owner’s wishes. The stern garage is installed transversely in the stern, completely watertight, which creates more volume in the interior. The crew has separate access to their cabins in the cockpit. All halyards, sheets and extensions run directly to the steering columns, so the helmsman can always operate the Y7 alone.

The new Y8 offers 20 per cent more volume than the original

What are the main differences in terms of space and features on the Y8 and the upcoming Y9?

We are currently launching a new Y8 with 20 per cent more interior volume than its predecessor. This results in many different layout options. For example, the owner’s suite with a separate saloon can be located either in the bow or in the stern where it has direct access to the cockpit. The galley can be installed open or closed, and three or four cabins can be fitted. (For more details, see link below)

Germany’s YYachts developing new Y8 designed by Spain’s Surge Projects YYachts by Michael Schmidt Yachtbau is building a new Y8 designed by Palma studio Surge Projects that offers 20 per cent more volume than its predecessor.

With the Y9, we have built a yacht that combines both sailing performance and large interior spaces. The Y9 resembles a 100ft ship in terms of speed, interior space and her long, clean look. The owner has a suite with a private saloon and dressing room. A Y9 can also be highly customised in terms of layout. We already have three Y9s under construction and two more orders (as of December 2021).

Set to launch in 2022, the Y9 is YYachts’ flagship production model

What was the reception to the Y7 and Tripp 90 (Review, Issue 62) at the 2021 Cannes Yachting Festival, and how do you believe YYachts is positioned to expand including here in Asia?

We had a very good response in Cannes, which is the most important show for YYachts. We have a good position in the market with our philosophy, our construction and our design. We sell all over the world and Asia is a market that can develop even further.

http://www.yyachts.de

Y focus on carbon: Custom Tripp 90 by YYachts Specialising in luxury carbon sailing yachts from 70-100ft, Germany’s YYachts has launched its custom-built Tripp 90, which features an exterior by Bill Tripp and a richly detailed interior by Winch Design – and will be followed by the Y9 model in 2022. By John Higginson.

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Michael Schmidt has won ocean races, closed big brokerage deals, launched the successful Hanse Yachts brand and now with Y Yachts he has created a new range of large yachts as esoteric as they are captivating.

Pioneering carbon raceboat builder, international yacht broker, Admiral’s Cup-winning skipper and helmsman, creator of the Hanse Yachts brand and now founding director of the award-winning Y Yachts shipyard, Michael Schmidt is one of the sailing world’s great all-rounders with several careers’ worth of experience packed into his five decades at the cutting edge of marine industry innovation.

But why on earth did he go back to the hard graft of establishing a new shipyard when he could be enjoying a well-earned and comfortable retirement?

‘Well, a few things came together,’ he says. ‘If like me you have sailed all your life, virtually since birth and then built thousands of sailing yachts, you have a certain wealth of experience. You have an idea of how a yacht should sail, what a good interior should look like and how the technology should work.

‘When I had time a few years ago and was looking for a boat for myself, there was nothing that came close to satisfying me. So I started to have a yacht built according to my ideas. Lorenzo Argento and Sir David Chipperfield designed the 80-footer Cool Breeze together with me.’

Schmidt’s vision created a beautiful performance cruiser that turned heads wherever he sailed it. But how did that one-off custom build project escalate into the creation and launch of a whole new shipyard?

‘That came a little later,’ he says. ‘When I sailed Cool Breeze, the yacht attracted quite a lot of attention from owners and interested prospects. So my idea of light, easy-to-sail, reduced and yet luxurious yachts seemed to appeal not only to me. Requests came in for a sister ship and I realised that this was a business. In 2016, I founded Y Yachts in Greifswald.’

That core concept, ‘reduced and yet luxurious,’ became the founding principle of the Y Yachts brand. At a time when most of the marine industry is so strongly focused on doing the exact opposite – adding a luxury dimension to yachting by installing ever more complex and sophisticated systems – what does Schmidt mean by reduced?

‘There is this quote attributed to several famous thinkers: “I’m writing you a long letter because I didn’t have time to write a short one.” A yacht has to be operated intuitively, so you have to rethink and simplify a lot of details, which costs time and energy,’ he explains.

A good example of overcomplicating things, he says, is the current fashion for equipping large yachts’ galleys with induction hobs and electric fan ovens. ‘Why does electric cooking have to be used on a sailing yacht? For that I need either a shore connection or a generator. Why not cook with gas? It’s safe and easy. When the gas bottle is empty, I simply replace it.’

This principle has always been popular among experienced sailors because it boosts the reliability of systems onboard. From backstay deflectors to programmable logic controllers, Schmidt takes a pragmatic and seamanlike approach born out of long experience that favours robust, reliable simplicity over the diminishing returns of adding extra functionality that isn’t strictly necessary.

‘Why do all sails have to be adjustable in so many different ways? If I’m not a racing sailor I don’t need these features which are also quite fragile,’ he says. ‘Why do the electronics have to be completely networked and harbour so many potential sources of error? At Y Yachts, we asked ourselves these questions and many more. We avoid a high level of complexity and thus vulnerabilities and high maintenance costs. That is what I understand by reduction.’

The coronavirus crisis has severely tested the resilience of many marine businesses but Y Yachts has thrived despite the constraints and challenges imposed by the pandemic. ‘We are getting a lot of enquiries,’ says chief executive Dirk Zademack.

‘Customers currently seem to be much more interested in owning a home on the water and separating themselves somewhat from the environment. Our philosophy of building light, fast, luxurious and sustainable yachts also strikes a chord with them. It goes hand in hand with the current neo-luxury trend of authenticity and self-determination.’

The cancellation of so many boat shows over the last 18 months has forced a change in YYachts’ sales and marketing strategy. ‘When this opportunity to generate leads was taken away by the pandemic, we focused even more on the digitalisation of our activities,’ Zademack says. ‘We conducted viewings via video call and Facetime, installed a new website with many new features and drew attention to ourselves with other digital activities. That has worked well.’

Post Covid, are the boat shows likely to regain the pivotal importance that they used to have for the yachting industry? Schmidt has his doubts. ‘I do believe that boat shows will no longer have the status they had before the pandemic,’ he says. ‘This culture that you must have a stand everywhere will disappear.

Perhaps it took this phase to make many people in the industry aware of this.’ Even so, YYachts will still be at a few key events. ‘We will certainly exhibit in Palma and Cannes,’ Zademack says. ‘We are also taking a closer look at the Monaco Yacht Show. At the moment I can’t imagine that we will still be exhibiting at indoor fairs but it’s still a bit early to judge. We’ll just have to observe the overall situation.’

The strong design aesthetic of YYachts is an important aspect of the boats’ appeal. ‘What unites all of our customers is that they are very design-oriented,’ Schmidt says. ‘They like our styling, inside and out. It’s not for nothing that we work with people like Sir David Chipperfield, Lorenzo Argento, Bill Tripp, Javier Jaudenes, Norm Architects or Design Unlimited.

We always work directly with the owners themselves. The geographical range is relatively wide, from the USA to Russia. Many enquiries come from Europe, but we are very interested in further expanding our preferred partner network.’

YYachts’ smallest model, the Y7, is proving especially popular, which Schmidt says is partly because it can be sailed by just two people and also because it’s been exhibited at so many boat shows and has had more magazine coverage than the other two models. ‘However, the Y8 and the Y9 are also generating a lot of interest,’ he says. ‘With the Y9 we have entered the superyacht segment. It is the ideal size to compete in world class regattas like St Barths Bucket or the Superyacht Cup, but still have a spacious yacht for the family with a small crew.’

Right from the start, YYachts has been keen to emphasise the sustainability of its yachts, beyond the inherently sustainable nature of sailing. ‘Our concept only begins with that principle,’ Schmidt explains.

‘For example, we cover the deck with wood from sustainable sources, we install vertical windows to minimise the use of air conditioning and we consistently focus on lightweight construction. Y Yachts are made entirely of carbon, the interior fittings are weight-optimised and they include parts made with material obtained from recycled PET bottles. You will soon see many more ideas on our yachts but in the interest of our customers, we will only implement things we believe in.’

The shipyard has already delivered four yachts this year. First, launched in April, was the Y8 Vegas Baby, a Lorenzo Argento design with interior styling by Design Unlimited. Next were two Y7s, one of which has extensive design input from its owner. ‘Then we handed over our current flagship, a Tripp 90, to its American owner,’ Zademack says. ‘Here we worked with Winch Design on the interior.’

Even larger build projects may soon be in the pipeline.

‘Up to 105ft would be possible,’ Schmidt says. ‘Our competence lies in sailing and with interesting models we believe we can convince many owners of motor boats that sailing is more exciting.’

Covid-19 has not slowed down production. ‘We are very proud that we were able to keep our delivery dates,’ Zademack says. ‘The fact that we rely heavily on regional suppliers is not only sustainable, but also had the positive aspect during the pandemic that our supply chains were hardly interrupted.’

Y Yachts’ goal is to become a global player in the market for full carbon sailing yachts up to 100ft LOA within the next five years. ‘Already in our first five years we have built up a very good image and satisfied our customers,’ Zademack says.

‘We’d like to continue this and convince some motor yacht owners to buy a sailing yacht. We have already succeeded with three of them.’

Click here for more information on Y Yachts

• Michael Schmidt
• sailingyachts

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A career without end

Michael Schmidt has won ocean races, closed big brokerage deals, launched the successful Hanse Yachts brand and now he has created a new range of large yachts as esoteric as they are captivating

Pioneering carbon raceboat builder, international yachtbroker, Admiral’s Cup-winning skipper and helmsman, creator of the Hanse Yachts brand and now founding director of the award-winning YYachts shipyard… Michael Schmidt is one of the sailing world’s great all-rounders with several careers’ worth of experience packed into his five decades at the cutting edge of marine industry innovation. But why on earth did he go back to the hard graft of establishing a new shipyard when he could be enjoying a well-earned and comfortable retirement?

‘Well, a few things came together,’ he says. ‘If like me you have sailed all your life, virtually since birth and then built thousands of sailing yachts, you have a certain wealth of experience. You have an idea of how a yacht should sail, what a good interior should look like and how the technology should work. When I had time a few years ago and was looking for a boat for myself, there was nothing that came close to satisfying me. So I started to have a yacht built according to my ideas. Lorenzo Argento and Sir David Chipperfield designed the 80-footer Cool Breeze together with me.’

Schmidt’s vision created a beautiful performance cruiser that turned heads wherever he sailed it. But how did that one-off custom build project escalate into the creation and launch of a whole new shipyard? ‘That came a little later,’ he says. ‘When I sailed Cool Breeze, the yacht attracted quite a lot of attention from owners and interested prospects. So my idea of light, easy-to-sail, reduced and yet luxurious yachts seemed to appeal not only to me. Requests came in for a sister ship and I realised that this was a business. In 2016, I founded YYachts in Greifswald.’

That core concept, ‘reduced and yet luxurious,’ became the founding principle of the YYachts brand. At a time when most of the marine industry is so strongly focused on doing the exact opposite – adding a luxury dimension to yachting by installing ever more complex and sophisticated systems – what does Schmidt mean by reduced? ‘There is this quote attributed to several famous thinkers: "I'm writing you a long letter because I didn't have time to write a short one.” A yacht has to be operated intuitively, so you have to rethink and simplify a lot of details, which costs time and energy,’ he explains.

A good example of overcomplicating things, he says, is the current fashion for equipping large yachts’ galleys with induction hobs and electric fan ovens. ‘Why does electric cooking have to be used on a sailing yacht? For that I need either a shore connection or a generator. Why not cook with gas? It's safe and easy. When the gas bottle is empty, I simply replace it.’

This principle has always been popular among experienced sailors because it boosts the reliability of systems onboard. From backstay deflectors to programmable logic controllers, Schmidt takes a pragmatic and seamanlike approach born out of long experience that favours robust, reliable simplicity over the diminishing returns of adding extra functionality that isn’t strictly necessary. ‘Why do all sails have to be adjustable in so many different ways? If I'm not a racing sailor I don't need these features which are also quite fragile,’ he says. ‘Why do the electronics have to be completely networked and harbour so many potential sources of error? At YYachts, we asked ourselves these questions and many more. We avoid a high level of complexity and thus vulnerabilities and high maintenance costs. That is what I understand by reduction.’

The coronavirus crisis has severely tested the resilience of many marine businesses but YYachts has thrived despite the constraints and challenges imposed by the pandemic. ‘We are getting a lot of enquiries,’ says chief executive Dirk Zademack. ‘Customers currently seem to be much more interested in owning a home on the water and separating themselves somewhat from the environment. Our philosophy of building light, fast, luxurious and sustainable yachts also strikes a chord with them. It goes hand in hand with the current neo-luxury trend of authenticity and self-determination.’

The cancellation of so many boat shows over the last 18 months has forced a change in YYachts’ sales and marketing strategy. ‘When this opportunity to generate leads was taken away by the pandemic, we focused even more on the digitalisation of our activities,’ Zademack says. ‘We conducted viewings via video call and Facetime, installed a new website with many new features and drew attention to ourselves with other digital activities. That has worked well.’

Post Covid, are the boat shows likely to regain the pivotal importance that they used to have for the yachting industry? Schmidt has his doubts. ‘I do believe that boat shows will no longer have the status they had before the pandemic,’ he says. ‘This culture that you must have a stand everywhere will disappear. Perhaps it took this phase to make many people in the industry aware of this.’ Even so, YYachts will still be at a few key events. ‘We will certainly exhibit in Palma and Cannes,’ Zademack says. ‘We are also taking a closer look at the Monaco Yacht Show. At the moment I can't imagine that we will still be exhibiting at indoor fairs but it's still a bit early to judge. We'll just have to observe the overall situation.’

The strong design aesthetic of YYachts is an important aspect of the boats’ appeal. ‘What unites all of our customers is that they are very design-oriented,’ Schmidt says. ‘They like our styling, inside and out. It's not for nothing that we work with people like Sir David Chipperfield, Lorenzo Argento, Bill Tripp, Javier Jaudenes, Norm Architects or Design Unlimited. We always work directly with the owners themselves. The geographical range is relatively wide, from the USA to Russia. Many enquiries come from Europe, but we are very interested in further expanding our preferred partner network.’

YYachts’ smallest model, the Y7, is proving especially popular, which Schmidt says is partly because it can be sailed by just two people and also because it’s been exhibited at so many boat shows and has had more magazine coverage than the other two models. ‘However, the Y8 and the Y9 are also generating a lot of interest,’ he says. ‘With the Y9 we have entered the superyacht segment. It is the ideal size to compete in world class regattas like St Barths Bucket or the Superyacht Cup, but still have a spacious yacht for the family with a small crew.’

Right from the start, YYachts has been keen to emphasise the sustainability of its yachts, beyond the inherently sustainable nature of sailing. ‘Our concept only begins with that principle,’ Schmidt explains. ‘For example, we cover the deck with wood from sustainable sources, we install vertical windows to minimise the use of air conditioning and we consistently focus on lightweight construction. YYachts are made entirely of carbon, the interior fittings are weight-optimised and they include parts made with material obtained from recycled PET bottles. You will soon see many more ideas on our yachts but in the interest of our customers, we will only implement things we believe in.’

The shipyard has already delivered four yachts this year. First, launched in April, was the Y8 Vegas Baby, a Lorenzo Argento design with interior styling by Design Unlimited. Next were two Y7s, one of which has extensive design input from its owner. ‘Then we handed over our current flagship, a Tripp 90, to its American owner,’ Zademack says. ‘Here we worked with Winch Design on the interior.’ Even larger build projects may soon be in the pipeline. ‘Up to 105ft would be possible,’ Schmidt says. ‘Our competence lies in sailing and with interesting models we believe we can convince many owners of motor boats that sailing is more exciting.’

Covid-19 has not slowed down production. ‘We are very proud that we were able to keep our delivery dates,’ Zademack says. ‘The fact that we rely heavily on regional suppliers is not only sustainable, but also had the positive aspect during the pandemic that our supply chains were hardly interrupted.’

YYachts’ goal is to become a global player in the market for fullcarbon sailing yachts up to 100ft LOA within the next five years. ‘Already in our first five years we have built up a very good image and satisfied our customers,’ Zademack says. ‘We’d like to continue this and convince some motor yacht owners to buy a sailing yacht. We have already succeeded with three of them.’

Click here for more information on Y Yachts »

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Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Video: the Brenta 80DC, Hanse founder Michael Schmidt’s ultra fresh carbon cruiser

• Toby Hodges
• December 18, 2015

If you are going to start a new brand of yachts, you might as well make them stand out. Veteran boatbuilder Michael Schmidt’s new Brenta 80DC Cool Breeze certainly does that. We sailed her with him off Palma.

From the eye-catching paintjob to the novel deck design, to the sensational interior and the full carbon build, the Brenta 80DC is a yacht with enough fresh thinking to strike you, firmly yet rather enjoyably, around the chops.

Brenta’s Lorenzo Argento drew her novel shape, including a three-level deck with low coachroof hiding behind a high bulwark. And renowned architect Sir David Chipperfield created a strikingly different interior to mark his first foray into yacht design.

The Brenta 80DC is the first yacht conceived for Michael Schmidt’s new boat building business, and Cool Breeze is his personal yacht. Schmidt sold Hanse Yachts four years ago, having built it up in just two decades to become one of the world’s leading production boatbuilders.

Schmidt’s idea for this new yacht came from outgrowing his Hanse 630, which he felt was too heavy and slow. Schmidt wanted a fast yacht that is easy to handle. The Brenta 80DC is therefore an all-carbon machine that is kept deceptively simple throughout.

The Brenta 80DC has a lightship displacement of just 30 tonnes – which is more comparable to a 60ft glassfibre displacement cruiser. The prime benefit of a lightweight build was succinctly shown during our trials, when we were able to maximise a Force 3 breeze off Palma.

Cool Breeze is easily the most refreshing design of the year. It is a yacht that is all about simple, easy, fast sailing.

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YYachts Reveals 27.4 Metre Carbon Fibre Sailing Yacht Flagship Y9

German sailing yacht builder YYachts has revealed its new 27.4 metre carbon fibre flagship, the Y9.

Already in build and set to launch in summer 2021, the yacht has been described as a “lightweight masterpiece of craftsmanship” by the builder.

Exterior design and naval architecture have been penned by Bill Tripp while the interior has been styled by Norm Architects in collaboration with Design Unlimited.

Speaking about the yacht, YYachts founder Michael Schmidt said: "With her length of 90 feet, the yacht has an interesting rating and is for sure able to win some trophies at the St Barths Bucket, the Superyacht Cup or the Maxi Rolex Cup".

Built entirely from carbon fibre, the Y9 will feature a tender garage at the stern and private owner’s apartment for maximum privacy, complete with a private saloon, dressing room, and bathroom with double washbasins. The yacht will also feature a lifting keel that can reduce the draft from 4.4 metres to 2.8 metres.

The crew area has been designed to be extra spacious, with a crew lounge and additional storage space.

Two interior layout options have been penned by Design Unlimited and Norm Architects, though customers have the option to customise these to match their own tastes.

The interior captures a “Scandinavian elegant look” with a “soft minimalism” achieved through oiled oak and grey fabrics and panels.

Speaking about the interior, Design Unlimited’s Mark Tucker said: “Clients will appreciate the authenticity of our design and the sustainable materials we recommend. People are increasingly orienting themselves towards nature: taking from nature and giving back to nature. This principle is particularly pervasive in the luxury market."

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Yx7 Explorer by Michael Schmidt Yachtbau

Michael Schmidt Yachtbau recently unveiled a whole new take on the sailing yacht. Or rather several.

As this is a series of crossovers known as the Yx7 Explorer range and designed to allow truly pioneering owners venture even the remotest parts of the world aboard a sailing craft. 

The first model to be presented is a 74 footer that has a deck saloon with the option to open up the aft and side windows and roof to create the ultimate inside-out location.

Redesigned with Mark Tucker of Design Unlimited, it will have a lightweight epoxy hull (the owner can choose the colour), an easy sailing system with all lines running back to the cockpit, and a semi-light displacement.  The interiors also include a large full-beam owner’s suite with bathroom, vanity area and work table as well as a companionway to the cockpit, a double cabin and one with bunks.

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The Woolmark Company: the sailor’s cloth

Clothes don’t make the man, but the sailor does. Especially when a competition of the…

The Cantieri di Pisa press conference at the Cannes Yachting Festival provided the ideal opportunity…

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Michael Schmidt & Partner have an impressive selection of yachts for sale, as well as motor boats for those who prefer power boating. We pride ourselves on working hard to get the best results for our customers, and our ABYA Certified Yacht Brokers are knowledgeable, friendly and professional. We have offices at the UK’s key boating locations, with a superb selection of boats for sale . Why not get in touch to see how we can help you.

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Based at the mouth of the iconic River Hamble  and within easy reach of Southampton, our Head Office is ideally located to manage yacht sales across the South Coast of the UK and beyond.

Our sister company, Inspiration Marine Group, is the exclusive UK representative for new Hanse, Dehler, and Moody sailing yachts, and so we are perfectly placed to source used examples of these brands and to help current owners present their boat to the market in the best possible manner. 

To discuss how we can help you with the sale or purchase of your next boat, contact our Hamble Office on  02380 455714 .

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Our stunning office in Kip Marina is the perfect location to promote New and Used boat sales in Scotland. Our team work across the West Coast area, the Clyde and Rhu Marina, and together with our head office in Hamble, we cover all of the key sailing areas in Scotland and the South Coast.

New boat sales are managed by Inspiration Marine Group, the exclusive UK representative for Hanse, Dehler, Moody, Fjord, Privilège, HH Catamarans and Ryck motor boats in Scotland. 

If you are in the area, contact us to discuss how we can help you sell or buy your next boat. Call the Kip Office on  01475 529975 .

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• 19 september 2024 19:19

INSHORE & YACHTING

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MICHAEL SCHMIDT JACHTBAU

Door yachtweb.

MSY completes new tempering oven & painting hall

Michael Schmidt Yachtbau has finished work on a new tempering oven/paint hall at its yard in Greifswald, Germany. Responding to the increasing demands for large carbon sailing yachts, the new facility, measuring 31 by 12.5 metres, is the largest of its kind in northern Germany.

Michael Schmidt Yachtbau (MSY) specialises in carbon sailing yachts, and the new oven will enable it to produce boats up to thirty metres in length. Having full control over the tempering of large components is crucial for quality control, an imperative consideration for MSY. The new facility will also be used for spray painting and is equipped with the appropriate specialised lights and dust extraction.

The new hall is the latest addition to a state-of-the-art production site opened by MSY in Greifswald last December. Measuring three thousand square metres of floor space and five hundred square metres of office space, the brand new yard was designed and built specifically for creating and fitting out large carbon sailing yachts.

“This reflects the strong ambitions which our yard has set out for the future,” says Johannes Malzahn, MSY’s new managing director. “It will eventually enable us to fit out between four and six yachts simultaneously and ensure that our highly experienced craftsmen have access to the very latest equipment.”

http://msyachtbau.com/

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Yx7 // Y Yachts

22m crossover explorer sailing yx7 by michael schmidt yachtbau and design unlimited  with naval architecture by lorenzo argento yacht design ..

The Yx7 bribes with her very characteristic deckhouse that comes with a strong workboat optic and was developed for people who want to sail around the world including the Arctic.

Although the deckhouse conceals a clear view over the deck, it has other advantages: Guests can enjoy a 360-degree view from the seating area and the captain has an overview while sitting at the navigation desk. Natural light comes through a skylight in the middle (on both sides are solar panels) and the side windows that can be lowered. Also, the side windows of the cockpit can be lowered.

The owners' suite - bright or brighter?

The Yx7 has a base price of EUR 2,380,000 and a maximum price of EUR 3,104,970 without VAT and special requests. The price with my personal requirements adds up at EUR  3.006.180 . Details below.

My personal option list

Not a typical sailing yacht feature: Seating and sunbathing on the foredeck

Blue or grey...?

...or rather a signal color like orange?

Main Specifications Yx7

General Arrangements

Same yard, same size, different concept: Y7 - first unit sails under the name BELLA

Bella // y7 // y yachts.

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Michael Schmidt & Partner Yacht Brokers are based in the key UK boating locations with European Partners, which allows us to offer a great level of service and marketing reach to our clients. Dedicated to offering a professional, knowledgeable and effective brokerage service to both buyers and sellers.

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Tech magnate Mike Lynch's body found in sunken superyacht wreckage, officials say

Early reports indicate the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, and sank quickly., by the associated press • published august 22, 2024 • updated on august 22, 2024 at 10:52 am.

The Italian coast guard said Thursday the body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch is among those recovered off the coast of Sicily from the wreckage of a superyacht whose builders had called unsinkable.

One woman remains missing. She has not been identified, but Hannah Lynch, Lynch's 18-year-old daughter, is reportedly unaccounted for. The family had been celebrating his recent acquittal on fraud charges with the people who defended him at trial in the United States.

Five others were recovered by rescue crews following Monday's tragedy.

24/7 New York news stream: Watch NBC 4 free wherever you are

The Bayesian, a 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged yacht, went down in a storm early Monday as it was moored about a kilometer (half a mile) offshore. Civil protection officials said they believe the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, and sank quickly.

Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor’s Office investigators were collecting evidence for a criminal investigation, which they opened immediately after the tragedy despite no formal suspects having been publicly identified.

The chief executive of The Italian Sea Group, which owns the Bayesian's manufacturer, said superyachts like these are “the safest in the most absolute sense.”

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“First of all, because they have very little surface compared to a yacht facing into the wind,” CEO Giovanni Costantino told Sky News on Wednesday. "Second, with the structure, the drift keel, they become unsinkable bodies.”

Missing revealed as divers search superyacht that sank in storm off Sicily

Morgan Stanley International chair among 6 missing after luxury yacht sinks in Sicily

Investigators are now looking at why the Bayesian, built in 2008 by Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed. Fifteen of the 22 people aboard survived by escaping in a lifeboat, including a mother who reported holding her 1-year-old baby over the waves to save her. They were rescued by the sailboat Sir Robert Baden Powell.

The sailboat's captain, Karsten Borner, said his craft sustained minimal damage — the frame of a sun awning broke — even with winds that he estimated had reached 12 on the Beaufort wind scale, which is the highest hurricane-strength force on the scale.

He said he had remained anchored with his engines running to try to maintain the ship’s position as the forecast storm rolled in.

“Another possibility is to heave anchor before the storm and to run downwind at open sea,” Borner said in a text message. But he said that might not have been possible for the Bayesian, given its 75-meter (246-foot) tall mast.

“If there was a stability problem, caused by the extremely tall mast, it would not have been better at open sea,” he said.

Yachts like the Bayesian are required to have watertight compartments that are specifically designed to prevent a rapid, catastrophic sinking even when some parts fill with water.

Lynch is the only person confirmed dead; the other bodies have not been formally identified.

Besides Hannah Lynch, those missing are Christopher Morvillo, one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers, and his wife, Neda; Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley’s London-based investment banking subsidiary, and his wife, Judy; and Recaldo Thomas, the superyacht’s chef.

Divers have struggled to find the bodies in the yacht’s hull on the seabed 50 meters (164 feet) underwater.

“We would need a crystal ball to know when we'll be able to find the next body," said Luca Cari, spokesperson for the fire rescue service.

“It's very difficult to move inside the wreckage. Moving just one meter can take up to 24 hours,” Cari said.

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• Places - European, Western and Northern Russia

YEKATERINBURG: FACTORIES, URAL SIGHTS, YELTSIN AND THE WHERE NICHOLAS II WAS KILLED

Sverdlovsk oblast.

Sverdlovsk Oblast is the largest region in the Urals; it lies in the foothills of mountains and contains a monument indicating the border between Europe and Asia. The region covers 194,800 square kilometers (75,200 square miles), is home to about 4.3 million people and has a population density of 22 people per square kilometer. About 83 percent of the population live in urban areas. Yekaterinburg is the capital and largest city, with 1.5 million people. For Russians, the Ural Mountains are closely associated with Pavel Bazhov's tales and known for folk crafts such as Kasli iron sculpture, Tagil painting, and copper embossing. Yekaterinburg is the birthplace of Russia’s iron and steel industry, taking advantage of the large iron deposits in the Ural mountains. The popular Silver Ring of the Urals tourist route starts here.

In the summer you can follow in the tracks of Yermak, climb relatively low Ural mountain peaks and look for boulders seemingly with human faces on them. You can head to the Gemstone Belt of the Ural mountains, which used to house emerald, amethyst and topaz mines. In the winter you can go ice fishing, ski and cross-country ski.

Sverdlovsk Oblast and Yekaterinburg are located near the center of Russia, at the crossroads between Europe and Asia and also the southern and northern parts of Russia. Winters are longer and colder than in western section of European Russia. Snowfalls can be heavy. Winter temperatures occasionally drop as low as - 40 degrees C (-40 degrees F) and the first snow usually falls in October. A heavy winter coat, long underwear and good boots are essential. Snow and ice make the sidewalks very slippery, so footwear with a good grip is important. Since the climate is very dry during the winter months, skin moisturizer plus lip balm are recommended. Be alert for mud on street surfaces when snow cover is melting (April-May). Patches of mud create slippery road conditions.

Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg (kilometer 1818 on the Trans-Siberian Railway) is the fourth largest city in Russia, with of 1.5 million and growth rate of about 12 percent, high for Russia. Located in the southern Ural mountains, it was founded by Peter the Great and named after his wife Catherine, it was used by the tsars as a summer retreat and is where tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed and President Boris Yeltsin lived most of his life and began his political career. The city is near the border between Europe and Asia.

Yekaterinburg (also spelled Ekaterinburg) is located on the eastern slope of the Ural Mountains in the headwaters of the Iset and Pyshma Rivers. The Iset runs through the city center. Three ponds — Verkh-Isetsky, Gorodskoy and Nizhne-Isetsky — were created on it. Yekaterinburg has traditionally been a city of mining and was once the center of the mining industry of the Urals and Siberia. Yekaterinburg remains a major center of the Russian armaments industry and is sometimes called the "Pittsburgh of Russia.". A few ornate, pastel mansions and wide boulevards are reminders of the tsarist era. The city is large enough that it has its own Metro system but is characterized mostly by blocky Soviet-era apartment buildings. The city has advanced under President Vladimir Putin and is now one of the fastest growing places in Russia, a country otherwise characterized by population declines

Yekaterinburg is technically an Asian city as it lies 32 kilometers east of the continental divide between Europe and Asia. The unofficial capital of the Urals, a key region in the Russian heartland, it is second only to Moscow in terms of industrial production and capital of Sverdlovsk oblast. Among the important industries are ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, machine building and metalworking, chemical and petrochemicals, construction materials and medical, light and food industries. On top of being home of numerous heavy industries and mining concerns, Yekaterinburg is also a major center for industrial research and development and power engineering as well as home to numerous institutes of higher education, technical training, and scientific research. In addition, Yekaterinburg is the largest railway junction in Russia: the Trans-Siberian Railway passes through it, the southern, northern, western and eastern routes merge in the city.

Accommodation: There are two good and affordable hotels — the 3-star Emerald and Parus hotels — located close to the city's most popular landmarks and main transport interchanges in the center of Yekaterinburg. Room prices start at RUB 1,800 per night.

History of Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg was founded in 1723 by Peter the Great and named after his wife Catherine I. It was used by the tsars as a summer retreat but was mainly developed as metalworking and manufacturing center to take advantage of the large deposits of iron and other minerals in the Ural mountains. It is best known to Americans as the place where the last Tsar and his family were murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918 and near where American U-2 spy plane, piloted by Gary Powers, was shot down in 1960.

Peter the Great recognized the importance of the iron and copper-rich Urals region for Imperial Russia's industrial and military development. In November 1723, he ordered the construction of a fortress factory and an ironworks in the Iset River Valley, which required a dam for its operation. In its early years Yekaterinburg grew rich from gold and other minerals and later coal. The Yekaterinburg gold rush of 1745 created such a huge amount of wealth that one rich baron of that time hosted a wedding party that lasted a year. By the mid-18th century, metallurgical plants had sprung up across the Urals to cast cannons, swords, guns and other weapons to arm Russia’s expansionist ambitions. The Yekaterinburg mint produced most of Russia's coins. Explorations of the Trans-Baikal and Altai regions began here in the 18th century.

Iron, cast iron and copper were the main products. Even though Iron from the region went into the Eiffel Tower, the main plant in Yekaterinburg itself was shut down in 1808. The city still kept going through a mountain factory control system of the Urals. The first railway in the Urals was built here: in 1878, the Yekaterinburg-Perm railway branch connected the province's capital with the factories of the Middle Urals.

In the Soviet era the city was called Sverdlovsk (named after Yakov Sverdlov, the man who organized Nicholas II's execution). During the first five-year plans the city became industrial — old plants were reconstructed, new ones were built. The center of Yekaterinburg was formed to conform to the historical general plan of 1829 but was the layout was adjusted around plants and factories. In the Stalin era the city was a major gulag transhipment center. In World War II, many defense-related industries were moved here. It and the surrounding area were a center of the Soviet Union's military industrial complex. Soviet tanks, missiles and aircraft engines were made in the Urals. During the Cold War era, Yekaterinburg was a center of weapons-grade uranium enrichment and processing, warhead assembly and dismantlement. In 1979, 64 people died when anthrax leaked from a biological weapons facility. Yekaterinburg was a “Closed City” for 40 years during the Cold Soviet era and was not open to foreigners until 1991

In the early post-Soviet era, much like Pittsburgh in the 1970s, Yekaterinburg had a hard struggle d to cope with dramatic economic changes that have made its heavy industries uncompetitive on the world market. Huge defense plants struggled to survive and the city was notorious as an organized crime center in the 1990s, when its hometown boy Boris Yeltsin was President of Russia. By the 2000s, Yekaterinburg’s retail and service was taking off, the defense industry was reviving and it was attracting tech industries and investments related to the Urals’ natural resources. By the 2010s it was vying to host a world exhibition in 2020 (it lost, Dubai won) and it had McDonald’s, Subway, sushi restaurants, and Gucci, Chanel and Armani. There were Bentley and Ferrari dealerships but they closed down

Transportation in Yekaterinburg

Getting There: By Plane: Yekaterinburg is a three-hour flight from Moscow with prices starting at RUB 8,000, or a 3-hour flight from Saint Petersburg starting from RUB 9,422 (direct round-trip flight tickets for one adult passenger). There are also flights from Frankfurt, Istanbul, China and major cities in the former Soviet Union.

By Train: Yekaterinburg is a major stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Daily train service is available to Moscow and many other Russian cities.Yekaterinburg is a 32-hour train ride from Moscow (tickets RUB 8,380 and above) or a 36-hour train ride from Saint Petersburg (RUB 10,300 and above). The ticket prices are round trip for a berth in a sleeper compartment for one adult passenger). By Car: a car trip from Moscow to Yekateringburg is 1,787 kilometers long and takes about 18 hours. The road from Saint Petersburg is 2,294 kilometers and takes about 28 hours.

Regional Transport: The region's public transport includes buses and suburban electric trains. Regional trains provide transport to larger cities in the Ural region. Buses depart from Yekaterinburg’s two bus stations: the Southern Bus Station and the Northern Bus Station.

Regional Transport: According the to Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT): “Public transportation is well developed. Overcrowding is common. Fares are low. Service is efficient. Buses are the main form of public transport. Tram network is extensive. Fares are reasonable; service is regular. Trams are heavily used by residents, overcrowding is common. Purchase ticket after boarding. Metro runs from city center to Uralmash, an industrial area south of the city. Metro ends near the main railway station. Fares are inexpensive.

“Traffic is congested in city center. Getting around by car can be difficult. Route taxis (minivans) provide the fastest transport. They generally run on specific routes, but do not have specific stops. Drivers stop where passengers request. Route taxis can be hailed. Travel by bus or trolleybuses may be slow in rush hour. Trams are less affected by traffic jams. Trolley buses (electric buses) cannot run when temperatures drop below freezing.”

Entertainment, Sports and Recreation in Yekaterinburg

The performing arts in Yekaterinburg are first rate. The city has an excellent symphony orchestra, opera and ballet theater, and many other performing arts venues. Tickets are inexpensive. The Yekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theater is lavishly designed and richly decorated building in the city center of Yekaterinburg. The theater was established in 1912 and building was designed by architect Vladimir Semyonov and inspired by the Vienna Opera House and the Theater of Opera and Ballet in Odessa.

Vaynera Street is a pedestrian only shopping street in city center with restaurants, cafes and some bars. But otherwise Yekaterinburg's nightlife options are limited. There are a handful of expensive Western-style restaurants and bars, none of them that great. Nightclubs serve the city's nouveau riche clientele. Its casinos have closed down. Some of them had links with organized crime. New dance clubs have sprung up that are popular with Yekaterinburg's more affluent youth.

Yekaterinburg's most popular spectator sports are hockey, basketball, and soccer. There are stadiums and arenas that host all three that have fairly cheap tickets. There is an indoor water park and lots of parks and green spaces. The Urals have many lakes, forests and mountains are great for hiking, boating, berry and mushroom hunting, swimming and fishing. Winter sports include cross-country skiing and ice skating. Winter lasts about six months and there’s usually plenty of snow. The nearby Ural Mountains however are not very high and the downhill skiing opportunities are limited..

Sights in Yekaterinburg

Sights in Yekaterinburg include the Museum of City Architecture and Ural Industry, with an old water tower and mineral collection with emeralds. malachite, tourmaline, jasper and other precious stone; Geological Alley, a small park with labeled samples of minerals found in the Urals region; the Ural Geology Museum, which houses an extensive collection of stones, gold and gems from the Urals; a monument marking the border between Europe and Asia; a memorial for gulag victims; and a graveyard with outlandish memorials for slain mafia members.

The Military History Museum houses the remains of the U-2 spy plane shot down in 1960 and locally made tanks and rocket launchers. The fine arts museum contains paintings by some of Russia's 19th-century masters. Also worth a look are the History an Local Studies Museum; the Political History and Youth Museum; and the University and Arboretum. Old wooden houses can be seen around Zatoutstovsya ulitsa and ulitsa Belinskogo. Around the city are wooded parks, lakes and quarries used to harvest a variety of minerals. Weiner Street is the main street of Yekaterinburg. Along it are lovely sculptures and 19th century architecture. Take a walk around the unique Literary Quarter

Plotinka is a local meeting spot, where you will often find street musicians performing. Plotinka can be described as the center of the city's center. This is where Yekaterinburg holds its biggest events: festivals, seasonal fairs, regional holiday celebrations, carnivals and musical fountain shows. There are many museums and open-air exhibitions on Plotinka. Plotinka is named after an actual dam of the city pond located nearby (“plotinka” means “a small dam” in Russian).In November 1723, Peter the Great ordered the construction of an ironworks in the Iset River Valley, which required a dam for its operation. “Iset” can be translated from Finnish as “abundant with fish”. This name was given to the river by the Mansi — the Finno-Ugric people dwelling on the eastern slope of the Northern Urals.

Vysotsky and Iset are skyscrapers that are 188.3 meters and 209 meters high, respectively. Fifty-story-high Iset has been described by locals as the world’s northernmost skyscraper. Before the construction of Iset, Vysotsky was the tallest building of Yekaterinburg and Russia (excluding Moscow). A popular vote has decided to name the skyscraper after the famous Soviet songwriter, singer and actor Vladimir Vysotsky. and the building was opened on November 25, 2011. There is a lookout at the top of the building, and the Vysotsky museum on its second floor. The annual “Vysotsky climb” (1137 steps) is held there, with a prize of RUB 100,000. While Vysotsky serves as an office building, Iset, owned by the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company, houses 225 premium residential apartments ranging from 80 to 490 square meters in size.

Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center

The Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center (in the city center: ul. Yeltsina, 3) is a non-governmental organization named after the first president of the Russian Federation. The Museum of the First President of Russia as well as his archives are located in the Center. There is also a library, educational and children's centers, and exposition halls. Yeltsin lived most of his life and began his political career in Yekaterinburg. He was born in Butka about 200 kilometers east of Yekaterinburg.

The core of the Center is the Museum. Modern multimedia technologies help animate the documents, photos from the archives, and artifacts. The Yeltsin Museum holds collections of: propaganda posters, leaflets, and photos of the first years of the Soviet regime; portraits and portrait sculptures of members of Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of various years; U.S.S.R. government bonds and other items of the Soviet era; a copy of “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, published in the “Novy Mir” magazine (#11, 1962); perestroika-era editions of books by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Vasily Grossman, and other authors; theater, concert, and cinema posters, programs, and tickets — in short, all of the artifacts of the perestroika era.

The Yeltsin Center opened in 2012. Inside you will also find an art gallery, a bookstore, a gift shop, a food court, concert stages and a theater. There are regular screenings of unique films that you will not find anywhere else. Also operating inside the center, is a scientific exploritorium for children. The center was designed by Boris Bernaskoni. Almost from the its very opening, the Yeltsin Center has been accused by members of different political entities of various ideological crimes. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00am to 9:00pm.

Where Nicholas II was Executed

On July, 17, 1918, during this reign of terror of the Russian Civil War, former-tsar Nicholas II, his wife, five children (the 13-year-old Alexis, 22-year-old Olga, 19-year-old Maria and 17-year-old Anastasia)the family physician, the cook, maid, and valet were shot to death by a Red Army firing squad in the cellar of the house they were staying at in Yekaterinburg.

Ipatiev House (near Church on the Blood, Ulitsa Libknekhta) was a merchant's house where Nicholas II and his family were executed. The house was demolished in 1977, on the orders of an up and coming communist politician named Boris Yeltsin. Yeltsin later said that the destruction of the house was an "act of barbarism" and he had no choice because he had been ordered to do it by the Politburo,

The site is marked with s cross with the photos of the family members and cross bearing their names. A small wooden church was built at the site. It contains paintings of the family. For a while there were seven traditional wooden churches. Mass is given ay noon everyday in an open-air museum. The Church on the Blood — constructed to honor Nicholas II and his family — was built on the part of the site in 1991 and is now a major place of pilgrimage.

Nicholas and his family where killed during the Russian civil war. It is thought the Bolsheviks figured that Nicholas and his family gave the Whites figureheads to rally around and they were better of dead. Even though the death orders were signed Yakov Sverdlov, the assassination was personally ordered by Lenin, who wanted to get them out of sight and out of mind. Trotsky suggested a trial. Lenin nixed the idea, deciding something had to be done about the Romanovs before White troops approached Yekaterinburg. Trotsky later wrote: "The decision was not only expedient but necessary. The severity of he punishment showed everyone that we would continue to fight on mercilessly, stopping at nothing."

Ian Frazier wrote in The New Yorker: “Having read a lot about the end of Tsar Nicholas II and his family and servants, I wanted to see the place in Yekaterinburg where that event occurred. The gloomy quality of this quest depressed Sergei’s spirits, but he drove all over Yekaterinburg searching for the site nonetheless. Whenever he stopped and asked a pedestrian how to get to the house where Nicholas II was murdered, the reaction was a wince. Several people simply walked away. But eventually, after a lot of asking, Sergei found the location. It was on a low ridge near the edge of town, above railroad tracks and the Iset River. The house, known as the Ipatiev House, was no longer standing, and the basement where the actual killings happened had been filled in. I found the blankness of the place sinister and dizzying. It reminded me of an erasure done so determinedly that it had worn a hole through the page. [Source: Ian Frazier, The New Yorker, August 3, 2009, Frazier is author of “Travels in Siberia” (2010)]

“The street next to the site is called Karl Liebknecht Street. A building near where the house used to be had a large green advertisement that said, in English, “LG—Digitally Yours.” On an adjoining lot, a small chapel kept the memory of the Tsar and his family; beneath a pedestal holding an Orthodox cross, peonies and pansies grew. The inscription on the pedestal read, “We go down on our knees, Russia, at the foot of the tsarist cross.”

Books: The Romanovs: The Final Chapter by Robert K. Massie (Random House, 1995); The Fall of the Romanovs by Mark D. Steinberg and Vladimir Khrustalëv (Yale, 1995);

See Separate Article END OF NICHOLAS II factsanddetails.com

Execution of Nicholas II

According to Robert Massie K. Massie, author of Nicholas and Alexandra, Nicholas II and his family were awakened from their bedrooms around midnight and taken to the basement. They were told they were to going to take some photographs of them and were told to stand behind a row of chairs.

Suddenly, a group of 11 Russians and Latvians, each with a revolver, burst into the room with orders to kill a specific person. Yakob Yurovsky, a member of the Soviet executive committee, reportedly shouted "your relatives are continuing to attack the Soviet Union.” After firing, bullets bouncing off gemstones hidden in the corsets of Alexandra and her daughters ricocheted around the room like "a shower of hail," the soldiers said. Those that were still breathing were killed with point black shots to the head.

The three sisters and the maid survived the first round thanks to their gems. They were pressed up against a wall and killed with a second round of bullets. The maid was the only one that survived. She was pursued by the executioners who stabbed her more than 30 times with their bayonets. The still writhing body of Alexis was made still by a kick to the head and two bullets in the ear delivered by Yurovsky himself.

Yurovsky wrote: "When the party entered I told the Romanovs that in view of the fact their relatives continued their offensive against Soviet Russia, the Executive Committee of the Urals Soviet had decided to shoot them. Nicholas turned his back to the detachment and faced his family. Then, as if collecting himself, he turned around, asking, 'What? What?'"

"[I] ordered the detachment to prepare. Its members had been previously instructed whom to shoot and to am directly at the heart to avoid much blood and to end more quickly. Nicholas said no more. he turned again to his family. The others shouted some incoherent exclamations. All this lasted a few seconds. Then commenced the shooting, which went on for two or three minutes. [I] killed Nicholas on the spot."

Nicholas II’s Initial Burial Site in Yekaterinburg

Ganina Yama Monastery (near the village of Koptyaki, 15 kilometers northwest of Yekaterinburg) stands near the three-meter-deep pit where some the remains of Nicholas II and his family were initially buried. The second burial site — where most of the remains were — is in a field known as Porosyonkov (56.9113628°N 60.4954326°E), seven kilometers from Ganina Yama.

On visiting Ganina Yama Monastery, one person posted in Trip Advisor: “We visited this set of churches in a pretty park with Konstantin from Ekaterinburg Guide Centre. He really brought it to life with his extensive knowledge of the history of the events surrounding their terrible end. The story is so moving so unless you speak Russian, it is best to come here with a guide or else you will have no idea of what is what.”

In 1991, the acid-burned remains of Nicholas II and his family were exhumed from a shallow roadside mass grave in a swampy area 12 miles northwest of Yekaterinburg. The remains had been found in 1979 by geologist and amateur archeologist Alexander Avdonin, who kept the location secret out of fear that they would be destroyed by Soviet authorities. The location was disclosed to a magazine by one his fellow discovers.

The original plan was to throw the Romanovs down a mine shaft and disposes of their remains with acid. They were thrown in a mine with some grenades but the mine didn't collapse. They were then carried by horse cart. The vats of acid fell off and broke. When the carriage carrying the bodies broke down it was decided the bury the bodies then and there. The remaining acid was poured on the bones, but most of it was soaked up the ground and the bones largely survived.

After this their pulses were then checked, their faces were crushed to make them unrecognizable and the bodies were wrapped in bed sheets loaded onto a truck. The "whole procedure," Yurovsky said took 20 minutes. One soldiers later bragged than he could "die in peace because he had squeezed the Empress's -------."

The bodies were taken to a forest and stripped, burned with acid and gasoline, and thrown into abandoned mine shafts and buried under railroad ties near a country road near the village of Koptyaki. "The bodies were put in the hole," Yurovsky wrote, "and the faces and all the bodies, generally doused with sulfuric acid, both so they couldn't be recognized and prevent a stink from them rotting...We scattered it with branches and lime, put boards on top and drove over it several times—no traces of the hole remained.

Shortly afterwards, the government in Moscow announced that Nicholas II had been shot because of "a counterrevolutionary conspiracy." There was no immediate word on the other members of the family which gave rise to rumors that other members of the family had escaped. Yekaterinburg was renamed Sverdlov in honor of the man who signed the death orders.

For seven years the remains of Nicholas II, Alexandra, three of their daughters and four servants were stored in polyethylene bags on shelves in the old criminal morgue in Yekaterunburg. On July 17, 1998, Nicholas II and his family and servants who were murdered with him were buried Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg along with the other Romanov tsars, who have been buried there starting with Peter the Great. Nicholas II had a side chapel built for himself at the fortress in 1913 but was buried in a new crypt.

Near Yekaterinburg

Factory-Museum of Iron and Steel Metallurgy (in Niznhy Tagil 80 kilometers north of Yekaterinburg) a museum with old mining equipment made at the site of huge abandoned iron and steel factory. Officially known as the Factory-Museum of the History of the Development of Iron and Steel Metallurgy, it covers an area of 30 hectares and contains a factory founded by the Demidov family in 1725 that specialized mainly in the production of high-quality cast iron and steel. Later, the foundry was renamed after Valerian Kuybyshev, a prominent figure of the Communist Party.

The first Russian factory museum, the unusual museum demonstrates all stages of metallurgy and metal working. There is even a blast furnace and an open-hearth furnace. The display of factory equipment includes bridge crane from 1892) and rolling stock equipment from the 19th-20th centuries. In Niznhy Tagil contains some huge blocks of malachite and

Nizhnyaya Sinyachikha (180 kilometers east-northeast of Yekaterinburg) has an open air architecture museum with log buildings, a stone church and other pre-revolutionary architecture. The village is the creation of Ivan Samoilov, a local activist who loved his village so much he dedicated 40 years of his life to recreating it as the open-air museum of wooden architecture.

The stone Savior Church, a good example of Siberian baroque architecture. The interior and exterior of the church are exhibition spaces of design. The houses are very colorful. In tsarist times, rich villagers hired serfs to paint the walls of their wooden izbas (houses) bright colors. Old neglected buildings from the 17th to 19th centuries have been brought to Nizhnyaya Sinyachikha from all over the Urals. You will see the interior design of the houses and hear stories about traditions and customs of the Ural farmers.

Verkhoturye (330 kilometers road from Yekaterinburg) is the home a 400-year-old monastery that served as 16th century capital of the Urals. Verkhoturye is a small town on the Tura River knows as the Jerusalem of the Urals for its many holy places, churches and monasteries. The town's main landmark is its Kremlin — the smallest in Russia. Pilgrims visit the St. Nicholas Monastery to see the remains of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye, the patron saint of fishermen.

Ural Mountains

Ural Mountains are the traditional dividing line between Europe and Asia and have been a crossroads of Russian history. Stretching from Kazakhstan to the fringes of the Arctic Kara Sea, the Urals lie almost exactly along the 60 degree meridian of longitude and extend for about 2,000 kilometers (1,300 miles) from north to south and varies in width from about 50 kilometers (30 miles) in the north and 160 kilometers (100 miles) the south. At kilometers 1777 on the Trans-Siberian Railway there is white obelisk with "Europe" carved in Russian on one side and "Asia" carved on the other.

The eastern side of the Urals contains a lot of granite and igneous rock. The western side is primarily sandstone and limestones. A number of precious stones can be found in the southern part of the Urals, including emeralds. malachite, tourmaline, jasper and aquamarines. The highest peaks are in the north. Mount Narodnaya is the highest of all but is only 1884 meters (6,184 feet) high. The northern Urals are covered in thick forests and home to relatively few people.

Like the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States, the Urals are very old mountains — with rocks and sediments that are hundreds of millions years old — that were one much taller than they are now and have been steadily eroded down over millions of years by weather and other natural processes to their current size. According to Encyclopedia Britannica: “The rock composition helps shape the topography: the high ranges and low, broad-topped ridges consist of quartzites, schists, and gabbro, all weather-resistant. Buttes are frequent, and there are north–south troughs of limestone, nearly all containing river valleys. Karst topography is highly developed on the western slopes of the Urals, with many caves, basins, and underground streams. The eastern slopes, on the other hand, have fewer karst formations; instead, rocky outliers rise above the flattened surfaces. Broad foothills, reduced to peneplain, adjoin the Central and Southern Urals on the east.

“The Urals date from the structural upheavals of the Hercynian orogeny (about 250 million years ago). About 280 million years ago there arose a high mountainous region, which was eroded to a peneplain. Alpine folding resulted in new mountains, the most marked upheaval being that of the Nether-Polar Urals...The western slope of the Urals is composed of middle Paleozoic sedimentary rocks (sandstones and limestones) that are about 350 million years old. In many places it descends in terraces to the Cis-Ural depression (west of the Urals), to which much of the eroded matter was carried during the late Paleozoic (about 300 million years ago). Found there are widespread karst (a starkly eroded limestone region) and gypsum, with large caverns and subterranean streams. On the eastern slope, volcanic layers alternate with sedimentary strata, all dating from middle Paleozoic times.”

Southern Urals

The southern Urals are characterized by grassy slopes and fertile valleys. The middle Urals are a rolling platform that barely rises above 300 meters (1,000 feet). This region is rich in minerals and has been heavily industrialized. This is where you can find Yekaterinburg (formally Sverdlovsk), the largest city in the Urals.

Most of the Southern Urals are is covered with forests, with 50 percent of that pine-woods, 44 percent birch woods, and the rest are deciduous aspen and alder forests. In the north, typical taiga forests are the norm. There are patches of herbal-poaceous steppes, northem sphagnous marshes and bushy steppes, light birch forests and shady riparian forests, tall-grass mountainous meadows, lowland ling marshes and stony placers with lichen stains. In some places there are no large areas of homogeneous forests, rather they are forests with numerous glades and meadows of different size.

In the Ilmensky Mountains Reserve in the Southern Urals, scientists counted 927 vascular plants (50 relicts, 23 endemic species), about 140 moss species, 483 algae species and 566 mushroom species. Among the species included into the Red Book of Russia are feather grass, downy-leaved feather grass, Zalessky feather grass, moccasin flower, ladies'-slipper, neottianthe cucullata, Baltic orchis, fen orchis, helmeted orchis, dark-winged orchis, Gelma sandwart, Krasheninnikov sandwart, Clare astragalus.

The fauna of the vertebrate animals in the Reserve includes 19 fish, 5 amphibian and 5 reptile. Among the 48 mammal species are elks, roe deer, boars, foxes, wolves, lynxes, badgers, common weasels, least weasels, forest ferrets, Siberian striped weasel, common marten, American mink. Squirrels, beavers, muskrats, hares, dibblers, moles, hedgehogs, voles are quite common, as well as chiropterans: pond bat, water bat, Brandt's bat, whiskered bat, northern bat, long-eared bat, parti-coloured bat, Nathusius' pipistrelle. The 174 bird bird species include white-tailed eagles, honey hawks, boreal owls, gnome owls, hawk owls, tawny owls, common scoters, cuckoos, wookcocks, common grouses, wood grouses, hazel grouses, common partridges, shrikes, goldenmountain thrushes, black- throated loons and others.

Activities and Places in the Ural Mountains

The Urals possess beautiful natural scenery that can be accessed from Yekaterinburg with a rent-a-car, hired taxi and tour. Travel agencies arrange rafting, kayaking and hiking trips. Hikes are available in the taiga forest and the Urals. Trips often include walks through the taiga to small lakes and hikes into the mountains and excursions to collect mushrooms and berries and climb in underground caves. Mellow rafting is offered in a relatively calm six kilometer section of the River Serga. In the winter visitor can enjoy cross-mountains skiing, downhill skiing, ice fishing, dog sledding, snow-shoeing and winter hiking through the forest to a cave covered with ice crystals.

Lake Shartash (10 kilometers from Yekaterinburg) is where the first Ural gold was found, setting in motion the Yekaterinburg gold rush of 1745, which created so much wealth one rich baron of that time hosted a wedding party that lasted a year. The area around Shartash Lake is a favorite picnic and barbecue spot of the locals. Getting There: by bus route No. 50, 054 or 54, with a transfer to suburban commuter bus route No. 112, 120 or 121 (the whole trip takes about an hour), or by car (10 kilometers drive from the city center, 40 minutes).

Revun Rapids (90 kilometers road from Yekaterinburg near Beklenishcheva village) is a popular white water rafting places On the nearby cliffs you can see the remains of a mysterious petroglyph from the Paleolithic period. Along the steep banks, you may notice the dark entrance of Smolinskaya Cave. There are legends of a sorceress who lived in there. The rocks at the riverside are suited for competitive rock climbers and beginners. Climbing hooks and rings are hammered into rocks. The most fun rafting is generally in May and June.

Olenii Ruchii National Park (100 kilometers west of Yekaterinburg) is the most popular nature park in Sverdlovsk Oblast and popular weekend getaway for Yekaterinburg residents. Visitors are attracted by the beautiful forests, the crystal clear Serga River and picturesque rocks caves. There are some easy hiking routes: the six-kilometer Lesser Ring and the 15-kilometer Greater Ring. Another route extends for 18 km and passes by the Mitkinsky Mine, which operated in the 18th-19th centuries. It's a kind of an open-air museum — you can still view mining an enrichment equipment here. There is also a genuine beaver dam nearby.

Among the other attractions at Olenii Ruchii are Druzhba (Friendship) Cave, with passages that extend for about 500 meters; Dyrovaty Kamen (Holed Stone), created over time by water of Serga River eroding rock; and Utoplennik (Drowned Man), where you can see “The Angel of Sole Hope”., created by the Swedish artist Lehna Edwall, who has placed seven angels figures in different parts of the world to “embrace the planet, protecting it from fear, despair, and disasters.”

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Federal Agency for Tourism of the Russian Federation (official Russia tourism website russiatourism.ru ), Russian government websites, UNESCO, Wikipedia, Lonely Planet guides, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Bloomberg, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Yomiuri Shimbun and various books and other publications.

Updated in September 2020

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