As yacht owners and charter guests get older,
luxury yacht design is expanding to include
handicap-accessible styling

The yacht broker says it happened like this:
      His client was a longtime boater who loves nothing more than being out on the open ocean. The man was devastated as time took its toll and forced him into a wheelchair, which was impossible to use aboard his lovely, but traditionally styled 100-foot Burger motoryacht. His mind was still roaming the water, but his body was suddenly trapped ashore. He thought his passion was gone forever.
     Then he let the broker take him on a tour of the Genesis 153, launched in 2002 by North American Yachts & Shipbuilding as a speculative project with input from experts who are physically challenged. The motoryacht was the first of its kind—designed to be truly accessible on all levels for people who use wheelchairs. This was unheard of aboard yachts, where space is always at a premium and design elements are squeezed into every nook and cranny. Aboard this megayacht, though, companionways and side decks were made wide. An elevator was installed to service all four decks. Seating and dining areas throughout were arranged so that wheelchairs could pass on all sides.
     The man finished his tour, turned to the broker, and wrote a check on the spot. Still sitting in his wheelchair, he wept with joy.
     Today, the yacht is named Argyll and she is one of a handful of yachts available for charter that are touting their special-needs accessibility. Handicap-friendly design is emerging as a trend in the industry as baby boomers (and the parents who introduced them to charter) continue to age. At one industry-only charter yacht show in Antigua, Argyll was joined by the 170-foot motoryacht Dream and the 192-foot motorsailer Islander in promoting handicap access as a major selling point.
     “Over the years there have been a number of specific inquiries for vessels able to take clients who are wheelchair-bound,” explains Mike Everton-Jones, a director at London-based Yachting Partners International, which managed Argyll for charter as of 2005. “Up until very recently, there has never been a positive answer to these inquiries.”
     These three yachts are the answer that reputable charter brokers have needed, though not all were designed with Argyll’s specific attention to handicapped needs.
     Islander is a good example of a yacht that wasn’t designed for special-needs use, but that offers it to a reasonable extent nonetheless. Built in 1991 by Australian Yacht Builders (and refit in 2002), Islander has an elevator that services all four of her decks.
     “Her doorways are wide enough for a wheelchair, thus enabling guests to enjoy all the facilities of the yacht,” says Alev Karagulle, marketing director for the London-based Nigel Burgess, which managed the yacht for charter as of early 2007. “Islander has exceptional interior volume, particularly in the main saloon and master stateroom, but also in her companionways and doorways, making movement in a wheelchair throughout the yacht entirely feasible.” The yacht even has C-shaped sofas facing loose chairs that can be repositioned to make using them easier for guests without full use of their legs.
     Dream, launched from Feadship’s Royal Van Lent yard in 2003, also has an interior design that just happens to accommodate people who are physically challenged. As with Islander, Dream’s seating areas are organized with wide spaces around them to make moving about in a wheelchair easy. The formal dining area has armless chairs, even at the head, for easier in-and-out-of-wheelchair movement. The owner added a second bathroom in the master suite, closer to the bed for easier access at night, and most of the companionways throughout the yacht are wide enough to let a wheelchair get through.
     Dream also has an elevator. “It means there is wheelchair accessibility to three decks,” says Liz Howard, a charter broker in the San Diego office of Fraser Yachts Worldwide, which managed Dream for charter as of 2006. “Another of our charter yachts, Passion (a 173-foot motoryacht), has a chair that lifts along the side of the stairwell from the master stateroom on the main deck up to the top deck. You have access to everything on Passion but the guest accommodations, and you even have access to them aboard Dream.”
     Argyll, with her specific design, takes the concepts aboard Islander and Dream to the next level. She is the first yacht with an interior by Ralph Lauren, whose designers incorporated loose sofas and wide chairs—many of them armless—throughout the interior. They are quite functional yet so stylish, guests who do not use wheelchairs will never notice the difference.  
     The motoryacht also offers something its consultants insisted upon: a choice of accommodations for handicapped guests. Yachts like Islander and Dream certainly offer some staterooms that such guests can access, but Argyll was designed to allow them a choice of any sleeping quarters they desire—after they come aboard with ease.
     “There is a unique cockpit boarding system on the starboard side that is specially designed for wheelchair access,” Everton-Jones says. “The yacht has proved very successful as a floating home and entertainment platform for the new owner.”
     Harry Horgan, executive director of Shake-A-Leg Miami, was one of the consultants on Argyll’s construction (back when she was known as the Genesis 153). Horgan's nonprofit group works with disabled people, and he suffered a spinal cord injury that he has not let get in the way of his favorite pastime: sailing. He was brought in to give his opinions on how Argyll’s designers fared.
     “What impressed me was their attitude up front,” Horgan explains. “They wanted to make this accessible from the get-go. If you look at it, it doesn’t look like it’s been made accessible. It’s just magnificent when people plan from the beginning to make something accessible, instead of trying to retrofit afterward.”
     Access to staterooms and elevators is one thing, but for people who use wheelchairs, it’s often the little things that make getting around difficult. On yachts, that can include raised lips around doorways, small showers with no room for caregivers, and passarelles (walkways from the dock onshore) that make the act of simply getting aboard an embarrassing affair.
     “Boating, it’s always difficult,” Horgan says. “But I think they did a good job in minimizing all those obstacles, and they did it in a style that was very pleasing. A lot of people have the impression of something that’s accessible looking like a handicapped bathroom, big and wasting space. The boat is a great example for the industry to follow. When you plan it out right, you can make it as aesthetically pleasing as any other yacht. If more builders follow this lead, maybe we’ll have more older people staying with boating.”
     Indeed. As Everton-Jones puts it: “Incapacity leading to the need for a wheelchair is not exclusive to any specific wealth bracket. I am sure many other people will in time take advantage of the assets of Argyll and enjoy chartering her the same way the owner derives pleasure from her style, quality, grace—and practical accessibility.”—Kim Kavin