Comparing fancy yachts conceived by world-class designers is a little like discussing tall skyscrapers: you start with a base value of “very” and move upwards. Yet this particular yacht, from a brand that’s captured the imaginations of generations of travellers — and made Agatha Christie’s estate a mountain of money — could very well make apreny future comparison in luxury futile.
Recently christened in Saint-Nazaire with a bottle of champagne and a French Air Force flypast, the Orient Express Corinthian is the world’s largest sailing yacht and will start taking guests across the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Caribbean this summer. It’s a streamlined 720ft long and bathed in rich blue, white and gold hues; a tantalising sight glanced through the gaps between various industrial buildings when I arrived on the coast of Brittany a few days before the launch.
While it sounds odd to imagine, the Orient Express picked up from its tracks and dropped into the deep blue sea, there are plenty of thematic similarities between rail and sail, not least in how “slow travel” is back in the good books of the rich and famous (and the rest of us, for that matter). “Bringing Orient Express to the sea fits naturally within the imagination of this legendary brand,” explains Sébastien Bazin, CEO of Orient Express parent company Accor. “[It’s] a journey rooted in discovery, unhurried time, excellence and elegance.”
“Unhurried time” might be the order of the day for its eventual guests, but it’s far from the minds of those racing to finish the Corinthian on the day of my visit. An army of engineers and craftspeople flutter around, adding final flourishes and even rethinking various design elements: it’s an unsurprising (if a little hectic) attention to detail from Maxime d’Angeac, Artistic Director of Orient Express, the 2,000 designers and artisans who have been integral to the project’s success, and the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipbuilding powerhouse.
Their collaboration with Orient Express goes back a few years, but the technology that will help propel 15,000 tonnes of metal and luxury at times solely through windpower has been in the making for a decade. Engine propulsion is still available, but the Corinthian’s three towering SolidSail rigs hold 4500 sq m of sails to reach 12 knots without the help of a motor, unheard of for a ship this size. A detection system continuously monitors for marine animals, while dynamic positioning means the seabed is left untouched by anything so gauche as an anchor.
If the exterior of the Corinthian manages to combine old-world chic with today’s mod-cons, it’s nothing compared to when you step inside. When a boat offers a cabaret that can hold every guest on board, you soon realise that it’s no overnight ferry, a feeling solidified by a wander through the Corinthian’s eight bars (including a neatly-hidden art deco speakeasy — watch out for rotating walls), poker room, comprehensive spa complex and actual recording studio. That’s before you walk into the five high-ceilinged restaurants and private dining rooms headed up by multi-Michelin chef Yannick Alléno.
Away from the public eye, the 54 suites distributed across four decks are a marvel in using your colour wheel just right. The smallest suite measures a spacious 45 sq m; the largest a ridiculous 230 sq m. You’d think that space elsewhere on the boat would be a premium, but the maximum of 110 guests who can share these rooms are comfortably outnumbered by 170 members of staff, including a dedicated butler for each cabin. Each is adorned with deep wood veneers, warm oranges and precious marble.
Sweeping bay windows and private terraces open up the suites to the sea, while heavier tones keep the rooms very much within the Orient Express school of design, with reading nooks bigger than my kitchen and opulent bathrooms that recall a Florentine palazzo.
The Corinthian is clearly one of the most glamorous boats ever imagined, let alone built. It looks plucked from a time that never quite existed, straddling a space between the golden age of the Orient Express and the demands of modern travel sensibilities. All aboard.
From £9,870 for a two-night itinerary, all-inclusive for two; orient-express.com
