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Cheoy Lee A87 Express Sportbridge

Cheoy Lee shows off its well-rounded skills with this sporty, yet luxurious model.
  • Updated: September 12, 2013

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Cheoy Lee Shipyards bills itself as “shipbuilders to the world since 1870,” but at least as remarkable is the wide variety of yachts the company offers. The Alpha Express series — the A76 and the A87, hull No. 1 of which has emerged from the shed at this writing — taps into the sporting genre in high style. The client/designer relationship is most important in the creation of a successful yacht, and Cheoy Lee couldn’t have selected better partners than Mike Peters for naval architecture, exterior styling, general arrangement plan and systems, and Luiz de Basto for interior styling. Courtesy Cheoy Lee

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Michael Peters Yacht Design (MPYD) has a reputation for drawing fast, seakindly hulls, and this one shows a sharply raked stem, a fine entry and an easy transition into the planing surface. The run is straight, and in keeping with the 87’s displacement and a goal to exceed 30 knots top speed, MPYD has given her planing area a moderate deadrise. Two chines, one low on the entry and the other rising along the topsides toward the stem head, will suppress spray, but they also support the styling cues — or vice versa — that appear in the character break and the smiling curvature along the bottom of the window treatment. Her reverse sheer line resembles that of high-performance sport boats and offshore racing boats, which MPYD has designed in large numbers. This sheer and the crowned foredeck add to our perception of height in the rendering, but the long window treatment, oblong portlights, rub rail and contrasting colors nip that perception in the bud. Courtesy Cheoy Lee

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As we’ve learned to expect of any good design, the angles and curves play well together. The angle on the after extremity of the coachroof paraphrases that on the trailing edge of the antenna arch and on the large window area in the topsides. Arching the front fascia of the deckhouse and carrying that shape into the antenna arch makes the superstructure appear as though it has been sculpted by the winds of the yacht’s high speeds. MPYD has further highlighted the A87’s potential for hair-raising performance via the aggressive forward thrust of the stem, the leading edge of the topsides window treatment, the coachroof’s sail panel and the outboard portion of the transom. Courtesy Cheoy Lee

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While every element of the exterior cries “speed,” Luiz de Basto’s interior says “luxury” in a contemporary way. Be sure to check out the color renderings of interior spaces at yachtingmagazine.com/oct2013. The A87 Express Sportbridge has a full-beam master stateroom amidships, two guest cabins forward of that and the VIP stateroom forward. Cheoy Lee’s latest example of the sporting Alpha series is scheduled to make her public debut at this month’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. LOA: 87’1″ (incl. swim platform)
DWL: 71’5″
BEAM: 21’7″
DRAFT: 5’5″ (full load)
DISPL.: 159,800 lb. (full load)
FUEL: 1,800 gal.
WATER: 330 gal.
ENGINES: 2 x 1,900 hp
Caterpillar C32 diesels Click here to see more yachts from Cheoy Lee. Cheoy Lee Shipyards, 954-527-0999; cheoylee.com Courtesy Cheoy Lee
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