Heesen Yachts, operating from Oss in the Netherlands, builds semi-custom aluminium motor yachts in the 37 to 70-metre range with a distinctive combination of fast hull form, lightweight construction and high interior specification. The aluminium construction at Heesen is not a compromise on finish — the yard has developed interior integration with aluminium structure to a degree that rivals comparable steel-hull alternatives in quality of finish and surpasses them in performance. In the Bahamas, Heesen’s hull speed advantage is felt most clearly on the inter-island passages between Nassau and Cat Island: where a displacement hull might take five hours, a Heesen semi-displacement hull covers the same distance in three to three and a half hours at reasonable revs, making Cat Island genuinely accessible within a half-day passage from Nassau. Cat Island is the southeastern Bahamas at its most undeveloped: 80 kilometres of coastline, beaches at Fernandez Bay and Greenwood that compare with the Exumas at a fraction of the charter traffic, and bonefishing flats that have barely been catalogued by the commercial guiding industry. Charter-available Heesen yachts in the Bahamas carry six to twelve guests with crews of six to ten. Weekly rates run from approximately 100,000 to 350,000 euros before the advance provisioning allowance of 30 per cent. Peak season runs December through April.
