Meet the Legendary Design Team behind the New Outback 50
“Great minds think alike,” according to an old Greek proverb.
And nothing brings that proverb closer to true life than the story behind the revolutionary new Outback 50.
When yachting industry veteran and lifelong recreational boater Andrew Cilla thought about designing the perfect boat for cruising south Florida with his active family, he focused on functionality. He thought primarily about how he and his active family actually used their boat.
He came to a profound, yet elegantly simple conclusion: he and his family spent most of their time on their boat out back, on deck.
Using the family cruising boat as the “mother ship,” they towed a flats boat for fishing, excursions to the beach, and trips ashore for hiking, snorkeling, diving, dining, or shopping. They stored sports and fishing equipment either on deck or down below, out back. And the flats boat they towed was where they spent the majority of their cruising time.
Mealtimes aboard mostly happened casually, on deck, so that after an active day of fishing, diving, or beachcombing, the family didn’t have to traipse through the salon or accommodation spaces in wet, sandy bathing suits to clean up for dinner indoors.
“What if,” he thought, “I could design a boat that perfectly expressed the way we actually live on and enjoy our time on the water? – a boat that combines maximum performance and comfort with a streamlined design and unique outdoor features to enhance on-deck living.”
So, Andrew went to work, spending the next several years picking the brains of some of the smartest people in yacht design, marine engineering, composite fabrication, and systems engineering as he worked out the specifications for his dream boat on his office drafting table. Every time a designer, marine surveyor, professional captain, or boat builder dropped by his office, Andrew openly shared his ideas, drawings, and sketches and invited expert opinions and critique.
One of those experts was Jay Coyle, Editor at Large of Yachting Magazine, who mentioned that Michael Peters, head of Michael Peters Yacht Design, happened to be developing a very similar boat for his own use.
When Andrew drove up to Sarasota, Florida, to Michael Peters Yacht Design to share and discuss his design ideas with the legendary Michael Peters, he was stunned.
Michael Peters was working on an almost identical concept.
Both Andrew’s and Michael’s design emphasized a long, relatively narrow, lightweight, shallow-draft yacht with an abundance of outdoor deck space. Both designs were driven by efficiency, simplicity, performance, and comfort, and based on “form following function.”
Says Peters,
“…When I began to draw a boat for myself around 2008, I went to…a long, narrow, light boat kept extremely simple…Yes, you want to be able to sleep onboard. Yes, you want to be able to cook on board. But you really want to be able to spend time outside on the boat. You want sun coverage. You want to be able to sit out at anchor and enjoy the outdoors, not be locked inside the cabin. So, the philosophy of a boat that emphasized the outside, as opposed to the maximum interior you could have and having the comforts of a living room back home were really set aside to favor a real utilitarian sort of approach.”
Andrew Cilla and Michael Peters agreed to work together on the project, and spent nearly three years melding their ideas, tweaking and refining the design of what would ultimately become the Outback 50. Once they were satisfied with the drawings, they contacted John Olson, President and Founder of Offshore West, Inc., to oversee production of the Outback at the prestigious Kha Shing Enterprises, Ltd., in Taiwan.
The result of this collaboration, the Outback 50, represents a revolution in the concept of a “cruising yacht.”
Again, according to Peters,
“We’ve always seen the Outback 50 as the sail boater’s powerboat. I think we’ve coined it the ‘mini exploration boat,’ given the popularity of the larger exploration boats where you can carry a sport fisher on board… Bring your furniture from the interior out and set it on the aft deck to create a real alfresco situation for entertainment…from my point of view, the reason you bought a boat is that you really want to enjoy the outdoors. And to develop a boat around that as opposed to trying to emulate an apartment where you stay inside — that was the appeal to me. That’s really the boat that touches me and makes me most interested .”
The Outback 50 will make its debut at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show October 30-November 3, 2019, with Hull Number 1 available for viewing at B/C Dock, Slip 16 /17. Hulls Number 2 and 3, currently under construction, will launch in January and April 2020, respectively.
Luke Brown Yachts in Fort Lauderdale will be responsible for East Coast and European sales of the Outback 50, and Offshore West, Inc. in Newport Beach, California, will handle West Coast sales.
Stop by and chat with us at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show. See what makes the Outback 50 such a unique, revolutionary approach to recreational cruising. We’d love to schedule a demo ride and show you why we believe the Outback 50 will revolutionize active boating.
Or, call or drop by at either our West Coast or East Coast offices to chat and explore the possibilities.
We’ll look forward to meeting you, and showing you why boating life really is more fun “out back.”
