From the Beginning

At the time of her original build in 1964, Serena was one of a fascinating series of yachts created by Feadship in conjunction with the Italian designer Carlo Riva. A total of seven “Caravelles” were launched between 1961 and 1965, and these fast steel motoryachts – measuring in at 73’ 10” (22.5m) in length –were renowned for their fine detail.

Beer magnate Freddie Heineken bought the second Caravelle and Serena was the fourth to be built, delivered to her delighted German owner in July 1964. Some 40 summers later, this very same vessel was cruising the Italian waters when she was spotted by her subsequent owner, who described his holiday encounter as “love at first sight”.  After a few years of sailing and recognizing the importance of Serena’s preservation, this second owner brought Serena back home to Holland for a complete refit at the Feadship yard in Makkum. The project took approximately a year to complete and involved some two dozen apprentices and their guild masters as well as the Feadship Refit Team. The result is so authentic that when you board Serena you feel like you’ve traveled back in time to the Sixties.

Serena’s 2011 refit was as comprehensive as they come: to rebuild the yacht from the bottom up while keeping the exterior profile and appearance as original as possible. Also on the agenda was bringing the interior arrangement back to the original layout with a slightly more modern design. The owner was also keen to deploy the very latest technologies to bring comfort levels into the 21st Century and ensure that Serena remained very much a Feadship in terms of her quality. She was also to be given a technical backbone functionally comparable to much larger Feadship yachts. To ensure all this could be achieved within a reasonable refit budget for a yacht of this size, the decision was taken to appoint Feadship apprentices to perform most of the work under the strict supervision of the current generation of craftsmen from every discipline. In this way, the project gave an incredible hands-on education to some of the most promising young boatbuilding talents in Holland.

The exterior was renovated according to the original design, keeping as much of the hardware intact to maintain the finish of the era in which she was built. Most of the superstructure housing was salvaged and went through a meticulous reconditioning process which included repairing the wooden structure and applying numerous new coats of lacquer. The wheelhouse roof and sundeck were reconstructed in aluminum to give a crisp and elegant new appearance.