What a difference 10 feet can make. Ocean Alexander already offers a 90-footer with a four-stateroom layout whose guest spaces would qualify as VIP suites on most yachts. With its OA 100 Skylounge, the builder has added an on-deck master, much like the kind aboard superyachts. That’s one reason why Ocean Alexander calls the 100 Skylounge the entry-level yacht in its six-model mega-yacht series, which stretches up to 155 feet length overall. The 100 Skylounge can be ordered with numerous layouts. Other arrangements include a dual-master, five-stateroom setup, with a full-beam suite in addition to the on-deck master, and an optional twin VIP with two mirrored staterooms amidships. My test yacht had the on-deck master, which is an easy choice in my mind. Wake up surrounded by windows on three sides; have a head with inlaid marble and a walk-in closet; and then take a short stroll to the afterdeck for coffee and croissants. That seems like true luxury, and a surprising amount of it in a 100-foot package. While designer Evan K. Marshall may be known for superyachts, he brings a practical sensibility along with luxurious touches to his designs for Ocean Alexander. Marshall was the first to use the split-level master suite, making use of the bow for a step-down en suite head that includes a bureau with nine backlit and Lucite-faced drawers. The toilet has a separate compartment, as does the shower, and there are two vessel sinks.
And it’s the master suite that is the selling point, flooded with light from windows more than 5 feet high. An L-shaped settee and owner’s desk make this space a serene getaway spot. Marshall and OA also thought of practicalities, with an owner’s desk in one corner and a night head to starboard for midnight pit stops without the need for going down steps.
The salon is down a short companionway from the master, with a formal dining area with seating for 10 around a 9-foot-6-inch table. A low divider with drawers for Ocean Alexander-branded silver, glassware and china sets apart the dining area. Aft, there’s a couch and loose chairs for entertaining or for watching the 60-inch TV that hinges from overhead.
The galley is just forward of the dining area, with 24- to 27-inch wraparound counters, and appliances including a 6-foot Sub-Zero fridge backed by two fridge drawers, and a Thermador cooktop and oven. A pantograph door opens to the side deck so provisions can be loaded without passing through the salon, and a second door is just across the companionway.
The salon and the shaded aft deck with its raised dinette and settee are appealing, but I’d bet most guests would beeline it up the curved stairs to the sky lounge, which is an airy perch overlooking the world. A couch and loose chairs offer views of a swing-down 50-inch TV, and Stidd pedestal seats flank the skipper’s chair. The sky lounge also has a bar with a Jenn-Air drawer fridge.
The aft deck has room for a 12- to 14-foot tender and a personal watercraft, each launched by a Steelhead 2500 crane. And with the water toys stowed, there is room for a dinette to port, a bar with a grill to starboard and an optional hot tub.
The skipper gets the forward end of the sky lounge with a trio of 22-inch Garmin monitors, plus MTU engine screens. What I found most thoughtful was the chart table to port; it is large enough to lay out full-size charts (for skippers who believe in paper backups to electronics), and it has two chart drawers.
Speaking of the crew, Ocean Alexander has always believed in the “happy crew, happy owner” adage. To that end, there is a double-berth captain’s cabin with en suite head, two more crew cabins sharing a head, and a mess with galley and lounge. It’s all finished to the same quality as the guest areas. With direct access to the transom swim platform (at sea, access is via stairs to the aft deck), this crew space doubles as a “cabana” for guests to shower and snack without tracking through the salon.
Power for the Ocean Alexander 100 Skylounge is a pair of 2,600 hp MTU 16V 2000s for a top speed of 25 knots, and the engine-room layout allows for walk-around space on all sides of the power plants. Ocean Alexander hard-coats the exhaust system with military-spec AL-6XN alloys (used for Saturn V rocket nozzles) to enhance longevity and performance. Twin 55 kW Kohler gensets are standard, as are Side-Power Vector Fin stabilizers and bow and stern thrusters.
With many attributes purloined from larger yachts, the Ocean Alexander 100 Skylounge is designed to surprise big-thinking yachtsmen who are used to getting far less in a 100-foot package.
MTU: On Air, Land and Sea
The German engine builder MTU had an eclectic history right up to 2011, when Rolls-Royce purchased it. Wilhelm Maybach, the director of Daimler, started the company in 1909. His early efforts powered Zeppelins in World War I, and U-boats and tanks in World War II. The company merged with Mercedes-Benz in 1966 and became a part of Daimler-Chrysler in 1989. Today, the company builds everything from a Hybrid Powerpack to the big diesel engines on some of the world’s largest yachts.
Ocean Alexander: Purity of Purpose
Acquired by Alex Chueh, a Taiwanese entrepreneur, in 1977, Ocean Alexander rose to prominence with yacht designers such as Evan K. Marshall and Ed Monk Jr. In the years following the launch of the first OA — a 50-foot pilothouse trawler — the company has remained consistent as a semicustom boatbuilder that tailors each yacht to an owner’s wants and needs. Unlike some other overseas shipyards, it has always refrained from constructing yachts under any name other than Ocean Alexander.
A Word with Yacht Designer Evan K. Marshall
Marshall is an American designer living in London who keeps a stack of Yachting magazines from his childhood. They inspired him to become a yacht designer.
What was your goal for the OA 100 Skylounge?
Being able to offer a true trideck layout. What we have done is offer a private house as well as a public house, and a sky lounge normally associated with much larger yachts.
Do you have a favorite feature?
I very much like the on-deck master stateroom with both a large bathroom and walk-in wardrobes, along with a night bathroom on the same level as the stateroom. These are features we introduced to the OA 112, and I’m pleased we could incorporate them into the OA 100.
Did you have a particular buyer in mind?
Like all Ocean Alexanders, this design caters to buyers who love extended, comfortable cruising in a capable offshore yacht.
