Motor Yacht — 50m New Build Galley

Project Overview: 50m Motor Yacht New Build Galley

This project involved the complete galley design, specification and procurement management for a 50-metre motor yacht new build constructed at a Northern European shipyard. The vessel was designed for private owner use with a regular charter programme in the Mediterranean, requiring a galley capable of supporting the rigorous culinary demands of both owner preferences and charter guest expectations.

We were engaged at the early design stage, when the naval architect's general arrangement drawings were being developed. Our involvement allowed us to influence the galley footprint, workflow logic and technical services routing before structural decisions were locked in. The result was a galley optimised from the ground up for professional culinary service in a challenging marine environment.

Project Brief and Requirements

The owner's brief called for a galley capable of supporting a Michelin-standard culinary programme for up to ten guests, with a single executive chef and a chef de partie as the kitchen crew. The vessel's charter programme in the Western Mediterranean required HACCP-compliant food safety systems and sufficient cold storage capacity for the provisioning cycles typical of Mediterranean charter itineraries.

Secondary brief requirements included: an all-induction cooking platform to eliminate LPG from the vessel, minimising fire risk; integration with the vessel's Crestron control system for monitoring and environmental management; and equipment from manufacturers with strong Mediterranean service networks to support the vessel's primary operating region.

Equipment Specification

The final equipment specification for the 50-metre galley included:

• Combi ovens — two Rational iCombi Pro 10-grid 1/1 GN, stacked on purpose-built stands with the marine mounting specified by the yard's structural engineer
• Induction cooking suite — custom 6-zone induction cooking surface with integrated downdraft system and marine stainless surround, fabricated to the galley's dimensional specification
• Blast chiller — Electrolux Professional 10-tray blast chiller paired with the Rational oven suite for a complete cook-chill workflow
• Refrigeration — combination of True Refrigeration undercounter units and tall Dometic marine-rated cabinets providing 650 litres of total refrigeration capacity, plus 200 litres of dedicated freezer capacity
• Wine storage — dedicated Dometic 144-bottle dual-zone wine cabinet in the service pantry adjacent to the dining saloon
• Warewashing — Winterhalter UC-L undercounter dishwasher in the main galley; Winterhalter GS B glasswasher at the service bar
• Laundry — two Miele Marine PW 6101 professional washers and two Miele Marine PT 7136 dryers in the dedicated laundry room
• Preparation equipment — Robot Coupe food processor, Hobart planetary mixer, Henny Penny vacuum packer, Scotsman ice maker

Key Design Decisions

The most significant design decision on this project was the transition from a gas cooking specification in the original GA drawings to a full induction cooking platform. This change required uprating the vessel's electrical generation capacity by 30kW to support the induction cooking load — a cost that was offset against the elimination of LPG storage, the simplification of the galley ventilation design and the improvement in fire safety profile. The owner supported the change based on our analysis of the long-term operational and safety benefits.

The dual combi oven specification — a primary and secondary Rational unit — was a deliberate redundancy decision. For a vessel in active charter, a single oven failure during a charter week is a potentially programme-altering event. Two ovens ensure that the chef can maintain the full culinary programme even if one unit fails, with the secondary oven providing both operational backup and additional capacity for larger service volumes.

Project Outcome

The galley was commissioned on schedule at handover and has performed without significant operational issues throughout its first three seasons of use, including an intensive summer Mediterranean charter programme. The Rational combi ovens have been used across their full programme range and the chef reports the cooking platform as consistently meeting the demands of the culinary programme. Warewashing throughput has been adequate for the full guest complement with no service bottlenecks.