Yacht Nefertiti — a sailing-motor cruising yacht built of ferro-cement in the 1970s: according to the yacht's crew, in 1976[1][2], while Nizhny Novgorod yachtsmen recall the date as around 1974[3]. It is based at the Central Yacht Club of Nizhny Novgorod.

History of the Question

The idea of building vessels from reinforced cement belongs to the inventor of ferro-cement, Italian engineer Pier Luigi Nervi.[4] In the USSR, sailing vessels made from this material were first built in Kyiv in the early 1960s, at the Kyiv Yacht Club.[4] At present, the yacht "Nefertiti" is the only representative of sailing vessels with this type of hull construction in Russia.

Useful Activities

Thanks to the hull's resistance to various kinds of deformation, "Nefertiti" is used as a training and auxiliary vessel.

Its large capacity (up to 16 people) allows for extended autonomous voyages. The yacht's primary sailing area is the Gorky Reservoir along the stretch from Yaroslavl to Nizhny Novgorod (380 km by sailing chart) and from Nizhny Novgorod to Kazan (420 km). During the voyage, students manage to master the basic skills of sailing and study the local navigational conditions.[5][6] Voyage itineraries include visits to museums, historical and memorial sites of the Volga Region, and study of the flora and fauna of the river floodplains.[5]

Thanks to the hull's versatile design and its environmentally clean means of propulsion, "Nefertiti" can reach the most inaccessible areas of the floodplain with minimal impact on the surrounding environment.

Selected Voyages

  • In 1997, despite severe shallowing of the canals, the yacht traveled from Nizhny Novgorod to the Severnodvinsk water system (the city of Kirillov, Vologda Region). The crew took an active part in preparations for the celebration marking the 600th anniversary of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. The total length of the route was approximately 1,500 km.
  • In 2003, the yacht traveled with a research group to Tolyatti and conducted a study of wind-wave erosion processes along the banks of the middle course of the Volga. In Ulyanovsk Region, it discovered a branch of a deposit of medicinal "blue" clay, identical in composition to the clay from the mud volcanoes of the Taman Peninsula.

Plans for 2011

Since 2011, the yacht's crew has joined the Sails Over Russia[1][6] project, led by their long-time friend and yacht skipper Mikhail Khramov.

The yacht participates in the voyage to the 38th Valery Grushin Festival of Bard Music[5][2].

Participation conditions, route descriptions, and available berths are posted on the yacht's main website under the "Expeditions" section.[2]

Technical Specifications

Ferro-cement yawl, 11.5 × 3.5 m; draft 1.1/2.0 m; 10 sleeping berths.[2]

  • yacht displacement 11 tonnes,[2][6]
  • length from transom to bowsprit 12.5 m,[2]
  • beam at midship 3.6 m,[2]
  • mast height 9 m,
  • genoa-type sail plan with an area of 65 m²,
  • The yacht has a compromise-type hull with a minimum draft of 1.1 m and a maximum of 2.1 m.[2]
  • Maximum speed under sail 15 km/h.
  • Maximum speed under diesel 10 km/h.

Contacts

  • First mate Dyunin Mikhail.

Interesting facts

  • The centerboard design of the Nefertiti allows landing on shore without a pier.
  • It is currently the only surviving sailing vessel in the Volga river basin with a hull built of ferro-cement.

See also

Sources

  1. web.archive.org — Crew of the yacht Nefertiti — "Yacht Nefertiti (archive)
  2. web.archive.org — Crew of the yacht Nefertiti (archive)
  3. forum.katera.ru — Wardroom "Katera i Yakhty" — thread "A Concrete Yacht", sailors' posts about Nefertiti, 07.08.2007
  4. barque.ru — "Katera i Yakhty", no. 62, 1976 (archive)
  5. web.archive.org — Crew of the yacht Nefertiti (archive)
  6. web.archive.org — Crew of the yacht Nefertiti — section "Expeditions": a sailing voyage project across Russia, crew training, yacht displacement 11 t (web archive copy dated 20.06.2011) (archive)