First Bilgin 263 ready for action

Ship & Boat International: eNews March/April 2020

Operating from Istanbul since the 1900s, the family-run Bilgin Yacht is one of Turkey’s longest-running marine success stories, spanning five generations of dedicated yacht and superyacht builders. Recent years have seen the self-styled boutique yard take on bigger and bolder projects than ever before, one of the more notable being its work on the Bilgin 263 series – billed as the largest yachts constructed in Turkey to date.

The three entries in this class comprise 80m behemoths, each equipped with eight staterooms and designed to accommodate up to 25 crew and 12 guests (see Technical Particulars). The design for this series was supplied domestically by Antalya-based naval architect Unique Yacht Design, while the UK’s H2 Yacht Design was entrusted with the yachts’ interiors.

The first Bilgin 263 was delivered on 20 February 2020, while the second and third hulls – both already sold – will be launched in 2021. Unique Yacht Design CEO and founder Emrecan Özgün comments: “The increase in living areas normally results in bulky designs.” Instead, his brief for the Bilgin 263 was to create an attractive yacht “with a sleek and sexy profile and sharp exterior lines…while avoiding high dosage design clichés”. 

The trio’s powertrains and exhaust systems were drawn up in compliance with IMO Tier III criteria, a fact of which Bilgin is particularly proud: “These eco-friendly yachts will not emit toxic gas into the environment,” the yard says. Each vessel will feature two 2,560kW engines, granting it a maximum speed of 20knots. “At a cruising speed of 12knots, the vessel’s fuel consumption will be restricted to 250litres per hour,” Bilgin says.

And the builder isn’t stopping there: an even larger, 85m superyacht type is planned, with an estimated delivery date of 2023.

TECHNICAL PARTICULARS

Bilgin 263