New explorer yacht being built in Antalya – the Kando85 – ready for ‘long periods at sea’

Construction has begun on a new 85 model in AvA Yachts’ Kando series of long-range explorer yachts. This type of yacht – capable of self sufficiency for extended periods – has become more popular in recent years as, seemingly, superyacht owners look to move away from the easy life of the Med which many of us aspire to. They’re looking for more vigorous challenges.

Thus, as AvA moves into this space, a keel-laying ceremony was held at the yard in Antalya early in June. Delivery is expected to take place in the summer of 2025, with the Kando85 making its first appearance at the Cannes Yachting Festival. Last July the company announced it had added the Kando80 to its line. 

At 25.70m length overall it comes with a steel hull and aluminium superstructure. Its can either be operated by crew or run privately as an owner-operated vessel.

Atilla Küçükdiker, chairman and founder of AvA Yachts, doesn’t see any real challenges in the build’s immediate future. “We are an experienced shipyard with two larger Kando models already successfully delivered and a third significantly underway. It will be a smooth, well-planned construction and the customer will receive a perfect product.”

Alhtough there are a plethora of yachts this size on the second hand market, Küçükdiker says some buyers will only buy new. There isn’t a buyer profile for the range. “It could be anybody,” he says. “We still have a significant build price advantage in Turkey. This yacht will require a lesser investment than many other comparable secondhand vessels on the market . . . why settle for secondhand when you can have new?”

That ‘perfect product’ he envisions is all bound up in its real-ship capabilities. He rattles off the features which makes it stand out: “10mm thick steel, built to commercial levels, superb equipment levels, phenomenal storage, this is a safe ship with redundancy in all key equipment with easily serviceable mechanicals. But with all the trimmings of the finest luxury superyachts afloat with faultless paintwork, teak decks, master suite balcony, transformer aft and lavish superplush interior style and décor.”

Designed as a full displacement world cruiser capable of immense distances and long periods at sea, the Kando85 boasts an interior volume of 200 GT. It’s got 24,000 lt fuel tanks and has fuel consumption of 63lts/hr at a cruising speed of 10 knots. This means a range of over 4,000 nautical miles is achievable. Powered by twin Volvo Penta D13MG 408 hp engines the boat will reach a maximum speed of 11 knots.

The standard internal configuration is a four cabin arrangement with a main deck forward master suite.

“To call the Kando85 a pocket explorer would not do her justice,” says SRW Yachting’s Svein Willadssen. SRW is an investor in the project.

Pocket explorers tend to be smaller which can make them more flexible than their bigger rivals in terms of maneuverability in narrow waters. Plus, they typically have a shallower draft and lower operating costs with less crew needed.

“She’s a superbly well-equipped ultra-safe oceangoing explorer superyacht,” Willadssen continues. “We know very well AvA Yachts’ ultra-high quality of construction and excellent finished product and we see the potential of the Kando85 as phenomenal. It is hoped this will be the first of many Kando85s whereby we can establish a series production operation offering the very best of all worlds; the ultimate oceangoing comfort yacht, the proven engineered platform and efficiencies of scale, and whilst still being able to offer layout and customisation options unparallelled in this size range.”

Küçükdiker says that the ‘soft’ launch last year demonstrated very strong interest, not least because it’s seen as ‘a proper global explorer’ in this size range. “It’s at the right size point to be able to be either a fully crewed yacht or for an experienced couple or family to run it themselves or with minimal crew operation.

“The Kando85 has been developed from the 80 and is super strong with an underwater steel thickness of 8-10mm and multiple watertight bulkheads for ultimate safety. With Turkey able to offer a really significant quality yacht construction price advantage, potential buyers will be pleasantly surprised to see how much quality explorer superyacht bang they can get for their buck.”

NBA basketball star Tony Parker owns a Kando. His, Infinity Nine, was the second of the contemporary explorer yachts from the company. Continue reading about yachts designed for long-range exploring.