The Arkup is a luxury yacht shaped like a 4,300-square-foot modern
villa. It can float like a boat, or rise above the waves using hydraulic
pilings, for added stability in case of rough waters, and it’s
reportedly built to withstand a category four hurricane. It also costs
$5.5 million!
If you’re the kind of person who likes sailing or going on cruises,
but wishes they could do it from the comfort of their own home, well,
now you can! Arkup, the world’s ultimate “house yacht”, is literally a
floating villa that doubles as a luxury sea vessel, thanks to its two
100 kW/272 hp electrical engines. It features four bedrooms, a living
room, kitchen, 4.5 bathrooms, a swimming platform, retractable deck,
and a roof covered with solar panels that make it completely self
sufficient in terms of electricity. Thanks to a rainwater purification
system, the chances of the 4,000-gallon fresh water tank going dry are
very small, so as long as you have plenty of food supplies, you can
pretty much live off the grid for a long time.
While not designed for rough sea conditions, this amazing floating
home can rise above water with the help of four hydraulic piling
systems. The Arkup can reportedly rise up to 30 feet, which is plenty
for coastal waters.
“We can’t match the navigational capacity and speed of a yacht,” Arkup co-designer, Nicolas Derouin, told the Miami Herald
newspaper. “You couldn’t cruise around the world, but you could use
Arkup in the Bahamas or British Virgin Islands, for example.”
The Arkup house yacht reaches a maximum speed of 7 knots and has a
range of 20 nautical miles that can be further increased with additional
battery banks or backup generators. It’s definitely not designed for
long sailing adventures, that’s for sure.
“It’s more like a house than a boat but you never lose the
unmistakable feeling that you’re on the water,” Derouin said. There is
plenty of space, you never have to duck your head when moving around,
and you don’t feel any rocking when you’re inside, which can’t be said
for most yachts.
The full Arkup experience comes with a price tag of $5.5 million
price tag, but according to the manufacturer’s website, you can order
custom house yachts for as low as $2,267.000.
