Feadship Reveals Megayacht Concept: Project FG “Freddie Gump”

Dutch shipyard Feadship has revealed megayacht concept “Project FG – Freddie Gump” inspired by rockstar Freddie Mercury and the fictional character Forrest Gump.

Dutch shipyard Feadship’s newest concept, “Project FG” or as its more affectionately known “Freddie Gump,” is the latest design to be revealed from the “Carte Blanch Exclusives” archives.

Designed to inspire the next generation of yacht owners (and even those who had never even considered one), yacht concepts like these from Feadship’s De Voogt Design Studio explore technologically feasible design concepts while incorporating the preferences and requests of the clients.

In conversation with Feadship Sales Director, Marsha van Buitenen, De Voogt senior designer Jan Schaffers explained Project FG “Freddie Gump” concept came to life through a brokers course held at the shipyard that helps brokers understand the design process.

Initially, the group was tasked with creating an imaginary client and landed on a character of extremes – someone with a party attitude but very down to earth. The inspiration? Freddie Mercury and the fictional down to earth Forrest Gump played by Tom Hanks.

“The group wanted a character that embodied extremes,” says Feadship sales director Marsha Van Buitenen. “They thought about a client that one hand has a party attitude but on the other is very down to earth as well. They combined a fictional character and a real character to dream up the client – for the down to earth side, it was Forest Gump, and for the wilder side, it was Freddie Mercury. With that, Freddie Gump as born.”

Translated into a client design, Project FG “Freddie Gump” is a 109-meter superyacht that hosts 22 sleeping guests and speaks to both parts of the Freddie Gump personality.

On the aft deck a huge outdoor beach club (four times larger than Feadship designed “Savannah”) accommodates parties of up to 300 people while a panoramic piano lounge on the upper deck acts as the heart of the superyacht and the meeting point of the two personalities – a place that both Freddie Mercury and Forrest Gump could retire to as dusk falls and from where the rest of the yacht design branches out into the individual elements of each character.

Other unique design elements of Project FG include a pop-up table tennis court on the tip of the bow that features a glass tube that “pops up” at the push of a button and encloses the table-tennis table so that the players are protected from the effects of the wind.

One particular design feature that certainly caters to the rockstar inspirations of Freddie Mercury is the hidden club for where the really crazy parties happen – even crazier than those happening on the aft deck. Guests are not given directions on how to get there but instead have to find a hidden door past an engine in the superyacht’s belly.

Freddie’s influence also extends to the yacht’s exterior with the golden orange glass reminiscent of the tinted glasses often worn by Mercury.

While Project FG Freddie Gump has yet to find an owner, the technically feasible Feadship design is still open for the kind of owner with an appreciation for wild nights of partying like Mercury and peaceful days of relaxation.