Unique Lighting on Luxury Yacht

Lumileds' Luxeon light sources have been used by lighting manufacturer LightGraphix, in a project to light the luxury £14 million, 140 foot sailing yacht Giml?

Lumileds' Luxeon light sources have been used by lighting manufacturer LightGraphix, in a project to light the luxury £14 million, 140 foot sailing yacht Giml?Designed by Dubois Naval Architects, with interior design by Dick Young and built by premier Dutch yard Vitters, the yacht required a flexible, energy efficient lighting solution that would perform in all weather conditions and in the most difficult sailing situations.

In addition, the lighting needed to create a stylish environment, to reflect the luxury standards of the yacht.

To meet this brief LightGraphix, a Luxeon Certified Luminaire Manufacturer, created lighting solutions using Luxeon LEDs for deck and step lighting, and for highlighting key design features on board Giml?Luxeon LEDs were selected for their high brightness, robustness and low energy consumption, allowing the use of the yacht's onboard generator to be kept to a minimum.

The small size and long life of Luxeon allowed LightGraphix to create "sealed for life" units which could be built into the carbon fibre structure of the yacht, so saving weight and helping with water integrity.

The use of Luxeon also minimises maintenance requirements and allows the creative use of light in key areas.

Unlike conventional lighting, Luxeon LEDs won't fail or "burn-out".

No failures during storms, and no need to use precious storage for replacement bulbs.

Costing around £10,000, the yacht's lighting solution uses white Luxeon LEDs.

Externally the LEDs are used to light steps and side decks, and on the mast to light down onto the decks.

Inside they are used as feature uplighting onto a curved, panelled ash corridor linking the saloon and the owners' quarters, and as step lighting between decks and cabins.

The ash panelled corridor was designed as a major feature of the yacht interior and the lighting was critical to enhance this effect.

A six-degree beam angle lens was used and set at a precise angle into the fitting to create a wash of light from floor to deck-head.

The fittings are finished in brushed stainless steel to match the interior fixtures.

Richard Hargreaves, managing director for LightGraphix said: "LightGraphix has worked in the luxury yacht market for many years, so part of our expertise is in understanding the unique issues these projects face and the materials required to cope with such a harsh environment.

Owners of these yachts expect the latest technology and we are constantly looking for high performance products to meet their demands.

"Lumileds' Luxeon is leading the way in terms of LED performance.

Their combination of high light output, energy efficiency, small size and robust make-up, made them ideal for this project.

The results have allowed us to exceed our client's expectations and we are confident that a growing number of yacht projects will be benefiting from Luxeon LED technology in future.

The LightGraphix solution also made use of red Luxeon, which were used on steps down into the yacht.

This provided an additional level of safety as the red light ensures that night vision is not affected when sailing after dark.

When in harbour, the step lighting can be switched to white light.

Keith Scott, market development manager at Lumileds, concluded: "The demanding environment of sailing demonstrates the many benefits of LED lighting, while showing that the opportunities for creative LED-based lighting design exist in all markets.

Luxeon has been designed to offer efficiency, robustness, long-life and high flux.

We are delighted that LightGraphix chose to work with Luxeon to create a light solution that meets the customers demands in terms of creativity and performance.

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