Adventure on the high seas…
I first stumbled across the Raja Laut whilst stationed in Borneo. She’s constructed purely of wood in a style that evokes memories of a more romantic period in time. She’s such a lovely yacht, supremely comfortable and cruises all the most interesting spots in Southeast Asia.
The name “Raja Laut” means “King of the Seas” in Malay, and was chosen in homage to the Malay Archipelago. “Raja”, itself a derivation of the hindustani for king, is an honorific title used in ancient times from Srivijaya to Malacca, Makassar to Ambon. The type of vessel, the whole region really captured our imagination and that is why we built her.
Much thanks certainly goes to the writing of Joseph Conrad – and one can easily envision the schooner carrying adventurers and traders in his depictions of the exotic East. There is also the portrait, in the Sarawak museum, of James Brooke’s schooner “The Royalist”, which has a very similar design to Raja Laut and which young Brooke had purchased in England and then sailed across the world to explore what was then known as the Malay Archipelago. Within Asia, strategically located between East and West, with it’s geography of thousands of islands, and a rich bounty in spices, the Malay Archipelago was a major seafaring region with flourishing cities and kingdoms, attracting traders from all over the world.
In the late 19th Century Conrad sailed extensively through the Archipelago as a mate aboard the British Merchant Navy steamer “Vidar” and it was the intensity and richness of these experiences that provided the writer with much material for his novels. It was also during this time that a young Conrad came across a real life “Raja Laut” in the form of Captain William Lingard. Lingard was then a well-known figure in Singapore and throughout the Archipelago, where he had sailed his own ships and cargoes and amassed a considerable fortune. Legend has it that on one of Lingards numerous voyages to Borneo he fought a large fleet of Bugis pirates (the most feared and skilled seafarers of the region), rescuing a surrounded Dutch man-of-war. His bravery on this occasion earned him the thanks of the King of Holland and he was made a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands. Locally, he acquired the unofficial title “Raja Laut” bestowed by the Sultan of Gunung Tabor, and was known by this sobriquet among the Malays.
Over 100 years later another “Raja Laut” is launched on the shores of Borneo, designed and built by a multinational team of European and Asian boat builders. East meets West, once again, in the Malay Archipelago… except that today the region abounds with holiday makers hungering for eco-treasures rather than spices, for new adventures with a new “Raja Laut”…
Once the idea of building a boat is in your mind, probably one of the first thoughts that one obsesses over is, “what material do we want for the hull?”. After all, the hull is more than just the “foundations” of a boat – it’s the foundation, and the floor, and the walls. Boats can be built out of almost anything, but not all boat building materials are equal.
Thankfully, mother nature created a supreme and renewable material for boat building: wood. Wood is THE material to use for a classic schooner. Wood is great to live with and on – it feels heavy, solid and safe. Most sailors will tell you, no other material can beat the feel and ambiance of a wooden boat, especially a carvel-built one. These are purely romantic reason, but the number of genuinely good, practical reasons for choosing wood are endless. Wood is high in tensile strength, durable, workable and combines stiffness with light weight in a way that is more structurally efficient than just about any other material. Mechanically and physically its simply right for boats and that is why we have been building ships out of wood since the beginning and continue to do so today.
Steel or aluminium hulls are strong, have many advantages, and are the better materials for certain vessels, but they carry little charm and lots of vibrations. In the long term steel will corrode and aluminium will oxidize and plenty of maintenance and care is still required.
Fibreglass is less maintenance and when first invented people thought it might be the “miracle” material. Unfortunately they were wrong. A fibreglass hull weakens over time, water penetrates the layers by osmosis, spider cracks form over the glass, on impact with a harder material it will shatter, and to top it off it is difficult to repair and unpleasant to work with.
With the right type of wood and proper maintenance a well built wooden boat actually lasts longer than their fiberglass counterparts. In part this is because wood is able to absorb and release water so a wooden sailboat will actually get less condensation and dampness on it than a fiberglass one. Furthermore, thanks today’s technology wooden boats are a lot less maintenance than before, while regardless of technology, a fiberglass boat will deteriorate persistently with age and there is little that can be done to prevent it.
Its worth a pause to re-read that last paragraph because many potential boat buyers erroneously choose fiberglass over wood thinking it is less maintenance and lasts longer. But a survey around the world’s marinas will find hundreds of wooden boats built in the 1920’s and 30’s that are around today still in great condition.
A longer life span is just one of the reasons that also makes a well-built wooden boat the more environmentally-friendly choice. Unlike steel or aluminium wood is a renewable resource, and unlike fiberglass, wood is biodegradable so that a sunken or disposed of wooden boat is not as damaging to the environment
The spirit of Raja Laut is in Borneo and, as fate would have it, so are some of the worlds best hardwoods AND South East Asia’s most historically renowned sailors and finest traditional shipwrights – the Bugis.
Although originally from the Sulawesi, Bugis boat builders have over the centuries migrated throughout the Malay Archipelago. The shipwrights logically migrate to where the sources of wood are, and so most have followed the wood to Borneo, 3rd largest island in the world, home to a history of headhunters and marauding pirates, territory of Joseph Conrad’s “Rajah Laut”. It was a fitting choice for the boat building project.
The availability of the exceptional “Borneo Ironwood” (species name: Eusideroxylon Zwageri), known locally as Belian or Kayu Ulin, made the choice of wood automatic. Belian is one of the worlds hardest and heaviest woods: harder, heavier and more durable than Teak, Ebony, Mahogany or Iroko, and one of the most exceptionally naturally durable hardwood species in existence.
In the AS 5604 – 2005 Australian Standards report on Timber Preservation and Durability Belian achieved the highest durability ratings out of all the woods studied (including Burmese Teak). In the same report Belian was given a probable “marine-borer-resistance” life expectancy of 60+ years in southern waters (shorter in tropical waters). This resistance estimate is for untreated/unprotected timber, and we understood that with proper maintenance a well-built Belian hull would last for 100 years or more which is quite exceptional and certainly very desirable.
Other woods used in the construction include Burmese Teak for the deck, Selangan Batu for the deckhouse & interior with floors of Merbau.
In terms of the method of construction itself, wooden boatbuilding tradition strongly favours carvel planking in which a smooth hull is formed by wooden planks attached to a frame.
This true both in the West and in the East, but in the Malay Archipelago there is one twist – the Bugis boat builders have been building their carvel boats for centuries by putting the planking in first, prior to the frames (much as with a clinker built boat except with the planks placed edge to edge). Using these methods, Belian wood, and plans of traditional wooden schooners from America and France, we built the strongest hull we could possibly build: designed to last a hundred years.
Each of the Belian pieces used to create the Raja Laut’s hull structure – the planking, frames and stringers – was carefully selected. We accepted only the longest pieces: defect-free and quarter sawn. Then there is the thickness of the planking, the size and spacing of the frames, the stringers, the quality of the workmanship, the symmetry of construction, and strength of the stainless steel fastenings, all contributing to create an exceptional hull.
The keel is 30cm x 35cm x 22meters in one seamless piece. The keelson is 20cm x 20 cm solid. The planking thickness is 7cm at the bottom hull and 6cm at the turn of the bilge and 5cm for the topsides
The internal stringers extend from keelson to deck, are 20cm x 7cm and spaced at 17 cm interval
Each frame is construed of 2 pieces, each 15cm thick by 10 cm wide, bolted together with a minimum of 50 cm overlap where joined. The stem is formed by a 30cm x 30 cm solid piece of Belian, supported by a timber knee off the stem that has a rake of 62 degrees. The sprit is boxed with a stainless steel band at the stem.
A Practical Work Of Art
The concept was to build both a classic schooner, to follow in the footsteps of Brooke and Conrad, but also a modern sailboat for luxury expeditions. Therefore well thought out engineering, practicality, safety and comfort would dictate decisions and designs each step of the way to completing the boat.
The most important factor in the design of a vessel is that a hull should be stable. Calculations made by the naval architect and stability experiments carried out afloat indicate a positive stability of 92 degrees which means that the ship will right itself even if it is heeled right over on its side. This is well in excess of most commercial vessels out there.
Another factor to consider is speed and, while Raja Laut is a centuries old design, built as solidly as possible with the hardest and heaviest hardwoods, in reality she sails comfortably at a top speed of 11 knots and with her 300Hp Yanmar marine engine will reach speeds of 10 knots at 1850rpm, or 8 knots when run under a more economical power (1600rpm with fuel consumption of approx. 24 litres/hour). This is coupled with 7000 litre fuel capacity that gives Raja Laut a range of approx. 2500 nautical miles on motor alone – more than sufficient for long range cruising.
The sail plan – gaff topsail schooner rig – was chosen for its simplicity and practicality in handling. The gaff topsail was also a rig typical of the “South Sea” trading schooners of the late 19th Century – probably the most famous example of which is the schooner Pato, built by Joshua Slocum in the Philippines. As with Raja Laut, these schooners had no gaff sail on the foremast which made them easier to sail, and had shortened bow sprits for ease of coming alongside wharfs.
In short, behind the traditional style, Raja Laut is a 21st century product built to exacting standards of strength, longevity, safety, and ease of use. What’s more, the classic feel of a rich timber interior accompanies 6 beautiful cabins, each with ensuite bathrooms, air-conditioning, and all the comforts you can expect of a modern luxury yacht: hot showers, electric toilets, fresh water by reverse osmosis, satellite navigation, internet and sat phone, scuba diving facilities, tenders and toys.
Everything you need for an idyllic cruising holiday in Asia…
For more information visit, www.rajalaut.com
Boating, biking & boarding - in Southeast Asia 