Horizon II, the first yacht from new Dutch brand Leapher Yachts, left the port of Vlissingen on 5 November and headed for the Isle of Wight. By the morning of 6 November she was at anchor in that area, according to AIS ship-tracking data. The 61-metre steel explorer is the first hull of the NAVIX60 model. Founded in 2022, Leapher built her with a small team on a leased part of the De Hoop shipyard site in Tolkamer, on the Rhine, and contracted out much of the work.
Who is Leapher Yachts?
Leapher Shipbuilding B.V. builds only explorers and calls itself a boutique yard. Its founder, owner and CEO is Yiannis Andriotis, who calls himself "a former professional sailor and yacht owner"; BOAT describes him as a "superyacht owner, serial businessman". He told SuperYacht Times in 2024 that the idea came from the limits he met as an owner, and that a friend he discussed them with became the client for the first 61-metre project. "It wasn't in my plans. It popped up, as everything good in life does," he told BOATPro in February 2025.
In 2023 its production manager came from Oceanco, Feadship and Heesen.
Where does Leapher build?
Leapher builds at Tolkamer on the site of Scheepswerf De Hoop, founded in 1889, which made river cruise ships and small seagoing vessels. It went bankrupt in October 2021 after the pandemic hit the cruise market, and 97 people lost their jobs. In January 2022 it opened its 10-hectare site to outside companies, which run their own projects there and rent its equipment and people.
Leapher came in that way, and on 1 July 2024 took over the lease on the build site from its hull contractor, Passer SIDC. "All together Leapher is now renting about 1/3 of the entire yard terrain in Lobith-Tolkamer," De Hoop wrote at the time. De Hoop still works on the site, on a 70-metre support vessel among other jobs.
Contractors build the yachts
Andriotis describes the yard's job as "bridging gaps between subcontractors". In-house production and engineering vary by project, he told SuperYacht Times, but management always stays in-house. Each specialist installs what it made and answers for it. "We still have the commercial shipbuilding mentality of the [former de Hoop yard] which means that every yacht that leaves the yard needs to make profit," he said.
The hull was built by Passer SIDC, a shipbuilding group based in Klaipėda, Lithuania. De Hoop planned 12 months of assembly on the Tolkamer slipway from May 2023 and reported the hull finished on 1 July 2024. Zevenaar Post reported 80 to 100 contract workers on site daily in February 2026. The yacht went into the Rhine on 20 February and left Tolkamer on 13 March. It could not pass under the bridges at full height, so its upper level and antennas followed on a pontoon, and the finishing work moved to Damen in Vlissingen, with sea trials in June.
From Project Lazarus to Horizon II
The keel was laid in May 2023 under the project name Project Lazarus, and the press reported the yacht sold to a client through Oxyzen Yachting for delivery in October 2025. In spring 2024 Denison Yachting took an exclusive listing at an asking price of €73–80 million, according to different reports, with delivery in September 2025. YachtBuyer shows the listing last active on 21 February 2025, and in April Leapher promised delivery in the fourth quarter of that year. The yacht left Vlissingen about a year after the first delivery date.
What does Leapher offer?
Leapher sells steel explorers built for range. SuperYacht Times calls NAVIX a semi-production line. The NAVIX60 was designed by Cor D. Rover, whom Andriotis calls "a key person". Andriotis chose the Netherlands for its skilled workforce: "We have to agree that the Dutch are building the best yachts in the world." He calls his approach "no-bullshit, no-fuss yachtbuilding".
The yard lists ice class 1C for Horizon II. That is the lowest of the strengthened Finnish-Swedish ice classes, rated for broken ice up to 0.6 metres thick. BOAT and brokers have called the yacht "polar-classed".
| Model | Length | Gross tonnage | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAVIX60 | 60.5 m | 1,753 GT | On the water: Horizon II is the first hull |
| NAVIX50 | 49.2 m | 499 GT | Project: website lists 2027 delivery; building starts once a client is found, Andriotis said in February 2025 |
| NAVIX55 | Not published | 750 GT | Concept: in development in April 2025 |
The NAVIX50 is "a yacht for those who value capability and endurance over opulence", Andriotis said. He calls the American market "the most interesting in the world". In October 2024 he told SuperYacht Times that the yard would build on speculation, possibly starting with a 50-metre model. By February 2025 he was more cautious: "I'm not sure it's the right moment to start building on spec."
Photo: Leapher Yachts. Source: VesselFinder (AIS), MarineLink, BOAT International, BOATPro, YachtBuyer, Shipyard De Hoop, Leapher Yachts, Zevenaar Post, NOS, Robb Report, Denison Yachting, Marine Business World, Megayacht News, SuperYacht Times, SWZ Maritime.
