For the uninitiated, the designation “yacht designer” can be confusing. Ordinarily, the provenance of a superyacht’s design is granted to multiple entities: exterior designer, interior designer and naval architect. But what differentiates these roles? Does the naval architect design the hull shape and underwater configuration? Does the interior designer create the general accommodations plan and curate furnishings? As superyachts are highly complex machines, there’s a fair bit of collaboration and crossover.
Bill Tripp is a hybrid: a yacht designer and naval architect. His firm, Tripp Design Naval Architecture, was established in 1984 and now has offices in Norwalk, Connecticut, and Amsterdam. The son of yacht designer William H. “Bill” Tripp, Jr., he has expanded the family’s legacy by specializing in
