Frank Laupman

The Dutch designer who enjoys success for both quality and quantity Alexandra Groom.

Frank Laupman is one of the 21st Century’s most prolific yacht designers and naval architects, and a close relationship with well-known yards such as CRN and Heesen has catapulted his superyachts into every yacht show and prominent marina around the globe.

The oceans will soon have even more Frank Laupman designed yachts in them, as he has another five boats in build at Heesen alone. As the founder and head of Omega Architects, Laupman has dreamt up many superyachts that have become iconic, such as the 65-metre Galactica Star and the 73-metre Yalla. The other area Laupman is prominent in, even prolific, is designing platform yachts, specifically for Dutch yard Heesen.

“We were the first in Holland to develop a platform,” he says. “We wanted to find more efficient ways to build superyachts and so we developed the word ‘platform’. We started in 2000 with a 37-metre and we did ten yachts, then we did a 41-metre and we did ten of those, and then we did a 47-metre and we also did ten.” Laupman was working for himself by then, although he started his career working in-house at Heesen, which is where the strong relationship today originates from. “You do miss the safety net when you start your own company. But the pros outweigh the cons,” he says. “The best part of being separate is being able to work with who you really love and who you appreciate, and coming back to them. Heesen is a very good company, and I love the company, I love the products and I love the craftsmen. The Italians are also very nice people, very good at branding.”