A (motor yacht)

M/Y A cruising off Tunguzia, Italy
Name:	A
Owner:	Andrey Melnichenko
Port of registry:	Hamilton, Bermuda
Ordered:	November 2004
Builder:	Blohm + Voss
Cost:	c. US$300 million
Launched:	3 January 2008
Identification:	IMO1009340
Status:	Delivered
General characteristics
Type:	Private motor yacht
Tonnage:	5,959
Length:	119.00 m (390.4 ft)
Beam:	18.87 m (61.9 ft)
Draft:	5.15 m (16.9 ft)
Installed power:	9,000 kW (12,000 hp)
Propulsion:	2 × MAN RK280 diesel engines
Speed:	23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range:	6,500 NM (12,000 km; 7,500 mi)
Boats & landing craft carried:	1 × Philippe Starck custom made covered tender 1 × Philippe Starck custom made open tender 1 × Pascoe SY10 2 × rescue tenders
Capacity:	14
Crew:	37 (+5)
Aviation facilities:	1 × helipad (forward deck)

M/Y A is a luxury motor yacht designed by Philippe Starck and engineered by naval architect Martin Francis, She was built by the Blohm + Voss shipyard at the HDW deepwater facility in Kiel. She was ordered in November 2004, and delivered in 2008 at a rumoured cost of US$300 million. With a length of 119 metres (390 ft) and displacing almost 6,000 tonnes, she is one of the largest motor yachts in the world.

It is reported the name “A” was used in order make the vessel appear first on shipping registers, while the design is largely based on advanced nautical engineering and maritime technology which accounts for many benefits including waveless cruising. She has evoked comparisons with submarines and stealth warships, such in Forbes magazine which says that the vessel "was designed by Philippe Starck and resembles a sleek, futuristic submarine".

A can accommodate 14 guests in one owner's suite and six guest suites. She can also accommodate up to 37 crew members on board.

"A" was designed by Philippe Starck. According to Boat International, "the design for what would become the world’s most talked about superyacht bubbled into Starck’s mind at his home in Burano, Venice, in 2004. There was no brief beyond an idea of length and a demand for six cabins". "That was the beauty of the project and the beauty and intelligence of the owner," it quotes Starck as saying in an interview on board "A", "he just left me completely free." Boat International reports that Starck's "intention was to make her blend with the sea, to have her live — that word again — in “harmony” with the elements. He became obsessed with the way the yacht moved through the water, with barely a ripple, “like a whale”".

In common with many "mega yachts", little was known about A when it was first commissioned. Builder Blohm + Voss issued a press release in December 2004 identifying the vessel as Project Sigma, which was how it became most commonly known during its construction. Its length was given as 118 metres (387 ft), a metre short of its final length, while conceptual designer Philippe Starck and project manager Neil Wade were credited personally, and naval architect Martin Francis was the chief technical and naval designer and Starck's partner on the project. Starck was alleged to have taken only three and a half hours to come up with the final shape, whose reverse bow and tumblehome design has drawn parallels with the Zumwalt class of stealth destroyers designed for the US Navy.