In Reality

Every superyacht starts its life as a fancy computer generated image, conjured up magically by the deft hands of the exterior designer. Dominator Yachts, however, went one stage further at the beginning of its Ilumen project, creating a full Virtual Reality system that enabled potential owners to explore her interior before a single layer of carbonfibre was formed. We’re here in Monaco to see if the completed Dominator Ilumen 28M named Kalliente lives up to her computer generated promise.

It was back at the 2015 Dubai International Boat Show that I first donned the Dominator Virtual Reality headset and set foot inside the VR booth – itself a masterpiece formed in sweeping ribs of carbon fibre. With Dominator’s Managing Partner, Angela Pernsteiner, on hand to guide me through the virtual interior, I set off for a stroll through the Ilumen’s main salon, Owner’s suite and up to the flybridge. Although the feeling was spookily real, my Ilumen was computer generated and I did ask myself if this project, with its numerous innovations, was actually possible to build in reality?

Two years later, I’m standing on the upper deck of the Yacht Club De Monaco, gazing down onto the Dominator Ilumen, Kalliente. Surrounding her are some of the biggest names in the yachting world, with the 90-meter Lionheart, 101-meter Symphony and the colossal 156-meter Dilbar all-close by. [Continued...]

The Dominator

August Pernsteiner was so impressed with his Dominator Yacht, he bought the shipyard. 

Remember the old Remington advert with Viktor Kiam where he was so impressed with his shaver that he bought the company? Well, it happened in the yachting world back in 2010, when Austrian businessman, August Pernsteiner, was so impressed with his Dominator Yacht that he bought the shipyard. 

With no knowledge of the yachting industry, entrepreneur August ran Dominator as a family business, tasking daughter and Managing Partner Angela with pushing the company forward. Starting afresh, Angela purposefully employed management from outside the yachting industry (mainly from the high-end automotive sector) to create a new business model.

A fresh injection of passion mixed with a radical way of thinking inspired the Pernsteiners into creating a brand new yacht that would take on the big names from the UK and Italy. The project was called Ilumen and from the design sketch, to the finished superyacht, it only took three years to build.  [Continued…]