Katerblau

Katerblau is a 60 ft (18 m) hybrid motor-yacht concept built around BMW i8's design language, bringing luxury, high tech and environmental awareness into one hull. A team-of-three university project taken from user research through technical specs to full 3D visualisation. The name comes from its signature electric-blue accent.

Our persona is a celebrity in her late 30s who loves both luxury and sustainability: diving, kitesurfing, photography, intimate trips for six. She wants a yacht for rapid marina-to-marina hops in the Aegean and Mediterranean, not long stays out at sea. That pointed straight at hybrid-electric propulsion.

The i8 fused luxury, performance and electric tech, exactly the mix our user valued. We pulled its cues apart: low aerodynamic body, signature blue accent lighting, carbon-fibre construction, and a hybrid philosophy of electric for quiet efficiency and combustion for range.

We mapped those cues onto the water. Kidney-grille geometry became hull windows, character lines became deck contours, and the blue accent moved to LED lighting and interior details. The hybrid idea carried over directly: electric for quiet harbour cruising, diesel for speed.

Once the proportions felt right, the form moved into Rhino for surface modelling: refining the hull, cabin and deck as clean surfaces, then checking volumes and sightlines before visualisation. This is where the loose sketch became a buildable, measurable object.

Technical drawings fixed the real geometry: an 18 m profile, a top deck for sun and social space, a main deck with helm, galley and salon, and a lower deck carrying the master, two guest cabins, a captain cabin and the engine room. Section A-A' resolves the headroom and the split between living space and machinery.

The exterior keeps the i8's low-freeboard stance: sharp angular lines, a dark hull with blue LED accents, large hull windows, and a stern swim platform for an active life on the water. Deck space is sized for dive gear, kitesurfing kit and photography.

Inside, a minimalist i8-style cabin pairs light wood veneers, soft leather and brushed metal with ambient lighting and panoramic windows. The master suite balances rest with a workspace, matching a user who travels for both work and leisure. The material board locks the CMF: oak, pale textiles, marble and a deep navy accent.

A planning hull for 6 guests across 3 cabins plus crew, hybrid electric and diesel targeting 30 to 40 knots, a fibreglass hull with a carbon-fibre superstructure to stay light. A planning hull is fast but less steady, fine for calm coastal water rather than heavy seas. Hybrid systems take interior volume and the lightweight spec costs more. All intentional, aligned to how this user actually sails.

This was the first time I took a vehicle from user research to technical spec to visualisation, and a lesson in how a design language transfers across product categories. The industrial-design, 3D and storytelling muscle it built still shapes how I work today.