Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2007/January 2008 | Page 51

FEATURE

life

Photo above/top right: The saloon and stairway of
Marlena, the world's largest sports fishing vessel for
which Bjorn created an Art Deco inspired re-design.

yachts with features such as stately
sleeping accommodation, opulent leisure
and business environments, cinemas,
helicopter landing pads, and sublime
craftsmen-built fittings and furnishings.
Discretion is sacrosanct. Suffice it to
say that an average lottery win is small
beer against the investment required
to own these magnificent vessels.
His emergence as a designer in his own
right followed work with some of the
most respected and best-known names
in the world of superyachts. The last of
these, John Munford, gave Bjorn his first
break after he had decided to go solo
– a sumptuous refit of a 92-foot classic
motor yacht owned by the Duke and
Duchess of Westminster, and currently
on the market for just under €4million.
The breakthrough for Björn Johansson
Design came three years ago with a

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concept design, the 78-metre Mirage.
Björn’s spacious and sleek styling for
this signature project attracted major
interest. Most importantly, it led to
the commissioning of an 85.5 metre
beauty which is being built in Holland
and is due for completion in 2009.
Conversion to a charter yacht of the
60-metre former hydrographic survey
vessel, HMS Beagle; an Art Deco inspired
redesign of the world’s largest sports
fishing yacht following a 3 metre stretch
of the vessel; a unique shadow vessel,
able to carry separately from a mother
ship all its voyage ‘extras’ including large
tenders, mini sub, dinghies and wheeled
vehicles; and application of his design
skills to a light aircraft, are among
Björn’s substantial achievements to date.
Jetting worldwide - promoting at
specialist events, meeting clients and

overseeing works in progress – means
that family time on the Island with his
wife Annette and two daughters is not
as plentiful as Bjorn would like. It also
cuts down the time he can spend on
hobbies including painting, motorbikes
and free diving. Nor is the in-demand
designer able to devote the time he
would like to his service on the crew
of his local lifeboat at Bembridge.
There are, however, no regrets about
his chosen course. Despite his early
success as part of a top-ten reggae
band in Sweden, destiny clearly had
other things in mind for Björn.

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