MY Roswell Is an Aggressive, Stealthy But Luxurious Vision of the Future

MY Roswell is a superyacht with a very striking appearance, the kind you notice immediately and have a hard time forgetting. It’s a project from talented and often rule-breaking Monaco-based designer George Lucian, and it was penned in 2018 as an independent study.

August is Travel Month on autoevolution and, while we’re discussing plenty of very real means of transportation on longer distances, let’s also daydream a bit about a future in which this superyacht exists, helping a very rich and discerning owner enjoy the open seas. While there were never any plans to bring Roswell into reality, Lucian did say at the time of publishing that he’d further develop the study if interested parties came along.

It could be that they never did, since the project has been left untouched in the years since. Still, it remains a visually intriguing superyacht, the kind that makes you think it could be even more striking in real life.

Measuring 65 meters (213 feet) in length, Roswell was born out of a dare: Lucian wanted to see if he could create a memorable silhouette, one that would also get people asking “is this yacht coming from another dimension?” The answer was ultimately “yes, it could be,” because he achieved his goal: with an all-aluminum hull and very sharp edges, Roswell looks like a spaceship on water.

Inspired by “the future” in the most general terms, Roswell is more directly inspired by military stealth vessels. It aims to be as stealthy as those, too, since Lucian envisions it with hybrid propulsion, which would allow it to sail noiselessly on electric motors for longer stretches. Solar panels occupy most flat horizontal surfaces on board. For really long cruises, it would also use diesel engines as backup.

“Its shape borrows elements from the military stealth vessels, aircraft and spacecrafts, and, together with the full electric capabilities, reflective hull surface, patterns, and sharp angles, make the yacht have a very discrete radar footprint, if any,” Lucian said when he introduced the project. “Unlike its radar footprint, its presence in any harbor will for sure be anything else but discrete.”

The designer never explained the purpose of having a privately owned superyacht that’s fitted for a life of entertainment and indulgence with minimal radar footprint, but who are we to argue with his vision of the future of yachting? Plus, it looks really cool. He does have a point, though, on how Roswell would be hard to miss at the docks.

Speaking of indulgence, the interior would be luxurious – albeit only in vague terms, since Lucian never outlined it specifically. There would be a large covered area at the bow, as well as a lounge and dining area, and the mandatory pool spanning the entire length of the beam. Large glass doors would create the impression of open space even inside, so guests would be more in touch with nature and each other. The upper deck is occupied by a sky lounge and, of course, a helipad for a helicopter slash drone of some kind. This is the future, remember.

Accommodation on board would be for 12 guests in an unspecified number of suites, and 12 crew to handle maintenance, servicing and daily operations. As noted above, the designer said he would further develop the project, including the interior layout, when a potential buyer came along.

The name of the superyacht is inspired by the infamous and, for many, still controversial 1947 Roswell incident. It’s one of the most enduring, though often-debunked UFO myths that started when the United States Army Air Forces balloon crashed at a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. Conspiracy theories stemming from the incident were, at first, fueled by conflicting and incomplete statements from the authorities regarding the nature and purpose of the object crashed, and picked up steam from there.

In MY Roswell’s case, the association hints at a trove of secrets the superyacht might be hiding.