The unveiling of the interior of the 161ft Trinity motoryacht Blind Date at the 2009 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (held from October 29 - November 2), looks set to show off the advances in 3-D virtual technology in yacht design. The Patrick Knowles Designs (PKD) interior is apparently a mirror image of the virtual interior completed more than a year ago, down to the effects of lighting and shadows, and the subtle textures of the fabrics.

“It’s truly remarkable,” says Patrick Knowles, president of Patrick Knowles Designs. “People who see the 3-D images now will think they are recent photographs of the completed interior, when in fact they were done in 2008.”

The look follows a vintage Hollywood “glam” environment from the 1940s, but complete with state-of-the-art technology as envisioned by the owner. According to Patrick Knowles Designs the use of virtual technology not only helped reach a design consensus early on, but also helped the shipyard proceed efficiently in realizing the owner’s vision, right down to the most intricate details. Knowles says this is the firm’s most extensive use of this technology to date – a process he feels has raised the caliber of the firm’s design capabilities, relative to articulating a design concept to a third party in a realistic capacity.

“Every choice of fabric, furniture, lighting, accessory and finish was communicated to a very high degree of accuracy to our 3-D rendering artists, more than a year prior to project completion,” explained Knowles. “As a result, we were able to provide our client with 360-degree, 3-D imagery of all the main living spaces. Without prior knowledge, most people cannot tell that what they’re looking at is virtual and not actual photography.” he said.

Conceived as a contemporary vessel with classic lines, Blind Date features a very clean, uncluttered, yet sophisticated and elegant interior. Unusual features include leather floors, open pore wood surfaces and tumbled marble. The open plan of the Main Salon and Dining Salon features an aft entry reception area, for social gatherings, which accommodates a bar and loose seating. The Main Salon, featuring a centralized seating group, is divided from the Dining Salon by a hand-stitched, leather cabinet. A floor-to-ceiling wine cellar serves as a dramatic divider between the Dining Salon and Main Deck foyer entrance.

Blind Date also has a grand Sundeck dedicated to her owners and their guests, called the 'Resort Deck' and features a center line hot tub with custom mosaics, flanked by lounge seating, dining areas and a wet bar. The entire deck is draped in a smart and sophisticated arrangement of canopies. These dynamic canopies allow for a lot of flexibility for sunning and shading activities.