How transparency became the greatest trend in yacht design

While Oceanside Living may appear an obvious advantage of yacht ownership, boat builders are only now looking for ways outside the interior to bring life with Alfresco Flair on board. A pioneer of this paradigm shift is Benetti with his 131-foot oasis 40 m. “We found that the owners, especially from yachts under 500 gross tonnage, spent time in beach clubs that felt like dark cellars,” says Sebastiano Vida, product manager at Benetti. The Oasis deck with its large flap wings, the swimming pool and its proximity to the water “not only expands the outside space, but also improves the way the owners use it,” he says. Thirty examples of the OASIS 40M were delivered or substructed – an extraordinary number for every superyacht.

This external approach is also the decisive characteristic of seven other Benetti trade – from 131 to 236 feet – including its new B.now series. The recently introduced Asani is one of 20 examples for Benettis B.now 50 with the Oasis deck. “You were brave to go with the idea,” says Mark Gardner, director of the field for the company Redman Whiteley Dixon (RWD) based in Great Britain, who led the team behind the Oasis concept. “It should only be on this boat, but now it all makes it to a certain extent.”

The flagship B.now 72m's Oasis deck measures almost 2,700 square foot. The seven -stage superstructure also offers excellent visibility from every level. “It's all about the views,” says Gardner, finding that the design minimizes the inner and outdoor departments. “Life outdoors lives in the interior.”

“It's about Villa Life,” says Peder Eidsgaard, a director of the British studio Harrison Eidsgaard, about the trend. The owners expect their yachts to be “natural extensions” of summer houses, so that designers themselves revise the most traditional living areas. “We design all of these outdoor areas in the same way as we design interiors, the stone floors, carpets, outer kitchens, complete furniture and dining tables.”

EIDSGAARDS Refit design of a 230 foot converted an empty helicopter landing area into a showpiece conservatory. “You have a massive dining table with a winter garden with slide glasses on top that are waterproof so that you can be completely closed when rain or windy,” he says. “It also uses large outdoor curtains – a new feature that we see on boats. Customers ask us to advance the envelope. ”

The foreteck, which was historically the useful end of a ship, is an emerging social enclave. The owner of a new Riva 70 Metri commissioned to be a meeting area for a long time for the 230-foot and not the rear. “He wanted a huge room with his family,” says Mauro Micheli, chief designer at Officina Italiana Design. Other builders also differentiate their arches with brand characteristics. For example, the Mayora 36 Exuma has a whirlpool and lounges on the upper deck. On the Oceano 44 from Mangusta, the island is an even more complex predecessor pool with seating at its center.

As a buyer opted for more relaxation space compared to the speed, Mangusta started the highly square Oceano line as an alternative to its performance Maxi Open series. “We had to adapt by offering products that bring sportiness and volume together in a single concept,” says Stefano Arlunno, President of Mangusta Americas. And with initiatives such as this, which increasingly include nature, yacht designers explore their own place versions as the final border.

A forming solution

Just as the focus on more living space outdoors does not promise exactly with yachts for speed, this also applies to the quick and fuel efficiency, since trunk shapes are usually designed in such a way that they maximize one over the other. Then comes Sanlorenzo's recently introduced SP92, which offers both. The second model in the intelligent performance line of the Italian farmer has a top speed of 38 nodes, although he admittedly has a thirsty 213 gallons per hour (GPH). With 10 knots, the fuel consumption of 22 GPH means an impressive range of 960 nautical miles.

“There is no other 92-foot company with these properties,” says Tilli Antonelli, head of the development and product of Sanlorenzo's SP line, which has not only developed the unusual fuselage for speed, but also offers 32 percent more interior than its predecessors. As a rule, more volume means more weight, but Antonelli quotes the carbon fiber composite building of the ship and the width use of light glass than participants for reduction. In addition, the designers of the SP92 have produced a functional approach that combines the Singular Hull configuration with a propellerless water jet propulsion system, which includes two V-12 engines that provide a total output of 4,000 hp.

“The jets offer the performance and maneuverability of a smaller, lighter boat,” says Antonelli. “They are also more efficient than a regular wave propeller without vibration and noise.” The system can process a maximum load of 50 tons in the interior, including gravel and furniture.

“The weight limit is determined in the contract,” explains Antonelli. And while customers do not choose marble or heavy decor for the interior, he assures us that the design team took into account “wine, champagne and water toys” in several additional tons.