Rossinavi's Seawolf X.
Photo: Courtesy of Rossinavi
Sleek New Designs Take Center Stage at the Monaco Yacht Show
Thousands of boating enthusiasts, brokers and insurers flocked to the 33rd edition of the annual trade fair
What kind of person goes out and buys a superyacht? “We don’t have a ‘typical’ client,” says Robert Drontmann, sales director for celebrated Netherlands-based boatmaker Heesen. “Superyachts are for people who want unparalleled privacy and security while spending quality time with family and friends.” All that doesn’t come cheap: the kind of individual prepared to buy from Heesen—or any of their peer manufactures, most of them based in Italy—must be prepared to spend an average of $1 million per meter of length for a boat they’ll use only a few weeks a year; then spend at least 12% of the purchase price every year to maintain it; then, presumably, buy another yacht in perhaps six or seven years’ time when the previous one begins to age. Such folks are, to be sure, a rare breed.
And yet there they were just a couple weeks ago—some 30,000 of them, lined up along the Port Hercule just downhill from the Monte Carlo Casino, flocking once again to the celebrated Monaco Yacht Show. Not all of the attendees were buyers of course: the trade fair, now entering its 33rd year, draws yacht enthusiasts and professionals of all descriptions, the brokers and insurers (and journalists) who make the world of high-end pleasure-craft go ‘round. As ever, the biggest draw was the debuts, the boats making their first-ever public appearance on the industry’s biggest stage.
Here’s Galerie’s picks of some of the most outstanding newcomers:
Ferretti's Custom Line 50. Photo: Courtesy of Ferretti
1. Ferretti’s Custom Line 50
Lined up on the dock at Monaco, with its back to the pier, it can be easy to get the wrong impression of almost any boat. That’s certainly true of the Custom Line 50: its big wide-open beach (the lower-level stern section, used for water access) is crowned by a glass-encased jacuzzi that offers seaviews—but on the inside you’ll find the most exquisite surprises.
The boat’s technical prowess is one of them, though perhaps not unexpected: the Ferretti Group is one of the industry’s biggest players, and the Custom Line represents one of their most deluxe offerings to date. The Custom 50—49.9 meters long, displacing about 450 tons—can move at a nice clip of up to 16 knots, and can go about 4,000 nautical miles at moderate speed, more than enough for a crossing from the Canaries to the Caribbean. Given Ferretti’s massive yards at Ancona, and the company’s nearly six decades in the business, it’s no surprise that the flagship of their successful Custom Line brand is high-performance; what is remarkable is that it’s also so high-design.
Thoughtful touches from interior designer ACPV Architects—in particular the white, padded wall finishes in the corridors—as well as deft spatial planning—the private master suite, with its secluded forward sundeck all but invisible from the flybridge social area above—give the Custom Line 50 an edge in terms of livability at sea.
Rossinavi's Seawolf X. Photo: Courtesy of Rossinavi
The aesthetic scheme from designers Meyer Davis is coolly understated, with a palette of white and beige that gives the interiors a cushy, hotel-ish vibe. Photo: Courtesy of Rossinavi
2. Rossinavi’s Seawolf X
Catamarans aren’t everyone’s choice for aesthetics: they’re big, and their twin hulls make them a little less fleet in the water. The tradeoffs, of course, are a lot more space inside, and a lot more room for creativity in terms of design and amenities—and the Seawolf X is chock full of both.
The first such large-scale craft from Italian-based builder Rossinavi, the 42.8-meter Seawolf is one of the more luxe boats to date to feature a hybrid engine, capable of operating solely on electric power during shorter cruises. The aesthetic scheme from designers Meyer Davis is coolly understated, with a palette of white and beige that gives the interiors a hotel vibe. The accent on service and personalized pleasure is redoubled by the Seawolf’s novel AI interface, which monitors passenger activity and can offer appropriate suggestions to crew and captain as to which cruise mode is best for the goings-on onboard.
Most impressive is how the Rossinavi team used the extra square footage at their disposal to pack the Seawolf with fun extras. The bow sundeck features a sunken lounge with a pop-up sunroof, providing a little cover that can be speedily popped down again when not in use. At the back of the starboard hull, a discreet stairway leads to a chic sauna, complete with a small anteroom for towels; the corresponding portside hull provides storage space for jet skis and other water toys. And then there’s the sheer capacity: the vessel can host up to 10 guests in its four spacious cabins.
Heesen's ELA. Photo: Heesen's ELA.
The sundeck on Heesen's ELA. Photo: Courtesy of Heesen.
Sauna aboard Heesen's ELA. Photo: Courtesy of Heesen.
3. Heesen’s ELA
In a crowded field, the builders from the town of Oss have distinguished themselves over the years for boats that—courtesy of top-notch naval architects Van Oossanen, a longtime collaborator with the company—not only move and feel great on the water, but look as lean and hydrodynamic as they are. And in the case of the 50-meter, 320-ton ELA, there’s even more than meets the eye.
Originally launched in 2021, ELA pulled into Monaco for its first-ever public viewing and showed her mettle during an afternoon sea trial. Cranking up to nearly 20 knots, she cleaved the waters with a pair of robust diesel engines that require a comparatively modest amount of fuel, owing to Van Oossanen’s proprietary FDHF (fast-displacement hull form) construction technique, which allows even a superyacht like this one to move efficiently regardless of speed. Combined with her light-weight aluminum materials and sleek, streamlined superstructure, ELA has plenty of function to go with her very attractive form.
Designer Cristiano Gatto ensured the ELA has plenty of pop appeal as well, with the sedate, hospitality-flavored interiors providing plenty of comforts however far from shore. If the walnut finishes are a little too subdued for some tastes, the yacht’s extras tend to bring the energy back up again: customized for a health-conscious owner, ELA features an extensive lower-deck gym and spa suite.
Baglietto's Akula T52. Photo: Studio Illume
Baglietto's Akula T52. Photo: Studio Illume
Baglietto's Akula T52. Photo: Studio Illume
4. Baglietto’s Akula T52
The depth of talent in the Italian yacht business is a direct function of its history, with a number of firms tracing their roots back a hundred years and more. Baglietto is one of them: the company has been around since 1854, serving royalty both of the literal (the Aga Khan was an owner) and the cultural variety (so was Roberto Cavalli). Their Monaco offering, the Akula T52, shows why.
Over 52 meters long, the Akula combines an unusually large sundeck with ample bow-front space holding the bulky tender and later water toys. Below deck houses a fully-equipped fitness room and very sleek interior motifs—notably the fragmented geometries that appear in the overhead fixtures, furniture, and built-in tables, including in the office nook on the middle deck. Clearly, the Akula isn’t afraid to combine business and pleasure.
But the boat also has its softer side, with the design team of Enrico Gobbi finding opportunities for a little whimsy and a lot of comfort. A remarkable tubular lighting system gives the staircase to the six below-deck cabins a mysterious allure, and a large quantity of open storage affords extra space for books and objets d’art, protected of course from rough seas by slender bronze railings. One eccentric feature: the jacuzzi on the flydeck, surrounded by bar seating. If ownership isn’t in the cards, the Akula is available to charter for a weekly rate of $300,000.
Cover: Rossinavi's Seawolf X.
Photo: Courtesy of Rossinavi
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