At Home at Sea

MOTOPANFILO

Shipyard: Benetti, benettiyachts.it

Exterior Design: Francesco Struglia, francescostrugliadesign.it

Exterior Deck Design/Interiors: Lazzarini Pickering Architetti, lazzarinipickering.com

Length: 37 meters

Accommodations: 10 + 6 crew

The Motopanfilo motor yachts popular in the 1960s and ’70s with Prince Rainier, David Bowie, Michael Caine, and other jet-setters, says Carl Pickering, “were very simple, refined boats with a restrained palette of materials: teak, mahogany, white lacquer, and polished stainless steel.” When reimagining this classic for our time, he explains, “We worked with a lighter wood and integrated it with mirror panels. We also changed the positions of the materials. The original had small portlights and walls of mahogany paneling and white trim and ceilings. We reversed that rapport in the main deck saloon”—glass replaced the mahogany, creating a new rapport with the exterior, and wood was positioned on the ceilings and floors. Other signature Motopanfilo elements were interior transverse and longitudinal bulkhead ribs, which Pickering and Claudio Lazzarini lightened by reinterpreting them in a contemporary way. Lastly, cabin walls follow the shape of the hull, heightening the marine relation rather than perpetuating the sense of living inside the orthogonal walls of an apartment on land.

FLORENTIA

Shipyard: Rossinavi, rossinavi.it

Exterior Design: Studio Vafiadis, vafiadis.com

Interiors: Studio A++, a2plus.green

Length: 52 meters

Accommodations: 12 + 11 crew

Carlo Colombo is a titan of Italian design, having created furniture and objects for the country’s most prestigious brands. Bespoke versions of some of these—from Flexform and Giorgetti, for example—appear throughout his interiors for Florentia. Studio A++, which he formed with architect Paolo Colombo, imagined the interiors as embracing monochromatic spaces. “Through the sinuous shapes of the furnishings, the refined materials, and a color palette of light but warm shades,” Carlo Colombo says, “we have created a perfect example of timeless Italian style.” Materials are quintessentially Italian: Canaletto walnut, marble, leather. Lighting is particularly innovative. Curved lines cut into the ceiling and are backlit “to recall the movement of the waves,” he explains. And over the presidential suite bed, he designed a sculptural shape of molded plastic that’s coated in liquid metal. Made by Italian master craftsmen, it reflects the sea outside, further immersing the owners in the marine environment.

EXCELLENCE

Shipyard: Abeking & Rasmussen, abeking.com

Exterior Design: Winch Design, winchdesign.com

Interiors: Liaigre, studioliaigre.com

Length: 80 meters

Accommodations: 14 + 20 crew

As Art Deco posters of transatlantic ships, charging locomotives, and sleek Bugattis remind us, the era was enamored with streamlined silhouettes. So, too, was the owner of this yacht. “The client wanted an Art Deco–inspired interior, with details drawn from his impressive automotive collection,” says Ignacio Oliva-Velez, senior partner of yachts and aviation for Winch. “Automotive references are found throughout her interior. The backs of the deep, cream sofas in the Sky Lounge take their inspiration from Cadillac seats, and the day heads are all inspired by classic cars like the Bugatti Royale and Ferrari Daytona Spyder.” Additionally, rippled wood panels incorporating 28 hardwood varieties are deployed like art, and a spectacular staircase spirals up a triple-floor atrium that also accommodates a glass elevator.

GRANDE TRIDECK

Shipyard: Azimut Yachts, azimutyachts.com

Exterior Design: Alberto Mancini, amyachtdesign.com

Interiors: Achille Salvagni, achillesalvagni.com

Length: 38.22 meters

Accommodations: 10 + 7 crew

So much is revolutionary about the Grande Trideck, including an extra deck at the stern and totally reconceptualized layouts. Achille Salvagni refrained from segmenting the main salon between lounging and dining functions, instead placing dining on the upper deck. This allows for a luxuriously expansive salon with an open sense of flow unrivaled on the water. “I curved the walls to meet seamlessly with the ceiling and floor,” he says. “This vessel gets its sinuous and cocoon-like ambiance thanks to the lack of 90-degree angles.” In fact, it’s a feng shui master’s fantasy. Furniture lines swoop and snake. Lighting forms directly from the ceiling like upside-down craters. Lamps grow directly from chests and bars at a rakish angle, monolithic with their surfaces. In the seating area, Japanese koto wood paneling ripples in and out like rolling waves. Even the owners’ bronze-colored tub is oval. The flow of chi will have no obstructions here.

M/Y NJORD BY OCEAN RESIDENCES DEVELOPMENT

Shipyard: Meyer Werft, meyerwerft.de

Exterior Design: Espen Øino, espenoeino.com

Interiors: Various

Length: 289 meters

Accommodations: 117 residences, ranging from 1,600 square feet to 9,000 square feet

Like an uber-exclusive terrestrial residence club, Njord (to be completed 2025) will offer outstanding amenities: a marina, yachting/sailing club, expedition and dive center, six restaurants, a Chenot spa, various member-only watercraft, two helicopters, a cinema, and more. “The makeup of the community is confidential,” says Alain Gruber, COO of Ocean Residences Development. “However, all are sophisticated, highly educated, well-traveled, open-minded, and curious adventurers who share a passion for learning and discovery.” Anyone lucky enough to be invited to purchase ($9.165 million and up) can pick from a team of nine prominent designers—including Kelly Hoppen, David Linley, and Taylor Howes—headed up by Jean-Michel Gathy of Denniston and Francesca Muzio of FM Architettura. “Unique to Njord is our commitment to ocean science and research,” Gruber says. “We will have a fully equipped oceanographic and atmospheric research laboratory onboard. All residents will enjoy world-class services and amenities while sharing a common purpose to leave a positive legacy in their wake.”

SL44

Shipyard: Sanlorenzo, sanlorenzoyacht.com

Exterior Design: Zuccon International Project, zucconinternationalproject.com

Interiors: Liaigre, studioliaigre.com

Length: 44.5 meters

Accommodations: 10 + 10 crew

To fuse French chic and Asian aesthetics, Liaigre’s Guillaume Rolland used, he says, collective memory rather than anecdote. For instance, a round doorway would be an anecdotal (read: predictable, even cliché) Asian detail, while a portal with a frame that subtly curls upward at the base “comes directly from your culture and memory.” Achieving this subliminal fusion depends on creating “a dialogue between two cultures that’s expressed in contrasts—dark and light, glossy and matte,” as well as on exquisite distillations of beauty from both cultures. Asian: terrariums that recall bonsai, touches of red, a green onyx bar as an unexpected riff on jade. French: oak paneling “like you find in a Parisian hôtel particulier,” a semi-elliptical arch in the owner’s bath portal like Pont Neuf in Toulouse. The cumulative effect is irresistibly sensual and tactile. “People who own wooden yachts want to touch their boats,” says Rolland. Go ahead—stroke, caress, explore.