Feast your eyes on new yachts from Benetti, Heesen, and more from this year’s Cannes and Monaco yacht shows.
Megayachts are all the rage lately, with TV screens and social media blanketed by images of massive vessels that look more like impenetrable fortresses than high-end living spaces on water. What’s usually invisible to the eye is the inner beauty of the yacht, be it floating glass staircases and wrap-around sofas, to bespoke furniture and artisanal accessories. Jetsetter highlights new offerings from the industry’s biggest names, some of which debuted at the Cannes Yachting Festival and the Monaco Yacht Show this Autumn.
When All You Need is Space
Founded in 1875 by the son of a boatyard owner, Lürssen’s history is long and impressive. Now the fourth generation the Lürssen line are carrying on the family tradition in style: 12 of the 20 largest yachts built in the past 20 years were built by the German shipyard, including the megayacht AHPO, delivered in 2021, which offers luxury and privacy in equal measure.
Across the length of her 115 metres – it was the largest yacht at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show – AHPO’s striking supercar-inspired interior is all smooth lines, fluid layout, and plenty of glass. When stepping aboard, designers Nuvolari-Lenard had a very simple objective: perfection.
“When [people] approach the boat from any angle, they need to look and simply say, ‘Wow I like her a lot’,” says Carlo Nuvolari.
For the shipbuilder, the task was to build a yacht for a repeat client, an upgrade from his 86m Lürssen, with details such as handcrafted cherry blossom wallpaper delivering a distinctive touch. Highlights included a 12-seater cinema with LED star-studded ceilings and navy box seats, while an eight-metre swimming pool was built on the upper deck.
This year, Lürssen released the 160m M/Y Blue, the fifth longest yacht in the world, for Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, the Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE. Designed by the English design house of Terence Disdale, amenities include a dance floor, steam room, and beach club.
A Family-friendly Yacht
The Heesen M/Y Ela debuted last summer. At 50 metres, it’s a distinguished yacht with a striking profile characterised by a vertical bow and bold spray rails. Along with her Dutch pedigree as a guarantee of quality, Ela was also made a reality soon after her design caught the attention of her new owners. With just three months between purchase and delivery, the owners worked with Italian interior designer Cristiano Gatto and the Heesen team to personalise the yacht to their family’s requirements.
“Together with the client, we revisited all the loose furniture, inside and out, selecting new materials for all the upholstery and key items from Paola Lenti, B&B Italia, Poltrona Frau and Promemoria,” says Gatto. “But more importantly, we designed bespoke pieces, such as tables, sofas, and lamps crafted by Italian ateliers who delivered them in record time.”
A Clean Concept
Renowned for its ability to create custom superyachts for the most discerning owners, Feadship is promoting a new concept design, Pure, a product of its clients’ boldest visions and long brainstorming sessions where the team pushed the boundaries of yacht design. The result is the 81.75-metre mega yacht Pure, with a sleekly simple exterior profile and open plan interior design based on how owners spend their time onboard. The captain, meanwhile, will navigate the yacht from a lower deck command centre instead of the bridge.
On Pure, Feadship offers a three-deck tall elliptical glass atrium, retractable glass-bottomed jacuzzi amidships, and a large beach club with three fold-down balconies aft and on both sides.
“From the open-plan spaces to the future-compatible propulsion and lower-deck command centre, the in-house Studio De Voogt design team worked closely with the Knowledge & Innovation department and engineering experts at Feadship and suppliers to ensure each solution proposed is realistic,” says the Dutch builder.
Penthouse Perfection
Founded in Poole, England, by brothers Robert and John Braithwaite in 1969, Sunseeker changed its name to Sunseeker International in 1985 and has since become an iconic maker of luxury motor yachts sold around the world while retaining its British DNA. New models launched at Cannes include the 24.5m Ocean 156 and 27m Ocean 182, both of which have the feel of a luxury penthouse, with the former featuring a curved stainless steel and timber staircase.
Another new yacht, and the largest of four models in its range, is the 131. A standout element is the extensive use of glass in the master stateroom, saloon, and upper saloon to create light-filled environments. Standard guest configuration is for ten guests in five cabins, with scope for up to 12 to be accommodated depending on the layout and options selected.
Manageable Luxury
Another new addition, this time to the seas of Asia, is Beneteau’s Grand Trawler 62, the result of the brand’s collaboration with Massimo Gino of Nauta Design and Amedeo Migali of MICAD. The yacht capitalises on the success of the Swift Trawler range of spacious, practical vessels that offer consideration cruising ranges. The vessel has a distinctive hull, designed to improve cruising ranges and efficiency, and, at 18.95 metres long, is designed for 6-8 guests plus crew.
Potential owners will love the impressive flybridge, one of the largest on the market, as well as the luxurious interiors, which include a VIP guest cabin in the bow, larger passage-makers for crew, satin wax wood finishings, and a midship owners suite that makes the most of the vessel’s generous beam.
A Vision in Steel
Making its debut at the Monaco Yacht Show this year, the Benetti B.Yond 37M Goga extends across four decks, the first to display the excellence of the new Voyager series and expressing the style favoured by modern owners. Instead of fibreglass, Benetti made an unusual choice for a boat of this size and opted to return to steel, a step back to the 1950s when the shipbuilder pioneered metal hulls instead of the traditional wood. In many markets, steel is a symbol of durability, a quintessential feature of a series designed for long cruises.
The flexibility of the layout makes it possible to redefine the spaces and use existing areas for new hospitality functions based on the needs of the owner. The upper deck, featuring a creative living area, extends from stern to bow and offers a 360-degree view of the sea, while in the cabins, traditional portholes are replaced with expansive hull windows. Elsewhere, the bridge deck owner’s suite has a private terrace aft, and the upper deck features a spa pool.
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