While the underwater profiles of yachts are dictated by extrinsic factors, what appears above the waterline is very much an open book, not that you’d notice given the prevalence of white wedding cakes bobbing around in the worlds’ marinas
.
With production yachts, standardisation equals cost-cutting, which makes homogeneity understandable. But when you’re building a fully customised yacht, the specialty of the Ferretti Group’s CRN, anything is possible.
When CRN premiered three new builds at the 2015 Monaco Yacht Show, it was the smallest of the three, the MY Atlante, that attracted the most attention; largely because the owner was keen to do something different.
Looking for a yacht with a strong masculine touch, the owner’s wishes were interpreted by Studio Nuvolari Lenard with stylistic influences typical of military vessels, along with some automotive inspiration.
Despite these almost severe exterior lines – designer Dan Lenard reckons the high-impact yacht has a “determined military look [that] becomes soft on the sea” – the brief for the interior was much softer. Here, the owner wanted open spaces, particularly on the decks where mooring and safety equipment is neatly hidden away; privacy; and intimacy—hardly the brief for a naval vessel. The interiors were decorated by Parisian firm Studio Gilles & Boissier Interior Design, using a palette of materials including different tones of Carrara and Verona marble, smoked oak, brushed fir, black oak and larch, imparting the elegance of a formal gentleman’s club.
Deeply involved in the construction process, the owner gave input on details such as the polished-steel trapezoid-profile handrails used throughout the vessel.
The overall result is unlike anything else, and testament to CRN’s versatility and ability to cater to its customers’ needs, whatever they may be.
The Grand Experience
Guests arrive on the lower deck of the Atlante at the beach club. This area is equipped with a solarium, sunbathing area and custom-made tables. On either side are areas which open onto the sea with their own balconies: To starboard one has a massage bed and Turkish bath; and to port, a fitness room with Technogym equipment.
Access to the massive engine room is from the beach club area too, though guests will proceed from here via a Carnico marble and teak staircase and a steel and glass watertight hatch to the main deck.The aft of this deck is a garage housing two nine-metre tenders designed by Nuvolari Lenard. One a limo tender, the other a walkaround, as well as a custom-made five-metre RIB. After launching the tenders through the ‘batwing’ garage doors with built-in cranes, this area becomes a natural extension of the beach club for parties or even to function as a home theatre.
Forward and through a sliding glass door is the main salon with a lounge area aft, and the only interior dining table on the yacht forward. From here guests proceed to the lobby, complete with lift that offers access to all decks, surrounded by a Carrara marble staircase for those inclined to use their feet. Forward of the lobby is a galley, with access to the crew’s quarters below, and the full-width owner’s suite with his and hers ensuites towards the bow.
Guest accommodation is on the lower deck, with four different guest cabins complete with ensuite private areas—three doubles and a twin—arrayed around the lobby area.
The bow area contains the crew quarters, with access to the main-deck galley, and a hatch for taking on provisions on the port side via the dinette area. On the starboard side is the captain’s cabin, and forward of this, six crew cabins.
With all the accommodation and technical areas on the lower two decks, the upper decks are largely reserved for leisure.
The upper deck salon features almost full-length glass – the base of the windows feature leather-clad seating for commanding views over the water – flooding the area with natural light. The salon is equipped with mirror-image sofas and solid wood tables. Through a six-metre sliding door aft is a cockpit area with up and down dining tables and director’s chairs, black teak sofas, and a minibar and ice-maker. This area offers alternative boarding for particularly tall docks via a hydraulically-operated steel and teak passerelle.
Forward of the salon is a particularly airy lobby with floor to ceiling windows, leading to the wheelhouse, equipped with a Telemar integrated bridge, featuring five interchangeable screens and touch-screen controls.
On the bow is a massive teak deck that surely fulfills the owner’s desire for open spaces. The stanchions here can be removed, allowing for helicopters up to three tonnes to touch and go, but it is the functionality and adaptability here that really impresses. Under flush hatches is the bow mooring room, which is completely hidden, plus space for a few water toys. At the bow, there’s a telescopic carbon-fibre mast, equipped with the lights for night-time running. There’s also a clever retractable dining table and a sun canopy supported by carbon-fibre poles with integrated lighting – all of which can be removed along with the seating.
Atlante is capped off with a sundeck, the stern area of which is equipped with tables and sofas, while the forward area is for sunbathing, with a retractable sunshade and the spa pool positioned so guests can soak while admiring the sea ahead.
There is every chance that when they do so, other mega-yachts will be sighted. But the likelihood that any of them will be as innovative as Atlante is minute; proving that maybe size doesn’t matter as much as most buyers in this stratosphere would have you believe.
Leave a Reply