The story of Alfa Four is really a tale of two yachts. It also reflects another chapter in the 15-year history of her builder, Oceanco.

At the center of these stories are Alfa Four’s owners, Greek yachtsman and entrepreneur Theodore Angelopoulos and his wife, Gianna, whose most recent accomplishment was last summer’s extremely successful Athens Olympics, over which she presided as president of the Athens Olympic Organizing Committee. The Olympic Games, in fact, played a major role in the evolution of Alfa Four, whose first mission was to serve as a high-profile entertaining platform for Olympic VIPs.

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Alfa Four began life at Oceanco code-named Ambrosiana, a near-sistership to Lady Lola, winner of the 2003 ShowBoats Award for Best Full-Displacement Motor Yacht over 38 Meters (SBI May ’03). As 60-meter Ambrosiana, originally contracted for a German client, she was conceived with a Terence Disdale interior. About halfway through construction, the project came to a halt. Neither Oceanco, which at the time was going through a management and ownership change, nor her original owner was able to carry on with construction. Meanwhile, Angelopoulos, or “Mr. A,” as he is often called, had sold a 66-meter yacht he had been building at Feadship. In search of a replacement, he had been negotiating with Richard Hein, then part owner and CEO of Oceanco, to build a 60-meter yacht. That was 18 months prior to the start of the Olympics. Both Mr. A and Oceanco feared that such a large project could not be completed in time for the event.
 
During his discussions with Hein, Mr. A developed an interest in acquiring Oceanco and became Hein’s partner in mid-2003. Hein’s interest was purchased a year later, leaving Mr. A as sole owner of the company. Still looking for a yacht for the Olympics, Mr. A next turned his attention to the unfinished hull of Ambrosiana. Not only was she capable of being completed in time for Olympics entertaining duty, but she also offered the opportunity to serve as a showcase for the standard of quality that Mr. A hoped would be incorporated in Oceanco’s future projects. Still, with less than 10 months until the required June 2004 delivery, getting the renamed Alfa Four finished was no mean feat. Making her completion even more problematic was the Angelopoulos’ decision to develop an entirely new interior scheme, and to make the yacht capable of helicopter operations.The decision to hire Andrew Winch Designs to replace Disdale as the designer was not made simply on aesthetic grounds. Key to being able to finish the yacht on time would be extremely fast decision-making on critical design-and-construction issues. The Angelopoulos’ had worked with Winch on their previous project and felt they had already established an excellent rapport. In describing the tempo of the project, Winch said, “It was a hundred miles an hour from day one. We didn’t have a week to lose, not even a day to lose!”

An example of that rapport between Mr. and Mrs. Angelopoulos and Winch is evident in the rapidity of the redesign approval. Winch said he was given 10 days to make a presentation of his redesign concept. He said his team, which included Oliver Sterling as design project director, was charged with coming up with a scheme that reflected the owners’ desire for a look that was not only “powerful and confident,” but also extremely livable. Winch said Mr. A was particularly adamant about maximizing the yacht’s visual and aesthetic connection to the sea, while his wife insisted that every facet of the interior reflect the highest quality. “She really knows what she’s looking for, and looking at,” Winch said. “Mrs. A has a spectacular eye for quality.”
 
Winch’s team came to the initial meeting armed with color renderings. He described the meeting as being much shorter than expected. His clients required only one look at the proposed design, which draws inspiration from modern, classic and art deco sources. After Mrs. A studied the renderings, Winch remembers her saying simply, “That’s it. Let’s do it.” Mr. A said the success of the initial presentation underscored the wisdom of changing designers mid-stream. “It was a big advantage time-wise,” he said, adding, “Winch hit it on the head immediately.”

The same strict adherence to schedules applied to Oceanco, which was tasked with re-engineering the aft bridge deck support structure to permit chopper landings and take-offs. Mr. A said helicopter accessibility is very important to the way he uses his yachts, but decided not to try to have Alfa Four certified for permanent helicopter operation due to all the changes that would be necessary under class and MCA rules.

Mr. A, whose previous yachts include Feadships, a Benetti and a high-speed Oceanfast, said his long experience as a yacht owner is one of Oceanco’s strengths as the firm moves forward. He said it’s unique to have a yacht company that combines the depth of yacht production expertise with management know-how that includes both commercial and superyacht ownership and management.  In his experience, Mr. A said, “Most owners lack experience on one side of the equation or the other. We have an edge in the market because I have experienced myself both the good and the bad things that yacht ownership brings.”Many of the features found on Alfa Four derive directly from Mr. A’s considerable experience in yachting. For example, the yacht’s master suite comprises a remarkably flexible – not to mention dramatic – multitier space arrangement. The master is entered via a companionway off the central foyer that passes, in turn, a small sleeping cabin, a large walk-in wardrobe and an office area. A set of doors just in front of a short staircase rising to an upper forward observation lounge allows this lovely space to be closed off from the master bedroom. A bathroom between the doors and the observation lounge stairs permits the entire area to double as a separate private VIP stateroom. The lounge’s sofa opens into a large comfortable bed, and a Pullman berth above the sofa adds even greater versatility to the space. The small cabin near the foyer is intended for use by security personnel, a helicopter pilot, nanny or other staff. The observation lounge features a starboard door that opens onto a spacious exterior seating area. The signature décor element in the master itself is a beautiful circular walnut headboard inspired by a design from Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, the greatest art deco-period furniture manufacturer.

Belowdeck accommodations include five staterooms: two doubles, two twins and a large full-beam VIP cabin. The four smaller cabins are accessed from an off-center hallway. Another similarly dramatic and useful feature that draws on the Angelopoulos’ yachting experience is a wonderful dining area at the after end of the upper-deck salon. This circular space can be opened nearly 270 degrees to permit alfresco dining. Gauze white curtains can be drawn to create additional effects. In his experience, Mr. A said, “Very few people use the formal dining room.” He and his wife prefer to spend the majority of their time relaxing on the upper deck, with its indoor/outdoor dining room, spacious sunning areas and more informal salon, which features an extensive entertainment installation, including a large projection television screen. Alfa Four’s flybridge also reflects her owners’ preference for relaxed yachting, with its combination gym/massage parlor/hair salon, and its forward-facing spa tub, which is large enough to swim in against a pump-induced current.

The yacht’s layout, developed by The A Group, intelligently channels crew and service traffic through a series of hidden staircases and companionways. This, Mr. A says, is just as much for the crew’s benefit as the owners’ party by enabling them to carry out their tasks efficiently. In a similar spirit, the yacht’s crew quarters are also finished to a very high standard, with large cabins and ample dining and relaxation areas. The yacht also features a rubbish cooler and generous laundry facilities, including a dumbwaiter specifically for laundry. Alfa Four’s thoughtful planning even includes easy crew access to water supply for cleaning the hull, superstructure and tenders.

Not only does the yacht benefit from her owners’ extensive know-how and experience, but also from their wish to build a boat that serves both as a personal showcase of their ideas and tastes, as well as the finest example of what Oceanco is capable of producing. The result is a backdrop of superlative joinery, fabrics and stonework, against which the yacht’s exquisite furnishings and artwork are displayed. Besides one of the finest art collections Winch says he’s ever seen on a yacht, the Angelopoulos’ also insisted on embellishing their boat with many pieces of furniture from J. Robert Scott.But the confident elegance of Alfa Four is tempered with elements of drama and downright fun. The chiseled glass counters in the salons employ edge uplighting, which adds a sense of excitement both by day and night. Large windows in the salon and skylounge bring the sea directly into the boat. Backlit cracked glass floors at the edges of the main deck foyer and companionway bring a sense of motion and theater aboard. That effect is augmented by a recurring “bubble” motif in doors, stonework inlays and in the metalwork of the atrium staircase, which playfully hints at an effect somewhere between dancing Olympic rings and silvery bubbles rising in a champagne flute.

The overall impact of the interior is as compelling as it is commanding, as evident in Winch’s own description of the interior décor,  “There are no wilting flowers on this yacht!” All the more impressive is that Alpha Four’s exceptional interior was completed from scratch in well under a year.  Winch and Mr. A credit both Oceanco and Mrs. Angelopoulos for the success in bringing such an elaborate project to conclusion on schedule. “We couldn’t have done it without the positive attitude at Oceanco. We did three years of work in one year,” Winch said. “Mrs. A was very fast at making decisions. That was terrific. It was exactly what was necessary.”

Mr. A describes the tight schedule as a “case study” for future Oceanco production. “Most people can’t wait three years for a yacht. It’s a problem when yachts take that long to build because life changes. Ideas change. We are aiming at quicker delivery times.” Praising his wife’s gold-medal-quality involvement in the interior design process, Mr. A said, “As you can imagine, we didn’t have a lot of time in this period to devote to the yacht. My wife doesn’t override designers or architects. She supplements their ideas but never pretends to be a designer herself.”