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Cantieri Navali Codecasa can trace its roots all the way back
to 1825 when Giovanni Battista Codecasa began building wooden sailboats in
Viareggio. In the last century, the shipyard became one of the first in Italy to
produce leisure vessels over 30 meters. Today, it specializes in building
semi-custom steel-and-aluminum displacement motor yachts, and includes such
notable owners as Leonardo Del Vecchio of Luxottica (Moneikos) and
Giorgio Armani (Mariù) among its clients.
But undoubtedly the most significant client for CEO Fulvio
Codecasa was the one for whom he built the yard’s first-ever open model – his
wife. Named for her, 35-meter Maria Carla is an impressive entry into the
luxury performance yacht market.
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"My intention with Maria Carla was to
produce something very different from the fiberglass opens on the market and
that reflected the Codecasa tradition of working in light alloy aluminum," he
said. "In fact, the success of Maria Carla has convinced me to open a fourth
premises in addition to the three already in operation, where we’ll be able to
build open models of up to forty-five meters."
Photography by Justin Ratcliffe. (Click images to enlarge)
As it turned out, Mrs. Codecasa was not the owner of
Maria
Carla for very long. Launched in June of last year, the
yacht was snapped up by an enthusiastic client who saw her in Porto Cervo just
before her official debut at the Genoa International Boat Show in September.
"The decision to sell was my wife’s," her husband said when asked if Mrs.
Codecasa was not a little put out when her boat was sold so soon after the
launch. "She realized that selling our first open model right after the Genoa
show would be a great publicity scoop for the company. In this event, she was
right, as Maria
Carla has attracted a lot of attention."
The yacht certainly creates an impact with her gunmetal gray
hull and silver superstructure, low-slung radar arch and aggressive profile.
"The metallic gray paintwork was all part of the aim to make Maria Carla stick
out from the crowd," explains Codecasa. "We also wanted to emphasize her hull
over the superstructure, because this is what an open is all about."
 An open model’s appearance means little without the
performance to back it up, however. Naval architect Andrea Bacigalupo was
brought in to design a planing hull that would provide top-level comfort when
cruising at a speedy 34 knots. (Click image to enlarge)
Maria Carla is powered by twin
2,775-hp, 12-cylinder MTU engines coupled to KaMeWa water jets. Her engine room
would do justice to a much bigger boat. "We’re used to producing fifty-meter
yachts," said project manager Roberto Dalle Mura, "so we find it hard to scrimp
on space, even in the engine room!" Headroom is never less than six feet, three
inches and every piece of equipment is easily accessible, despite the
considerable area taken up by the MTUs, two Kohler 33-kW generators, two Idromar
watermakers (each producing 4,000 liters of fresh water per day) and a
100,000-Btu air-conditioner unit. There is sufficient space left over for
stowage areas and access to a garage that houses a Zodiac 420 tender.
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