Delivered last spring to Greek yacht management and charter company Golden Yachts Limited, 50-meter (164-foot) O’Ceanos has a history that is not uncommon in the superyacht industry. In early 2005, the company was searching for a yacht under construction to expand its fleet. It found what it was looking for at the Fratelli Rossi yard in Viareggio: a superbly engineered, semi-displacement aluminum hull designed by Sergio Cutolo of Hydrotech in Varazze. The American client who commissioned the project had backed out due to plummeting exchange rates, so in stepped Golden Yachts. The empty hull was transported to the Mondomarine yard in Savona, where it was lengthened by a couple of meters following feasibility studies by hydrodynamic specialists SYDAC. In the meantime, designer Giorgio Vafiadis began work on the exterior and interior styling, as well as the general layout. The result is a handsome charter vessel that bears all the hallmarks of a private yacht.

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Vafiadis is a longtime friend and business associate of the company’s owner and is intimately acquainted with his personal tastes, having worked with him on O’Mega, O’Paris, O’Rion, O’Asis and O’One, a new 52-meter build.

Vafiadis was well aware of the dangers of charter-yacht design, the slippery slope toward bland interiors and uniform cabins that must be tread in aneffort to appeal to the broadest range of clientele. Not so with O’Ceanos. "The owner wanted a charter yacht that reflected his own sense of style and offered charter clients a more flexible layout," explains Vafiadis. The result is an innovative GA and a classic décor with contemporary touches that Vafiadis compares to a Four Seasons hotel, insofar as the yacht has its own personality but shares a commonality with other vessels in the Golden Yachts fleet. (Click image to enlarge)

O’Ceanos is RINA 100-A-1.1 "Y" certified to accommodate up to 12 charter guests in seven cabins. The master suite occupies two-thirds of the upper deck and includes a panoramic salon amidships, which can serve either as the owner’s private office or as a TV room with a surround-sound system for guests. By keeping side cabinets and non-essential furniture to a minimum, the room is distinguished by a spaciousness that characterizes all of the cabins. Most of the guest rooms, for instance, do away with day sofas so that guests can move more freely. "The resulting space meant that we could provide larger and more comfortable seating," points out Vafiadis. One of the sofas, for example, is a bed-size 2.5 meters in length and was a favorite spot for Vafiadis to take an afternoon nap during the yacht’s maiden cruise in Greece. To personalize this and other spaces throughout the yacht, vibrant oil paintings by Greek artists from the owner’s private collection decorate the walls.

The master cabin aft is entered from the office via a communicating door and a lobby with access to the bathroom. The owner is passionate about wood, and both his cabin and bath are paneled in warm vavona burl. From his raised bed, he has an uninterrupted view of the sea on three sides through floor-to-ceiling windows and two glass doors that open onto the private aft deck (the exterior companionways can be closed off). The ceiling features crossed wooden beams that, Vafiadis says, "provide a sense of height and perspective rather like looking through a window frame." Noise levels in the master suite are less than 56 decibels and not much more in the lower-deck VIP bathrooms that back to the engine-room bulkhead. (Click image to enlarge)

Forward on the main deck is another flexible cabin space where a twin single and a double, both ensuite with bathtubs, function as individual cabins or a VIP suite separated by a private lobby—a convenient layout for guests traveling with children or an elderly couple with helpers. To add further individuality, the double cabin is paneled in flamed mahogany with cherry in the bathroom, whereas the twin single uses madrone burl. Vafiadis used white burled-wood paneling in the bathrooms instead of marble, which, apart from saving weight, avoids the risk of making the room look like a mausoleum. Rather than having a grain, the dense walnut is slightly pitted, which gives it the look of stone without appearing unduly massive. The exception is in the main-deck VIP bathroom, which has a shower over the bathtub and marble-lined splash zones.

O’Ceanos is distinguished by large windows, and the upper-deck bulwarks have purposely been kept low so as not to interrupt the view from the master suite. The lower-deck accommodations, typically darker than on other decks, are kept light with two portholes each. The cabins are differentiated by their woods, with bleached oak wall and ceiling panels in the two twin singles and white burled wood and cherry in the two VIP doubles. The twin singles are also provided with Pullman bunks, which increase the berths to 16 for private cruising.In the main salon, Vafiadis was careful to consider the spatial requirements and circulation patterns of at least 12 guests. Hence the two large facing sofas—three meters long with comfortable seating for five people each—are centered in the room so people can pass behind them without interrupting the flow of conversation. Still with an eye to guest comfort, the chairs around the rosewood dining table measure a generous 65 centimeters (two feet) in diameter. The cream lacquered ceilings have a wipe-clean satin or gloss finish—an important consideration during a busy charter season when the crew has little time to clean the dust that accumulates around loudspeaker and air-conditioning vents.

As a yacht destined to provide first-class charter service, there is a one-to-one ratio of crew to guests. In fact, the extra length was added to better accommodate the large crew, and the crew quarters are especially comfortable, with wide beds and a spacious crew lounge. The galley layout is designed for efficient food preparation, with dedicated work areas for the chef and stewards. Another common-sense solution is refrigerators with glass doors, so items can be identified without rummaging around. Foraging allows precious cold air to escape, affecting the durability of fresh produce on long cruises. To soften the industrial rigor of the stainless steel pro-spec galley equipment (Miele dishwashers, Liebherr refrigerators, Technoinox electric hob oven, Proline freezers), the cabinets have an oak veneer tinted a dark wengé color with aluminum trim.

The enormous sun deck is the focal point for charter guests’ social activities. The entire forward seating area can be shaded by a mechanically operated bimini connected to the radar arch. (Click image to enlarge)

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There is another seating area in front of the wheelhouse, but two gull-winged garages housing two Yamaha WaveRunners and a 3.2-meter jet-engined Novurania tender take up most of the foredeck. The main tender, a custom-built Scanner, resides in the transom garage.
 

The tender garages, right, open gull-wing style and house a 3.2-meter Novurania and two PWCs. (Click image to enlarge)

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Guests can make use of various modes of connecting to the Internet, including GPRS for 3G mobile phones and Inmarsat’s MPDS, a packet-based service network that provides an "always on" connection to the Internet via satellite. The advantage of MPDS is that the user only pays for actual data transmitted and not for any idle connection time. A Wi-Fi system serves the whole yacht, which for security purposes is effective only to within five meters from the vessel (an external aerial permits connection with Wi-Fi technology while in marinas).

Sergio Cutolo’s work on the chined hull of O’Ceanos drew on his experience in designing fast aluminum hulls as chief naval architect with Baglietto, a position he held until 1995. "By researching the configuration of propeller tunnels that can affect thrust and lift rather like trim tabs, we were able to combine the best qualities of two basic hull types: the lower fuel consumption of a rounded hull with the higher speed and stability of a chined hull." In the case of O’Ceanos, this happy marriage translates into a transatlantic range of 3,400 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 15 knots. Moreover, her efficient hull lines provide excellent rolling and heeling moments. Captain Nikos Demertzis, who previously commanded 42-meter O’Paris, was pleasantly surprised by her sea-holding and near horizontal trim during sea trails conducted in Force 7 conditions and rough seas. Working in conjunction with the hull configuration, her four stabilizer fins help to avoid the yawing that can occur in a following sea with just two fins. Her lean lines also influence the yacht’s efficient performance; the bare weight of the aluminum hull and superstructure is just 60 tons.

During her delivery voyage to Athens, O’Ceanos was hit yet again by bad weather. The yacht performed so well that Captain Nikos felt compelled to call Cutolo during the crossing to personally congratulate him on a job well done.