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"Fabio Perini was keen to present our own proposal to meet this
new demand," says Perini’s Commercial Director Burak Akgül. "Drawing on our
experience in building the fifty-three-meter Independence and
Atmosphere, we identified an optimum hull length of fifty-six meters with
a displacement of just under 500 gross tons, the point at which MCA
certification becomes more complex. By the time Burrasca hit the water,
we had already sold Santa Maria, and Rosehearty was in build."
While the first three yachts in the 56-meter series shared an
identical hull and waterline, there were variations in the deck and interior
layouts.
"Santa Maria, for example, sported larger tenders than
Burrasca," points out Franco Romani, Perini’s chief designer who heads
the company’s new projects department. "And to accommodate them, the bow
sheerline had to be raised so they could be covered by deck hatches."
Top: Inside a bare Perini
hull. Photograph by Emilio Bianchi. Middle: Fabio Perini. Photograph by Justin Ratcliffe. Bottom: Salute’s mast. Photograph by Emilio Bianchi. (Click images to enlarge)
Santa Maria’s flybridge also extended slightly farther aft
than Burrasca’s, providing full shade over the aft cockpit and a larger
area topside for the whirlpool spa and sun beds. These modifications were so
subtle, however, that it took a sharp eye to spot them. The changes were then
incorporated into Rosehearty, the third hull in the 56-meter series, with
the addition of a carbon-fiber electric furling boom constructed and engineered
by the mast department at Perini in its new, on-site carbon-fiber tunnel.
Rosehearty matched the performance of her sisterships, both of which
reached 16 knots in true wind speeds of 30 knots during the 2004 Perini Navi Cup
off Porto Rotondo.
The first launch of 2007 for Perini Navi was project C.2085,
christened Selene. As sistership to Burrasca, Santa Maria
and Rosehearty, Selene was the fourth of her kind, and with a
further four hulls due for delivery over the next 18 months (three ketches and
one sloop), she came midway in the series. As such she represents an evolution
of her predecessors with naval architecture optimized by the yard in conjunction
with Ron Holland.
As on Rosehearty, stability and windward performance are
enhanced on Selene by a deep, ballasted swing keel set within a
shoal-ballasted fixed keel. Her aluminum masts with carbon-fiber furling boom
carry a sail plan of 1,483 square meters handled by 13 custom-built captive reel
winches. A brand-new feature is the transom door that opens to reveal a
structural staircase and a large swim platform that would not look out of place
aboard a motor yacht. Like her predecessors, there is also a portside hull
platform for easy access to the lazarette.
 Salute in
fit-out. Photograph by Giuliano Sargentini. (Click image to enlarge)
The hull, with its distinctive sheerline, overhangs and
flybridge—hallmarks of a Perini yacht—houses accommodations that include a
full-beam owner’s suite and four double guest staterooms. The main deck includes
the salon and a separate dining area with an enclosed portside corridor for
unobtrusive crew access and transit.
Following the innovative interior by Christian Liaigre aboard
Rosehearty, this time Perini’s own designer, Bernardo Chichi, worked
closely with the owner to produce an art deco-inspired décor with materials
ranging from ebony, maple, wengé, Myrthus and Vavona briarwood to stainless
steel, leather, parchment and white Afyon marble.
But Selene is just a staging post in the continued
development of the 56-meter series. Due for delivery this spring is hull C.2095,
christened Salute. The big departure here is that Salute will be
rigged as a sloop.
"The original design was for a ketch, but the owner was
attracted by the challenge of turning the 56-meter concept into a sloop," says
Akgül.
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