Performance Enhancement
Justin Ratcliffe
04/01/2008

Perini Navi claims 60 percent of the world market for sailing yachts over 150 feet, and with 27 Perinis larger than that size sailing the seven seas, no one seems to be arguing the point. Averaging more than two launches a year with 12 yachts in build and 41 yachts already in commission, there is simply no other brand that gets close.

But over the past six or so years, the Viareggio-based boatyard quietly has belied its reputation for heavy-displacement, high-volume, twin-engined yachts in favor of a rather different breed of vessel. While The Maltese Falcon and the announcement of the 50-meter Vitruvius motor yacht project are the most dramatic examples of this shift in gears, the process has been one of incremental, rather than radical change. In between there has been a hugely successful line of performance-oriented 56-meter (184-foot) yachts that combine the best of Perini Navi’s traditional values with a new turn of speed.

The 56-meter Selene was Perini Navi’s first launch of 2007 and the fourth in the series. Photograph by Emilio Bianchi. (Click image to enlarge)

Historically, Perini Navi has tended to build projects of a certain size over defined periods. For example, the 46/48-meter series that included Xasteria, Andromeda la Dea, Liberty, Piropo IV, Corelia, Morning Glory and Legacy, all were launched in the first half of the 1990s. Then came the 52/53-meter projects with Xasteria, Liberty, Independence and Atmosphere. This might seem like a knee-jerk reaction to the demand for bigger boats, but there followed a return to slightly smaller 50-meter yachts with Phryne, Aurore (formerly Felicità West), Perseus and …Is a Rose. There are exceptions to this trend, but if we hold it to be generally true, then post-2003 is the era of the 56-meter Perini Navi.

"This was not decided at the conference table," explains Perini’s Franco Torre, who is head of special projects, "but was a combination of both vision and design that suited the market at the time in terms of size, lifestyle, comfort and cost."

This is part and parcel of founder Fabio Perini’s corporate strategy, in which he prefers to build on spec and then find a client to fit the project.

Santa Maria was among the first three 56-meters, along with Burrasca and Rosehearty. Photograph by Carlo Borlenghi. (Click image to enlarge)

"To out-think the market is a risky business," continues Torre. "If we can join forces early on, all the better, but there have been very few cases where the client has provided the original impetus." The advantage for owners, of course, is that they avoid waiting two years or more while their yacht is being built.

Top: Franco Torre on board The Maltese Falcon. Photograph by Justin Ratcliffe. Bottom: Salute arrives in Viareggio. Photograph by Emilio Bianchi. (Click images to enlarge)

While Fabio Perini’s basic approach has changed little since he set up the company in 1983, his clients’ expectations have. Two decades ago, Perini Navi’s heavy-displacement steel superyachts served the demand for unmatched comfort and luxury. Performance was not at the top of the wish list, and owners rarely enjoyed the view from the podium at superyacht regattas such as the Nantucket and St. Barth’s Buckets. So at the turn of the new century, Perini Navi began focusing its attention on enhancing performance, beginning with a new sail plan for 50-meter Perseus. This was followed by the all-aluminum, 52-meter Squall, the first Perini Navi to be designed in collaboration with an outside naval architect, in this case Ed Dubois. Squall differed from her predecessors in her more slender hull form, single-engine propulsion, fixed-ballast keel, deeper draft and—surprise, surprise—absence of a flybridge. While representing a break with tradition, Squall’s pedigree was consistent with Perini’s brand values of comfort and ease of handling. The difference was that she performed better than anything that had come before.

Around the same time, Perini commissioned Ron Holland to take a look at hull forms and hydrodynamics, rig and sail designs. This led to Burrasca, the first of Perini’s 56-meter ketches in 2003. With her bulb keel and aluminum hull shape designed for faster sailing, she marked a definitive change of direction for the yard in response to requests for sleeker, lighter and faster yachts."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.Clearly, this entailed changes to the underbelly. The optimization of the keel and sail plan was carried out together with Ron Holland, but the 75-meter aluminum mast, carbon-fiber spreaders and furling boom are to be made in-house by Perini.

The interior layout is designed to be spacious and versatile with a luxurious owner’s suite, three VIP cabins and two guest staterooms. But the sloop’s main characteristic will be a forward cockpit, not unlike that of 52-meter Liberty (currently Galaxia) launched in 1997. This is an interesting return to the only instance where Perini has dallied with a feature that was ahead of its time a decade ago, but it is one that undoubtedly enhances the yacht’s exterior space. With access to the flybridge via a central aft tapered staircase, the whole of the exterior main deck, both fore and aft, becomes an open-air lounge area.

Selene’s covered outdoor dining area. The yacht’s interior décor was designed in-house by Perini’s Bernardo Chichi, who worked closely with the owner. Photographs by Giuliano Sargentini and Emilio Bianchi. (Click images to enlarge)

In the pipeline are projects C.2106, C.2086 and C.2126—all 56-meter ketches that integrate the best features of the series so far. Also in build is project C.2123, the eighth 56-meter hull and the ultimate evolution of the concept that began with Burrasca. The yacht boasts interior design by Foster & Partners and a new exterior appearance, characterized by more angular, aggressive lines.

With a backward glance to the sloop Salute, the vessel will feature a revised deck arrangement that includes a forward cockpit. But the new-look Perini will also take the company into the next decade and beyond because her updated lines will be incorporated into all future productions.

The 56-meter series has undoubtedly served as a stepping stone for Perini Navi as the company continues to develop its production facilities and in-house technology to focus attention on lighter, faster sailboats with the same luxury and comfort for which the brand is renowned. The culmination of this new direction is hull number C.2104, a 38-meter high-performance sloop designed by Philippe Briand that is approaching completion at Perini’s Cantieri Navali Beconcini plant in La Spezia. The combination of a tapered Sealium hull with bulb lifting keel and water ballast system, carbon-fiber High Modulus mast and Park Avenue boom, Future Fibres PBO rigging and Doyle Stratis sails makes it the first seriously competitive yacht to be built by Perini. Developed for the owner of Perseus, who was looking to shift up a gear after embracing the racing ethos, the yacht is to be launched this summer in time for the regatta season, including the Perini Navi Cup and the Rolex Maxi Cup. This time her owner is hoping to enjoy the view from the winner’s podium.

Contact Perini Navi at +39 0584 4241 and Perini Navi USA at 401-683-5600. www.perininavi.it