There is nothing wrong with heading straight to the top, particularly on the new Baglietto 48 metre Andiamo. The eye-catching feature on the 140 square metre superyacht sundeck, or “terrace” as designer Francesco Paszkowski likes to call it, is the 2,200 litre glass-fronted pool, complete with waterfall. A closed circuit system circulates water over a sloped glass piece connected to the hardtop.
Trying to figure out how the water reaches the top and then watching it slide over the glass is a great exercise in mindfulness. Also nice for day dreaming is the gurgling sound of water best enjoyed from nearby chaise longues overlooking the ocean beyond the stainless steel handrails, a gentle breeze brushing across the face.
Fitted with a bar, the rest of this deck is furnished mostly with loose furniture that can be rearranged according to need: a games table, loungers, a sofa, armchairs and a dining table among them. The materials of choice for the comfortable furniture are teak and steel, covered with outdoor fabric in tinges of grey and white.
The North American owners who commissioned what would become Andiamo had liked Baglietto’s 46 metre displacement yacht, which was delivered in 2014 and is now known as Mr T. But it wasn’t absolutely right for them. They really needed six cabins.
So Baglietto’s design partner Paszkowski (associated with the brand since the early 1990s) went back to the drawing board and worked closely with the yard and the owner’s build team to create a yacht that would have room for five generous guest cabins plus a master suite on the main deck and remain below 500GT.
The client’s long-time broker, Miami-based Fernando Nicholson, and Camper & Nicholsons’ new-build project department developed the specifications. Nicholson says that thorough specifications are as fundamental to making a good boat as good genes are to a human being. Another part of the equation is a good team. Nicholson enlisted naval engineer Horacio Bozzo, of Axis Design, to act as surveyor on this challenging project, for which the client specified no change orders.
With a few clever decisions relating to the layout, the magic number to realise the client’s wishes proved to be a length of 47.6 metres. The Andiamo project gave Paszkowski the opportunity to update the styling of what the yard has dubbed the T-line. The basics remain of the previous 46 metre — a full displacement hull, three decks, a superyacht beach club and a forward toy storage area — but with numerous enhancements, including an additional tender garage with side opening door just forward of the beach club. “I think it’s a very sexy boat and the accommodation is fantastic,” Nicholson says.
“We focused on several fundamental points,” Paszkowski says, “the shapes, superstructure, surfaces and the exterior spaces, with special emphasis on the flybridge, stern and the idea of contact with the sea. We modified the curves of the deck structure to increase the yacht’s interior volume, with a wide-body configuration on the main deck to benefit the owner’s accommodation. In the superstructure we’ve shifted the helm station, which has been rotated and inclined towards the bridge’s forward raking windows. The roll-bar is also redesigned.”
The new look displacement yacht remains quintessentially Baglietto though — elegant and modern. Fans of the brand will have no trouble identifying Andiamo as a product of the builder located in La Spezia on the beautiful Ligurian coast of Italy.
The owners went for an all white paint scheme over the steel hull and aluminium superstructure with just a touch of colour in the two radar domes, which are painted black. Large expanses of glass provide the necessary contrast with the immaculate white.
Inside, the design by Paszkowski and architect Margherita Casprini is also a study in elegant contrast, with glossy ebony on the walls, matt oak flooring, light fabrics and backlit onyx.
“The selection of just a few materials and a limited colour palette throughout was a well-defined choice intended to emphasise their high quality,” says Casprini, “and to create an atmosphere of sober elegance which reflects the owner’s sophisticated taste. We focused on details and finishes, combining custom-made furnishings with made in Italy design pieces and providing light with LED spots and strips.”
Apart from several custom designed pieces, such as the ebony and onyx dining table positioned in front of a large backlit champagne onyx mural, are pieces selected from Italian shops. Armchairs from Flexform’s Mood Collection and Maxalto in the owner’s office add to the contemporary yet relaxed feel on board. Lighting plays an important role in setting the mood; lamps from Oluce in the saloon or Lumis in the owner’s suite add a homely touch to the LED lighting’s architectural features.
“The spiral stairs in the foyer, with a steel column, leather steps and steel edges, is both an aesthetic and functional element,” Paszkowski says. It provides access to the lower deck, where three guest cabins have been fitted with a large single bed and two with twin beds that slide together to welcome a couple.
“Stylistic coherence”, as the designers describe their style, balances cold material such as Calacatta marble in the guest cabins and crystalline white onyx in the owner’s suite with warm suede and leather for the headboards and dark venetian blinds.
In creating five large cabins on the lower deck, the designers moved some of the crew services to the main deck, such as the mess and laundry facility. However, it is a good trade-off. The mess is adjacent to a spacious pantry area and the galley, which has a residential rather than industrial feel with white worktops and Miele stainless steel appliances. Windows and a frosted sliding glass door allow plenty of light throughout most of the crew space on the main deck. The crew access is well thought out, practical and unobtrusive.
A dumb waiter serves another large pantry on Andiamo’s bridge deck. The guest area here is laid out as a convivial cinema or chill space with a custom sofa and drop-down balconies opening on either side, large enough for a couple of foldable chairs. Outside the glass doors is a covered dining space with generous seating for 12, plus more deep sofas to flop onto after a good meal.
Forward, naturally, is the bridge, just as elegant in its utilitarian way as the rest of Andiamo. The glass bridge custom designed by Telemar splits navigation information over four screens. The dark colour scheme and inclined windshield effectively prevent sun reflections from hindering navigation, which is particularly appropriate for a yacht with transatlantic range.
Sound design and engineering is at the heart of the company. After Baglietto was bought by the Gavio Group in 2012, the parent company began restructuring the business. Appointments in 2015 brought two engineers with industrial backgrounds to the key posts of CEO (Umberto Tosoni holds a degree in management engineering) and general manager (Michele Gavino, an aeronautical engineer by education). The acquisition also restored financial stability and allowed substantial investment into R&D and expansion, which helped Baglietto refine its offering and develop new models.
From a fun dayboat that builds on the yard’s military history, to the Fast line and full displacement yachts, the yard inspires its clientele with ready-to-build concepts that it can customise. The latest project announced at the Monaco Yacht Show is a 70 metre developed with Mulder Design. Gavino enjoys the combination of design and engineering that Mulder brings to the table. “I am an engineer. I like every time to start from ‘the basement’,” he says.
New orders have come in the past few months, and with Andiamo the yard is planting seeds in American soil. More than ever, it seems raring to go. What could be better for a builder with a sturdy new foundation and the means to go forward than a yacht called Andiamo? Let’s go!
First published in the December 2017 US Edition of Boat International.