The 54.55 metre Baglietto yacht C is designed to accommodate every generation of one lucky family. Take a look inside the fully custom yacht that offers the perfect balance of togetherness and privacy...
Everybody knows that blood is thicker than water, but perhaps it’s true that blood is thicker on the water as well. The family that commissioned the 54.55 metre Baglietto named C certainly seems to think so. The yacht was designed from the keel up to cater to the family’s every yachting whim and is replete with customisations that make her an excellent fit for the clan, no matter the generation or interest. But completing such an all-encompassing build was no easy task. Luckily the owners found a team of brokers, designers and builders who were able to make their dream come to life.
In Italy, it is common to refer to the person who ushers a project along to life as il padre – the project’s father. Many hands worked together to complete C, but if one had to point to a single padre, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone more deserving than Fernando Nicholson, senior sales broker at Camper & Nicholsons. The quadrilingual Nicholson was born into the brokerage business and now runs the company’s new Miami office. His expertise has been gleaned from 35 years in the industry and he was able to put it all to good use with this Baglietto. He had to – he was effectively working from scratch.
“Nobody knew about this boat,” Nicholson says. “We designed it from nothing. It came from a brand-new platform. But I was fortunate because I was working with a long-term client of mine and they have deep boating knowledge. So they knew what they wanted and my job was to deliver that to them. And frankly, I think it all worked out incredibly well.”
What the client needed, first and foremost, was a vessel that could offer enough space and privacy for the family members to pursue their respective on-the-water passions. And, according to Nicholson, that meant the project’s requirements were four-fold. “First, we knew we wanted to accommodate 17 people,” he says. “Second, we needed a shallow draft. Third, the beach club had to be outstanding. And lastly, we wanted two master cabins. The patriarchs of the family are brothers so that last point was important.”
To ably incorporate all of the owners’ requirements, Nicholson reached out to the much sought-after Viareggio-based nautical designer Horacio Bozzo. “We had some dreams of doing crazy things,” Nicholson says with a chuckle, “and sometimes crazy things don’t work. But we chose Bozzo because it’s well known that he can make crazy things work out beautifully.”
Bozzo attacked the project’s requirements with his trademark creativity and flair. “I knew from the start that this Baglietto was going to be something quite different, and a large part of that comes from the amount of people the family needs to keep comfortable,” the designer says. “One piece of the design that flowed from this need – and that will be immediately obvious to anyone who steps aboard – is that there are four staterooms on the forward portion of the main deck. There are twin mirroring masters for the brothers, and then two more mirroring VIPs for other family members. This arrangement is rather unusual for a yacht of this size, but it works well for a few reasons. One, there’s no argument over who gets the better cabin because there are multiple versions of the same one. And two, the main deck has enormous windows, so the staterooms benefit from all the natural light that they let in. You’re never going to feel closed in in those staterooms, that much is for sure!”
The cabins have another design advantage that Nicholson points out with pride. “The walk-in closets and the make-up areas are at the entrance to the cabins,” he says. “So when you step into the cabin you step into a sort of a mini lobby. No one wants to step directly into the bedding area. You have to walk well into the stateroom before getting to the bed. And this was inspired by privacy.”
Privacy is key on board this Baglietto. “Keeping guests and crew as separated as possible was a tenet of the design, so that the crew can work with no interference,” Bozzo says. “With the four large cabins on the main deck, it worked out quite well in that regard, because the galley is down below, and we use a dumb waiter to help with service, so this way, nobody is ever in anyone else’s hair. The flow aboard the yacht, the way people can move through it, is nearly effortless.”
Nicholson concurs. “I’ll tell you something else, the room for the crew on board is just astonishing. We are expecting to have 13 crew members and we are also expecting them to be very happy – which is good because when the crew is happy it becomes much easier to keep the owners happy. The yacht has six [bunk] cabins plus one single cabin for the captain on the bridge deck. They’re all very spacious and state of the art – they spare nothing.”
The owners also wanted to spare no destination, and the Bahamas is a particular favourite. But with a yacht this big, that age-old Bahamas conundrum was sure to arise: what to do about the draft in such a shallow destination?
The answer lay with the yard. While steel is a common build material for the hull of a yacht in this size range, Baglietto recommended something a bit less obvious. “The hull and the superstructure are aluminium,” says Andrea Lavagnino, project manager at Baglietto. “We knew the boat would displace 900 gross tons with the amount of volume needed for the family. And if you [build] that with steel, which is so dense, you’ll draw three metres easily. So you can forget the Bahamas. But with aluminium, we were able to make the beam wide at 10.4 metres, which helped us draw 2.6 metres. [The shallower draft] opens up a lot of top-notch cruising grounds that the family can enjoy.”
The aluminum and wide beam also give the vessel exceptional height, which translates to some exceptional entertainment spaces. “The verticality of the hull space offers so much headroom,” says Hot Lab’s Enrico Lumini, who did the interiors. “It doesn’t feel like a 54m; it feels like a 64m.”
Lumini points to the yacht’s beach club as one beneficiary of its stature. “The beach club is one of my favorite parts of this yacht. It’s a bit unusual on a boat this size to have a beach club on the exact same level as the swim platform, but we were able to do that because the boat’s height is higher than normal. Plus, there are three huge openings to the beach club area to let in sea breezes and light. Also, what’s incredible about this deck is that it can transform into a gym, sauna or massage room. It’s so versatile, and that’s exactly how the family wanted it, because they all have different interests and different desires when they are on the water.”
The necessity for variety plays out in other ways in the yacht’s interior. The cabins, for example, have drastically different feels. “On the main deck, in the ‘adult’ cabins, as it were, the design is elegant and cozy,” Lumini says. “We used mainly oak and titanium with some gold leaf accents. It’s all very chic, and of course private, with the secluded entrance ways.”
However, the children’s rooms required a different, more playful touch. “Probably my favourite part of the lower accommodation is that in one of the cabins we have a chalkboard wall where the children can write and draw and it easily washes off,” Lumini says. “Also, the washbasins on that level are a little bit lower to accommodate shorter legs, and all the materials are colour- and kid-resistant.”
The age differences play out in the common entertainment areas as well. The aft end of the main deck has a salon that is meant for the younger generation, both children and adults. “It’s for daytime play,” Lumini says. “We wanted a fresh feel there, so we used lots of blues and whites and white oak for wood. We meant to replicate the sea with the colour scheme. You can relax here, and nothing feels uptight. It’s a great place to hang out on a couch and watch your children play – Flexform and Paola Lenti were the main brands we used here to get the proper feeling.”
However up one flight of steps, on the bridge deck, things get a bit more sophisticated. “The upper deck is dedicated to the adults and is much more glamorous,” Lumini says. “The tones are richer; the marbles and woods are very elegant. There’s a card table and a projector for movie night. Everything up there feels a bit more mature. It’s where the grownups can go play after the kids are all put to bed.”
But what about when the whole family wants to be together? Surely if they’re all on the same boat, they won’t be segregated by age the whole time? “Of course there are times when the whole family will want to be together,” Lumini says. “And for that we have a beautiful sundeck at the very top of the boat. It’s totally open, great for sunshine and really feeling alive while you’re at sea. It’s a sort of mix of two identities – sophisticated and fun. The idea was for the space to be used by the entire family. It’s got lounges, a bar and plenty of seating. Everyone can be up there and have their own little spaces, but still be together. And that’s what was important to us as a team, and them as a client and a family.” If you’re sensing a theme here, it’s by design. The family that plays together, stays together.
This feature is taken from the October 2021 issue of BOAT International US. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.