Italian shipyard Cantiere delle Marche (CdM) has offered an exclusive first look on board its latest custom explorer yacht Acala.
Acala was commissioned by an experienced yachtsman and a repeat client of the shipyard who had previously owned a Darwin 102 by the same name as well as a 78 metre Lürssen. Looking to cruise far and wide, the owner sold his Lürssen and construction started on Acala, which made her debut three years later at the 2022 Monaco Yacht Show.
Acala marks the first collaboration with the Viareggio-based designer and naval architect Horacio Bozzo who handled the exterior design. Her profile is described by the shipyard as "severe" with a raked bow and compact superstructure. Acala offers 440GT of volume with a full displacement steel hull, an 8.6 metre beam and generous crew quarters at the request of the owner. Naval architecture comes courtesy of Sergio Cutolo/Hydro Tec.
“The work on technical specifications has been extremely detailed and it lasted almost 12 months to achieve a double result: to build a 43-metre yacht with the most detailed and comprehensive specs we have ever drawn up and to proceed with no need of major modifications as construction progressed,” said Vasco Buonpensiere, CEO of CdM.
“We joke around saying that we have built the smallest 80-metre yacht ever built,” he added.
The interior, designed by Mexican architect Simon Hamui, can sleep a total of 12 guests across six cabins. The main deck is home to three large VIP cabins and a smaller-than-usual master suite set to starboard; the owner saw no need for a sweeping master cabin and instead, opted for an additional cabin to accommodate friends. The remaining guest accommodation, made up of two twins, can be found on the deck below.
Acala's interior palette is calm and muted with a variety of different woods, including aged ash and wire-brushed oak, with Eucalyptus in the master suite and grey Sucupira wood in guest cabins. Sofas are upholstered in cashmere, rugs are hand-woven alpaca and most of the furniture is custom-built.
Interior highlights include an "intimate" main saloon and panoramic sky lounge on the upper deck. On Acala, the upper saloon assumes the role of the main saloon with seating forward, a large dining table and full-height doors that open fully to create a single indoor-outdoor entertaining space. Full-height doors can also be found to port and starboard.
On deck is a large cockpit and swimming pool; up above is a partially shaded sundeck with a second pool and dining area served by a dumbwaiter. Freeing up main deck space for cabins allows for a large crew mess and crew cabins, with the galley positioned on the lower deck and two pantries on both the main and upper decks.
Instead of opting for a beach club with a water-level lounge, the beach club on Acala is a practical dive store with cylinders, wetsuits and a nitrox compressor found in the engine room. The glass-bottomed pool on the main deck doubles as a skylight here.
The main tender is stored forward on the upper deck while the lazarette provides a large storage area. Acala is powered by twin Caterpillar C32 Acert engines with an expedition-worthy range of 8,000 nautical miles at a speed of 9.5 knots.
Read the full story behind the build of Acala in the January 2023 issue of BOAT International.