Noga’s owner on his 7 favourite design features of his explorer yacht

Noga’s owner has had seven boats and knew exactly what he wanted for this one, which included semi-displacement performance. He enjoys the stability and fuel efficiency of Noga, saying that she tends to cruise 10 to 12 knots, mostly through the night, and averages a fuel consumption of just 50 litres per hour.

Penned by Mario Pedol’s firm Nauta Design, the Nauta Air range stands out from the rest of the Cantiere delle Marche lineup for its sleek lines and modern sensibilities. As the builder likes to say, the Nauta range is a CdM Darwin Class yacht (it’s original, rugged explorers) dressed for an evening dinner. All the seaworthiness, but with some added sex appeal in the exterior styling.

This owner also praises the quiet, vibration-free ride of Noga, as silence is the ultimate luxury.

Noga’s owner says his favourite place on the boat is the engine room. “It’s outstanding,” he says, of the huge jewel box of an engine room.

Cantiere delle Marche puts a priority on its engine rooms, which benefit from commercial shipbuilding techniques. Each is well laid out, large enough to get into every nook and cranny and reliable, commercial grade equipment. Noga’s engine room is especially impressive for her sheer volume, a rarity on a yacht of this size.

As Vaco Buonpensiere of CdM says, “With a perfectly laid out engine room, you can fix everything when you need to and don’t have to put things off until the winter. Everything is sensible, reliable systems.”

This technical space that many other owners might avoid instead becomes a highlight.

Not only is the flybridge on explorer yacht Noga sizeable for a 27.65 metre vessel, but every aspect is also designed for practicality. The flybridge is the owner’s second favourite spot on Noga, he says, pointing out all the multi-function uses of the space, such as the two tables that can raise and lower to change from al fresco dining, to aperitifs to hosting extra sun pads.

The ideal entertaining spot, Noga's flybridge hosts two wine coolers, a Tepenyaki grill, a deep sink and work station and an ice machine, which the owner says is a must when yachting in the summer. “There are ice machines everywhere [on Noga],” he reveals.

Noga’s owner is an architect by trade, so it makes sense he had a hand in the design of his yacht. He designed the interior and is especially proud of the main deck saloon and dining room.

“My philosophy is every design has to be connected to volume,” Noga’s owner says. “Proportions are the most important thing in architecture.”

The saloon is open and inviting, and leads seamlessly to the dining room, where the unique table is made of mahogany, oak and maple combined. Backlit panels provide a lovely, warm atmosphere in the sophisticated yet understated room.

Noga’s galley isn’t the largest ever seen, but it doesn’t need to be because it designed to work for exactly what the owner needs. “The galley works perfectly,” Noga’s owner says.

Everything is well thought out: Noga uses a reverse osmosis system to make its own freshwater from saltwater, as many yachts do, and there is a machine in the galley that further filters this freshwater into drinking water and even makes sparkling water.

“We try to avoid using bottled water and get rid of waste as much as possible,” the owner of Noga says.

Another favourite design feature of Noga’s owner is the consistently designed bathrooms.

“The bathrooms are the same in the whole boat,” he points out, explaining he doesn’t like some designs where each room has a million different materials that confuses the eye. Instead on Noga, each bathroom uses the same mahogany wood cabinets – which matches that of the saloon – grey stone counters and teak flooring.

The bathroom in the owner’s suite has a special feature with a shower that doubles as a steam bath.

According to Noga's owner, "lighting is very important" and has been a focal point of the Cantiere dell Marche yacht's design, inside and out.

In his architecture firm, the owner of Noga has three engineers who work on lighting design and atmosphere. This designer/owner believes that light should never disturb the eye and should be soft.

All the lighting can be controlled with an app from the iPhone. "The entire boat can be called by apps," the owner says. This includes the music systems and even the shower in the main bath, which the owner says can be turned on from the shore – so if he fancies a steam bath, it can be ready and waiting.