Welcome to the special “20th Anniversary” section of Top Yacht Design. Here we present the best stories, yachts, and characters featured in these 20 years of Top Yacht Design, from 2006 to the present.
Excerpted from Top Yacht Design no. 13 / 2008, pp. 76-86. For years engaged in commissioned construction of major steel and light alloy motoryachts, Rossinavi makes her brand debut with this 54-meter yacht with a strong personality. South, represents the designer’s best interpretation of his owner’s wishes.
Creating a boat that is truly 100 percent “bespoke” requires a special relationship of understanding and harmony between designer and owner, what is called “a matter of feeling.” A real privilege, then, if what binds designer and owner is mutual esteem for more than 30 years. “I believe that a key component of the origin of this project has to be found in the well-established working relationship of knowledge and trust that exists between the owner and myself,” Alessandro Cusumano, the naval engineer from whose pencil the design of South, this 54-meter first boat to be born under the Rossinavi brand, was born, reveals, and continues, “this allowed me to intuit from his first and few inputs what he dreamed of achieving and thus at least where to start.”
South was to be a boat with simple, streamlined and essential lines, sophisticated but without exaggeration, characterized by that elegance that does not tire and is destined to last, capable of offering great comfort and able to “be a real container of the owner’s many works of art and personal objects, recreating environments familiar to him,” Alessandro Cusumano is keen to emphasize.
The result is a boat with a strong personality in its details and layout. Aesthetic and construction themes were chosen that could be repeated appropriately and systematically in many areas of the boat, inspired in particular by the design of Formula One cars, a great passion of the designer. In fact, the recurring theme for many layout details is the elliptical shape, used as a structural profile, which allowed for shapes that were as slender as they were strong. The design of the dynamic air intakes used in Formula One and aviation is also inspired by some of the details of the headlamps and headlamp supports, as well as the head and base of the flagpole.
Spread over four levels, South offers due privacy for the owner and his guests in six cabins, large and pleasant spaces for conviviality both inside and out, and a service area for 12 crew members. The main deck houses a spacious salon featuring furnishings of understated elegance with linear forms that go to create distinct conversation areas and a refined light-dark contrast achieved through the colors of the sofas and armchairs, expertly matched with the national walnut chosen for furniture, bulkheads, and trim, the beautiful taupe parquet flooring, and teak and felt carpets. The master suite and VIP cabin are also located on this deck.
The soul of the upper deck, which also houses the bridge deck, galley and an independent TV room, is instead the dining room with its prominent rectangular table. But the absolute star of the day until sunset and of the splendid summer evenings under the stars is the spacious “sun deck,” which, in addition to offering comfortable spaces dedicated to relaxation and sunbathing, has a well-equipped bar, a Jacuzzi on the bow and a covered but still sea-viewing fitness area furnished by Technogym. In addition to the aesthetic aspect, Alessandro Cusumano also paid special attention to the technical aspect: hull, quietness, and technology.
The latter finds its greatest expression in the domotic management of the entire vessel. Designed for prolonged and demanding sailing, the South can rely on propulsion from two 2200-horsepower Caterpillars that enable her to touch peaks of 17.5 knots and maintain cruising regimes of up to 16.5 knots. Her fuel reserve of 130000 liters also gives her a cruising range of 5400 miles at 13.6 knots.
THE NUMBERS OF THE SOUTH Here are the main characteristics of the South. Overall length: 53.20 m – Maximum beam: 10.00 m – Draft: 3.00 m – Freshwater tanks: 60,000 l – Fuel tanks: 130,000 l – Gross tonnage (int.): 600 GT – Material of construction: steel and marine light alloy – Hull type: displacement – Passenger cabins: 6 – Crew cabins: 2 – Engine: 2×2,200 hp – Cruising speed: 13.6 – 16.5 knots – Cruising range: 5400 miles at 13.6 knots 
Discover all the best stories, yachts and characters we’ve told you over the past 20 years of Top Yacht Design, from 2006 to the present.
