Welcome to the special “20th Anniversary” section of Top Yacht Design. Here we present to you, day by day, the best stories, yachts, characters we have covered in these 20 years of Top Yacht Design, from 2006 to the present day.
Taken from Top Yacht Design no. 12/2017 pp. 70/76
Galego casts off
The Cantiere delle Marche’s third Darwin Class 102′ casts off.
She may be third in line to the Darwi throne but there is no doubt that she w emerge as one of the leading stars of the explorer yacht generation and beyond. Galego is Cantiere delle Marche’s latest Darwin Class to cast off, following in the wake of Acala and Babbo. That said, she has an unusual backstory. Her owner already owned a planing 30-metre but fell so head over heels in love with Babbo during her launch in September 2015 that he had signed a contract to build a near-twin within a few hours of first seeing her. Nineteen months later, the classic champagne bottle smashed on Galego’s bow and her underbody touched water at the Ancona yard’s dock for the first time. The new addition has the same technical spec for which the rest of the Darwin Class are so renowned: a 12 mm thick steel hull, Cupronickel piping, independent rudders, three automatically parallelized generators (one night-time), electric stabilisers, a 24/7 cruise vessel-inspired black water, grey water and bilge oil treatment system, and, of course, the kind of generous volumes and impressive range typical of an explorer.
“There aren’t many 30-metres that can deliver four guest cabins, three for the crew and a laundry,” explains Sergio Cutolo who did the naval design for the Darwin Class. Like all Cantiere delle Marche craft, Galego is full-custom and despite the fact that she is a near-twin of Babbo, the owner did ask for certain specific additions that make her very much her own vessel. The first way the two yachts differ is in terms of their interior headroom. Galego’s owner is a big guy, standing almost 6′ 5″, and so wanted comfortable ceiling heights. The interior volumes were thus raised to 2.18 metres (‘ 1″) as were all the doors and windows. Her foredeck is custom too: this time the owner wanted a large relaxation area with all the machines required to convert it to an open-air gym tucked away in compartments beneath it. “The owner also wanted a crane that could tackle a large tender. So we had to design a structure that could do it without impinging on the interior ceiling heights. That proved quite a challenge!” continues Cutolo.
Galego has the same timeless exterior styling as her sisters – she’ll never go out of fashion in other words. “The waterlines were designed to express the best of her nature,” says Sergio Cutolo. “However, over the years, we introduced certain changes such as larger windows and the transparent sliding doors which, together with more sophisticated detailing, really do meet the demands of an increasingly-discerning market,” he concludes. Once again like the rest of the Darwin Class, Galego is a tri-deck with a sundeck to boot. She has four staterooms on her lower deck with the fullbeam master suite amidships. The main deck is home to the large saloon and, further forward, the galley, crew mess, two crew cabins and laundry. The captain’s cabin and bridge are on the upper deck with a very generous sky lounge that overlooks a quite astonishingly generous deck area. Galego’s interiors are the work of Pierluigi Floris who has created a warm, welcoming ambience by matching traditional walnut with various iterations of Poltrona Frau leather. The result is classic with overtones of the classic displacement yachts of old.
A contemporary take on that vessel type beautifully underscored by freestanding furnishings and accessories unusual for an explorer. Floris lavished amazing attention on the detailing in the master suite which is entirely trimmed in leather panels in various shades ranging from powder blue to a bluish lead grey with a variety of different finishes used too. We particularly liked the glorious padded headrest with its geometric pattern. The VIP stateroom’s headrest is also leather but in wine this time and set between two woven leather decorative motifs lined up with the bedside tables. Poltrona Frau leather has also been put to extensive and impressive use in the guest staterooms but here the headrests are trimmed in maritime-inspired Hermès wallpaper. Marble abounds too in all the en suite bathrooms: masculine dark Emperador appears in the master while the more subtle and delicate Iranian Pietra grey is used for the guest versions. The cocoon-like ambience of the accommodations is underscored too by the choice of the oak flooring in delicate hues of wine.
As is the case in the cabins, the walls of the stairwell between the decks are trimmed in leather panels – the inner ones are plain while the outer ones have a wonderfully fine chevron weave. The saloon on the main deck features two face-to-face sofas and brass and wood Minotti occasional tables. The entrance area, where several of the owner’s favourite art works are on display, is the centre-point of the space. A square eight-seater dining table that can extend to seat to is opposite the sofa and there is a further formal and al fresco eating area for 12 aft on the upper deck. One curious fact: wine is one of the central inspirations for Galego’s furnishings. In fact, in addition from a large open-view wine rack in the main saloon there is also a stunning floor-to-ceiling Subzero wine cabinet.
“The Galego project was quite lengthy. It took a lot of thinking and was particularly challenging but enormous satisfying at the same time,” explained Pierluigi Floris on the day of her launch. And looking at the end product, it’s hard to argue as it is clear that even a seemingly entirely classic boat can be transformed into an extremely modern package through details chosen with flair and discernment. Galego’s accessories, for instance, were all made from untreated brass to allow the metal oxidise naturally as it would have on early 20th century vessels. Because, as Sergio Cutolo himself put it, a Darwin Class is “a boat for life” and, of course, a very vivid demonstration of just how modern and inventive an explorer can be. It should come as no great surprise that a fourth is currently in-build.
di Giulia Trinkaf
