Welcome to the special “20th Anniversary” section of Top Yacht Design. Here, day by day, we present the best stories, yachts, and personalities we’ve covered over the past 20 years of Top Yacht Design, from 2006 to today.
Taken from Top Yacht Design no. 37/2024, pp. 98-104.
Pershing GTX 116
An unconventional 35-metre yacht that combines sporty performance, innovative technical solutions and superb liveability, offering new ways of experiencing the sea.
Innovative, disruptive and exciting. “And revolutionary”, says Stefano de Vivo, Chief Commercial Officier of the Ferretti Group. “Its unusual design was developed with the intention of taking a step forward and offering news ways of experiencing the sea on a high-performance yacht”. . The Pershing GTX 116, flagship of the GTX series, also bears the signature of the product strategy committee led by engineer Piero Ferrari. In de Vivo’s words, “The Pershing GTXu6 took shape as a response to the demand for a large yacht that combines the sporty performance Pershing is known for with a way of experiencing the yacht that wouldn’t be surprising in a model of much higher category.”
With a length of 35 metres, seven-metre beam and a profile enhanced by a Montecarlo grey livery, the Pershing GTX 116’s extensive windows enable light to flood into the interiors and create a direct contact with the sea. “We strove for a maximum connection between the interior and exterior spaces”, says Stefano de Vivo, emphasising how the new model offers even greater comfort than the X series. “The Pershing GTX 116 is a high-precision product that demanded an intense focus, right down to the smallest details”, de Vivo goes on to say, giving the example of the 3-D printed ventilation grilles above the windshield, extremely light elements with a very unusual geometry. The search for new solutions involved all aspects of the yacht and led to the development of a 35-metre build of i3o tonnes with a draught of only 1.47 metres, enabling the yacht to sail in shallow waters.
Aside from the technical elements, another distinctive feature of the Pershing GTX 116 is the generous spaces, with an exterior area of 165 square metres, including an innovative beach club. This comprises a section at water level and a sunpad area on a higher level, surrounded by the stern gunwale, so it can also be used while the yacht is under way. “It’s one of the things that makes the Pershing GTX 116 so special”, says Stefano de Vivo.
“An electrohydraulic system enables the two side sections of the gunwale to open out, forming a connection between the water level and sunpad areas to create a single extensive space of over 35 square metres”. Rather like the 40 square metres of the sportbridge, another innovation on board the Pershing GTX 116. Equipped with sunpads, second helm and a bar area below the hard top, it is designed “to amplify contact with the sea while under way and ensure maximum on-board liveability” Stefano de Vivo adds another special feature to the beach club, sportbridge and forward sunpad area with Jacuzzi.
“Connecting the interior spaces with the exterior areas to ensure comfort, fluidity and contact with the sea”. As a result the main deck saloon is asymmetrical. “The exterior passageway on the starboard side has been eliminated, making it possible to use the entire beam, while on the port side the saloon opens onto the walkway, which the open gunwale transforms into an extendable terrace over the sea”.
The sweeping windows mean that the interiors of the saloon, living area, dining area, galley and helm station with its 5-metre wide windshield are drenched in natural light. The light and the size and height of the spaces, unusual in high-performance, sporty craft, have made it possible to combine dark woods in the vertical elements with light colours for the ceilings in the lower deck owner’s suite and four guest cabins. As Stefano de Vivo concludes, “With the Pershing GTX 116 we worked to create a new aesthetic and emotional experience and build a cuttingedge yacht where the infinite pleasure of the sea encounters the unmistakeable Pershing DNA”.
By Emilio Martinelli
Photo by Alberto Cocchi
