Hearing Francesco Paszkowski talk about Vis is like seeing a child in a toyshop. His eyes shine, his voice takes on a passion as he loses all trace of formality and gets carried away with his story.
Clearly, Vis is something of a dream come true for him. Presented by Fincantieri Yachts at the 2019 Monaco Yacht Show, this 80m concept is actually important on two different levels.
First and foremost, she is a textbook lesson in completing the perfect metamorphosis of a naval vessel into a pleasure yacht, something which is quite on trend right now. Secondly, because she is a masterpiece of naval engineering and design whose charms are very difficult resist.
“The idea of designing an 80m came about during a meeting with Fincantieri’s Director of Sales Mauro Parodi,” explains Paszkowski. “A wedding invitation for me because I have always loved military craft”.
Vis was actually inspired by Fincantieri’s background and skills in that very area.
“I wanted to see what I could do to turn an existing naval vessel platform into something new and intriguing that was also suited to the pleasure yachting world,” says Paszkowski.
According to Claudio Galbo, Vice President Marketing Communication at Fincantieri Yachts, Vis has proved the most popular of all the projects presented at the various shows.
Paszkowski imagined a hull that is a bit like a new generation explorer but with industrial-chic interiors that have been given a nautical twist. A genuine first. “It was a real morphing exercise, transposing from the navy to the pleasure sector yet changing the hull as little as possible.
This yacht’s naval superstructure has many similarities to the civil construction world and gave me the opportunity to play with glass and interior volumes,” explains Paszkowski. “I chose quite minimalist materials that you don’t normally find on a megayacht”.
Vis’s exteriors are similar to those of the model that inspired her but much of the steel superstructure and bulwarks have been replaced by glass cleverly masked with special film to avoid ruining the military aesthetic.
Other details too hint at Paszkowski’s love of the Italian navy, not least the side windows on the master deck which once open and seen from bow or stern, look like guns on a naval vessel.
“All these solutions were made possible by the extraordinary bond that grew up between Fincantieri Yachts and my studio,” continues Paszkowski.
Frills and frippery were banned. Vis’s forms and materials are strong and masculine, the lines clean and spare. Spaces are open-plan and, particularly in the day area, just empty enough to make the already-generous volumes seem even larger.
The floors are made from resin, while the furnishing accents are stainless steel. Many of the inside doors are glass and full-height.
Teak is used on some of the walls on the lower deck but is also laid decking-style as flooring. The décor is a confection of neutrals but this does not detract in any way from the overall impact.
There are some real wow moments too, not least the round lift that links all the decks and has a circular stairs coiling around it and a hanging garden.
Then there is the rhomboid al fresco cockpit cover on the fly deck which not only works as a decorative element but also incorporates solar panels and the pool waterfall and also protects occupants from the sun.
A large simple but gorgeous round skylight draws light into all the decks. Because naval and masculine does not have to mean boring and predictable. At least not in Francesco Paszkowski’s world anyway.
