“Tackling the North West Passage and documenting marine fauna,” is how Cantiere delle Marche co-founder and sales & marketing director Vasco Buonpensiere sums up the raison d’etre of the Nauta Air fleet’s new flagship, the Nauta Air 111, Hyhmä.
Her name is a Finnish word which means “snow floating on water” evoking not just the snowy, freezing seas of the Arctic but also the emotional tenor of that remote area of the world. “The new Nauta Air 111 is a harmonious mix of power and beauty,” stresses Buonpensiere. Designed for long-range navigation, Hyhmä has naval architecture by Vripack which already has a slew of explorers to its credit.
“We share Cantiere delle Marche’s conviction that there is still a lot more to discover on this planet of ours and a yacht is the best way to do it,” explains Vripack director Marnix Hoekstra. “So we brought our experience in delivering safety and comfort underway to the table.”
The result is a yacht clothed in powerful yet elegant lines with a high bulbous bow and a hull that rounds out aft of a flat bow section. Her construction and spec means Hyhmä will, in typical Cantiere delle Marche style, be able to negotiate world’s most challenging seas with complete confidence for extended periods.
Her engine room is a hymn to quality and functionality with twin 500 kW Cats ensuring she’ll go for 5,500 nautical miles at nine knots. All of her onboard equipment has been doubled up too and with a focus on lowering her environmental impact, a vital factor for an explorer vessel. “Her lines exude a sober, elegant power that I would go so far as to call seductive,” Mario Pedol of Nauta Design says of Hyhmä’s styling. She is a genuine chameleon, both luxury yacht and explorer vessel at once, a contemporary take on the old-school displacement yacht.
“This explorer brilliantly communicates her seakeeping qualities through decisive lines and generous, balanced volumes.” Spread over three decks plus a T-top, Hyhmä’s long stretch of side windowing and portholes lend her a sense of dynamism and create a sense of harmonious volumes. Nauta Design’s stylistic research has produced an effortless balance of generous exterior spaces and interiors which, thanks to all those apertures, impart a sense of genuine connection with the sea.
The saloon on the main deck is a case in point. Featuring a dining area forward and a conversation area aft, it merges into a large open plan area with the Poltrona Frau-furnished cockpit once its sliding doors are opened. Inside Flexform armchairs and soft orange dining chairs from Poltrona Frau’s Montera collection feature. Forward of the dining area and the galley is the full-beam master suite which also includes a study and a bedroom with its own sitting area. A bright dressing room also precedes the bathroom where there is a luxurious steam shower. Oak predominates.
The Flexform aesthetic also reappears in the upper deck sky lounge which opens on the aft terrace where the tender is located but does not interfere in the least with the al fresco dining area. “Offering the owner and his guests ample outdoor spaces was one of our priorities,” explains Mario Pedol, pointing out the large terrace with dining area, bar and relaxation zone on the sun deck. The latter flank the other terrace with its C-shaped sofa, table and sun pad forward of the bridge on the upper deck.
The guest accommodations are on the lower deck where Nauta Yacht has unleashed all its experience to create the sense of space and airiness of the upper decks in the two VIP staterooms and two twin cabins with Pullman berths. Also on the same level are the crew quarters which connect directly with the main deck.
We’ll give the last word to Vasco Buonpensiere as he explains just how much this explorer means to the yard: “With M/Y Hyhmä we have reached a perfect formula, merging northern European engineering with Italian style and flexibility in managing a multicultural team of highly skilled professionals. Hyhmä is definitely one of the projects which has created more pathos and emotions in this shipyard, and we all feel her like she is our daughter!”
