Give or treat yourself to a subscription to Boats in Motion print + digital and for only 39 euros a year you get the magazine at home plus read it on your PC, smartphone and tablet. With a sea of advantages.
Welcome to the special section “BAM 35 Years.” We are presenting “cult” articles from the Motor Boats archive, starting in 1990. A journey through time among stories unobtainable today, even in the great sea of the internet! A dive into the world of epic moments in motor boating. We begin with one of the stories we were most passionate about.
From Boats to Motor 2000, no.2, March, pp. 34-39.
Coordinating the different materials that contribute to furnishing a yacht’s interior is not so easy. In the speeches of four Italian yacht designers, some important suggestions can be grasped.
When buying a new boat or deciding to work on an existing one, the choice of materials and colors for the interior plays a key role. It is no coincidence that almost all boatyards today offer the possibility of customizing one’s boat, both in furnishings and interior compartmentalization (especially in larger boats). We are entering the realm of personal taste and, as a result, it is very difficult to judge and make judgments. Let’s start with the assumption that furnishing a boat is not the same as furnishing an apartment: while the aesthetic factor is common to both, in boats functional considerations and durability of the materials used prevail. Enemies to watch out for include especially moisture, which causes damage and mold to upholstery, and the ever-dreaded fire: very often we see highly flammable materials placed in risky areas or smooth cooking surfaces without protection with impeccable aesthetics but little functionality aboard a boat. Those who have had the opportunity to visit numerous boats will surely have noticed that the furniture definitely varies according to the type of boat. This all stems from the target clientele that the boat is aimed at and also the nationality of the boat builder. If the classic fly-over motor yacht features elegant walnut or cherry woods and leather upholstery, the racy open will in most cases adopt brightly colored lacquers. In between these two extremes lie a wide variety of solutions. Nationality is also an element that immediately distinguishes one boat from another: models coming from Northern Europe and especially from Scandinavian countries adopt essences and upholstery in dark tones that have the merit of making the interior atmosphere “warmer”. On the opposite side we find the “jaunty” solutions employed in American express cruisers where soft-colored lacquers and light-colored upholstery give brightness and spaciousness to the rooms below deck. Finally, a praise to our boats that are appreciated all over the world for the elegance and refinement of the furnishings, a field where we are undoubtedly masters. If, as we have anticipated, tastes are not up for debate, the photographs you find published are intended to be a simple help in choosing colors and materials to coordinate with each other.
Massimo Gregori of Yankee Delta studio in Monza works with Marchi shipyards in Venice and Gulf Craft in the United Arab Emirates. “The professional approach to boat interior design is profoundly different depending on the different types of boats. Power boats are divided into two categories: medium-small series boats and large one-off type boats. In series boats there is a fundamental problem, which is that of production costs: containing them certainly does not mean using poor or shoddy materials. On the other hand, it cannot be left to the discretion of the individual buyer to decide whether the sofas will be upholstered in Alcantara or boar leather, whether the doors will be pear or walnut burl. In mass production, standards are a necessity: the customer can choose from several “packages” with a number of different combinations and materials, much like when buying a car. If one moves to larger yachts, built in limited series or even singoiI specimens, everything changes. The owner (and much more frequently his or her partner) relies on an interior designer who proposes designs accompanied by the indication of materials and colors. It is in this category of large yachts that the designer makes his creativity work to its fullest while simultaneously exercising diplomatic skills to reconcile the owner’s demands with aesthetics and good taste. For a Saudi nobleman’s motoryacht, we used American cherry wood and madrone burl for the furniture and walls: the ceiling and floor of the salon, on the other hand, are cream-colored to give brightness and a feeling of spaciousness. We did not use leather for the sofas, but a rich, tone-on-tone damask fabric. Artificial lighting is mixed, direct and indirect, depending on the atmosphere to be created, while natural light is shielded by double curtains.”
Recent works by Gianni De Canio from Milan include Bruno Abbate’s Primatist express cruisers. “Boats by their nature are very closed, watertight objects and therefore with little light. So the use of light-colored materials and fabrics (especially in the express cruisers) undoubtedly gives brightness to the rooms. Some tricks to give a greater feeling of space are: furniture with open compartments; vertical columns of furniture with light lacquer where horizontal planes are dark; a careful study of the architecture of the furniture to achieve an ideal form/function relationship. For the outfitting of an express cruiser, the variables involved include the type of boat, which may be more or less performance or more or less expensive, to the working methods of the shipyard. To match fabrics, it is good to keep in mind the type of boat, the colors of the yard and the shade of the furniture: generally dark furnishings are matched with light-colored fabrics. Lights are important: very often boats are poorly and poorly lit. Therefore, abundant lights in all rooms, cabinets with interior ceiling lights, and night (courtesy) marker lights with red diffusers. As for the decking, I prefer a nice maple-threaded teak dunnage rather than carpeting, although the latter, if light in tone, helps to “widen” the boat. Unfortunately, many materials are not ideal for boating as they are derived from productions designed for other industries.”
An interior designer, Manuela Maggi boasts important collaborations including participation in the outfitting of a dozen motoryachts between 40 and 60 meters. “Assuming that each designer tends to develop his or her own style, to a hypothetical client I would propose some general ideas. Light-colored woods such as ash, oak, teak, with satin finishes and simple frames would go well with a modern type of furniture and fabric choices with geometric patterns combined with solid colors of neutral graduations; I would also recommend the inclusion of a single dominant color for the environment. The use of fine woods, thus including briarwood, should be carefully considered and in any case sparingly so as not to detract from their value. The suspended ceilings will be of two different heights, of regular and modular design, using lacquered panels in neutral or white colors. Lighting will be achieved using three solutions together: insertions of silicon or fiber optic lights on the elevation jumps and sofa wainscoting for decorative purposes, ceiling spotlights to illuminate the rooms, and abat-jours to create conversation corners. For flooring, any carpeting will be high, with perimeter edging in different colors that echo the dominant hue. The galley should have a washable floor surface made of wood slats or quality plastic materials. The covered wheelhouse should be technical and minimal with lacquered, metallic, embossed and rough-touch furniture, softened by upholstered bands covered in leather or leatherette. In this case, leather upholstery for the ceilings as well.”
Tommaso Spadolini is known for designing prestigious yachts built by leading shipyards. “The trend is to use light colors for bulkhead surfaces and darker contrasts for the finishes of furniture solids: this is only for yachts built for individual owners. For serial production, the shipyard prefers to use the same wood on all surfaces, playing up the light finishes on ceilings and the upholstery material on sofas and curtains. One can then play with mirror inserts to increase depth, especially in cabins. It is traditional to use dark woods on classic or sailboats (mahogany for motoryachts, teak for sailboats). In recent years, essences of cherry and oak and in some cases teak have been used extensively for motoryachts, all high-gloss or semi-gloss. The alternative is to treat the wood essences with certain sandblasting to bring out the contrast of the grain or to insert bands of fabric or leather to be able to play with patterns on the wall surfaces. From the classic (spot) lights, there has been a shift to fiber optic lights, which allow the boat not to have classic spotlights on the ceiling, but to have uniform and much more even lighting. Traditionally, the boat has wooden decking, possibly striped, and this is a staple for marine enthusiasts. My ideal boat has natural flamed teak furnishings with matching solids and light maple ceilings with teak beams and teak/maple planked flooring. The finishes are polished steel, while the fabrics are sunny, yellow or blue, colors reminiscent of summer.”
By Marco Zerbi
Sign up for our Newsletter
Powerboats, its stories, from small open to motoryachts. Sign up now for our free newsletter and receive the best news selected by the editorial staff each week. Enter your email below, agree to the Privacy Policy and click the “sign me up” button.
Breva Marine announces its official arrival in the French Riviera, to give customers in this prestigious resort a complete package and an all-round user experience. The partnership integrates dealership, test and rental center in the port of Hyères, involving two
Welcome to the special section “BAM 35 Years.” We are presenting “cult” articles from the Motor Boats archive, starting in 1990. A journey through time among stories unobtainable today, even in the great sea of the internet! A dive into
We have been talking a lot lately about fairings (here you can find all our videos). Today we are not going on technical terms or other peculiarities, but on a simple concept, but one that is often not clear. Let’s
The new Pardo 43 was born with an important legacy to pick up. Seven years ago its predecessor had in fact been the first modern walkaround to conquer the market. Sold in 333 units, it made a major contribution to
