Ugly? No, brilliant. The perfect superyacht designer’s boat

Bruttino is the boat of superyacht designer Espen Øino. Of course, the name does not leave room for much thought. But if you go beyond the name and appearance, things are different. Excerpted from Matteo Zaccagnino ‘s article in Motor Boats No. 33.

Who is Espen Øino, the superyacht designer

Over the past 25 years, floating architectures have emerged from Øino’s pencil. Octopus, the 126-meter built by Lurssen, the85-meter Wanderlust by Silver Yachts, and again REV Ocean, which, at 183 meters long, will be the moment she touches the water
the world’s largest yacht
.

In short, Øino is someone who deals with megayachts on a daily basis and works a lot with shipyards. Imagining his boat, therefore, leads us to think of something large. It doesn’t. His boat, which he designed himself and with which he spends his free time together with his family has an approach that is the opposite. Starting with the name: his name is Bruttino.

“In a sense,” Øino says, “it is the antithesis of what we normally deal with in the studio. I liked the idea of being able to go back to basics and think about what you really need to have and what you don’t need on board a boat.”

Something similar to Land Rover’s old Defender. Not surprisingly, Øino has one in his garage.

“It was an important source of inspiration. Somehow I wanted to transfer that concept to a boat. Hence the idea of a design composed of a few well-defined marks. The shape I envisioned had to convey a sense of sturdiness and reliability.”

Com a Land Rover Defender of the water

And the references to the Defender are not lacking and are accentuated by the muscular profile and the presence of certain elements such as the side ladders whose design is reminiscent of that found on famous off-road vehicles. A success also from the point of view of design, which in the case of the Defender won the challenge against time.

And, speaking of time, today we live in an age increasingly dominated by technology in all its forms and forms of use. On this front, too, Øino was clear from the start.

“Everything is becoming, thanks in part to technology, more and more sophisticated and complex, even that which, on the surface, appears simple. Hence the decision to want to simplify every aspect of the boat as much as possible,” comments Øino “reducing on-board functions especially those that depend on electronics to the essentials, instead favoring all solutions that can be managed manually and mechanically. The boat for me has to be like my Defender. You have to be sure that it starts the first time even when you haven’t used it for a long time.”

A catamaran with outboards. And off on a cruise

A vision shared with Ben Mennem who was also, like Espen Øino, looking for something that really met his needs. And so here was the decision to focus on Vandal Explorer, the shipyard of which Mennem himself is co-founder and from which, last year, both his boat and the one intended for the Norwegian designer came out. The ship platform, complete with foil, from which the development of the project started is the work of Scott Jutson.

“A real discovery because,” Øino continued , “for the first time I was confronted with a planing catamaran concept with asymmetric hulls and foils.”

Jutson is considered one of the foremost experts in the field, and on his side he has long experience in designing fast multihulls intended primarily for commercial use or as workboats. Every step was taken without omitting anything. Starting with the willingness to use recycled aluminum for construction for various reasons. Sustainability and pliability, without excessive constraints in making changes, and lightness.

Translated, this means lower consumption and higher efficiency. Added to this is the decision to focus on the catamaran as a configuration, which, combined with the presence of a passive foil, ensured a further reduction in fuel consumption, greater stability and thus improved living comfort on board. Not to mention the greater surface area available, compared to a traditional boat of the same length, to allocate to rooms.

The difficulties of a small boat

“In designing a small boat,” Øino adds. “the biggest difficulty is related to optimizing space. Unlike on a megayacht where the issue is not so much the square meters available but the cost involved in having to furnish and fill them. Hence the decision not to have any air conditioning system on board Bruttino, preferring instead a solution that aimed to make natural ventilation as efficient as possible.”.

By the same logic, the propulsion chosen by Øino could only fall on an outboard engine without sacrificing additional engine room space with the advantage of keeping weight down and much easier maintenance.

Øino’s cruises

But from theory to practice, how did the first experience aboard Bruttino go?

“Last summer I spent more than 150 hours at the helm sailing between Capri, Naples and the Amalfi Coast,” says Øino “It was a very rewarding experience because I was able to appreciate the goodness of this design. In terms of performance and comfort, I was favorably impressed especially on the return trip to Monte Carlo when in rough sea conditions the boat performed beautifully. This experience proved that simplicity always pays off.”

The perfect catamaran: why Bruttino?

Yes, but in all of this the question related to the name remains open.

“Thanks to Sabrina, my wife.” laughs Øino “As soon as he saw her, that was the first word he said. One could imagine. Then, after the cruise, she and the children were thrilled.” Just as a designer’s ideas, imagination and creativity have no boundaries, similarly the dreams in Espen Øino’s drawer know no limits.

“One day,” concludes the designer “I would like to make a cruise along the coast of Norway. In that sense I already have in mind a new version of Bruttino, a little bit bigger and equipped with hybrid or electric propulsion.”

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