They say good things come in little packages and this is certainly the case with Serenissima 1, but to call the yacht little is not doing her justice. The 47-meter yacht is designed to be compact, packing in all of the luxury, versatility, range and capability of a 60-meter yacht.
With her size and sub-500GT package, Serenissima 1 is ideal for the Mediterranean. The steel and aluminum yacht – built at the Mengi Yay shipyard in Turkey and designed by renowned Venetian design studio Nuvolari-Lenard – made her world debut at the 2024 Monaco Boat Show.
Naval architect Carlo Nuvolari, co-founder of Nuvolari-Lenard, reveals the yacht’s design secrets and what makes her so special.
Congratulations on the world debut of Serenissima 1. Please tell us about the inspiration behind the yacht’s design and that makes is so unique.
Carlo Nuvolari: Serenissima I was designed for an experienced owner who wanted to condensate the experience of a larger boat in a smaller, 500 GT boat. A bigger 60-65 meter boat typically has large side passages, a huge foredeck and clean spaces, and we’ve brought some of those features on this 47 meter boat, such as the clean foredeck and the upper deck which you can enclose with glass. The privacy of the owner’s stateroom, which is located on upper deck, it not normal on a 500 GT boat. It has a private lounge outside with a glass veranda which you can open and close – this allows you to use the space also off season or when it’s chilly. It’s like a greenhouse, which is a nice feature on a boat.
How else does Serenissima 1 differ from other yachts of this size?
Traditionally on a boat of this size, the owner’s cabin is on main deck forward. But after experience of a larger boat, the owner wanted more privacy and no noise when the cew anchor. One of the things that you experience on a boat in the morning when they lift the anchor, your cabin on a 50 meter is normally right behind the anchor, which is not good for noise. We wanted to move the owner to the upper deck and down below, there is a garage and what we call a ‘relaxed room’.
What are is favorite features on board?
The ‘relaxed room’, which is a private space with a balcony. Its only purpose is to offer to the owner or to the guest a real, private place. On yachts which have two salons – the main salon on the main deck and the upper salon – you can’t have real privacy because there is a flow of people. This lounge is in a dead end and there’s only one door, so once you lock it, you have your privacy. This is very appreciated by people because if you have guests or a noisy family, what do you do? Close yourself in your bedroom? This is like your private studio, but it’s not for work. It’s just for relaxing. It also has a wine cellar and cigar room.
How do you approach a new project like this?
If it is a custom project, we need to look the owner in the eyes and get to know them, because the boat must whatever must reflect their personality somehow. We talk to them and look at how they live, their lifestyle and their personality, so we can understand what should be the right boat for them. If you receive a brief on a piece of paper, there’s no way you can do a successful design. You could do a nice design, but this is a nice design for you, but certainly not for him. You wouldn’t do your house that way, so why you should do your yacht that way?
What are the values of the Nuvolari Lenard studio?
The signature is the success and the appreciation from people. All of our designs are unique. We don’t repeat ourselves or don’t copy and paste our designs. The value of the studio is to be creative every time. The best project, if you ask me, is always the next one. Yes, we look back to the history of yachting, but if you want to do something good, you have to look forward.
What do you think is in the future for yachting?
I saw, unfortunately, in yachting, a trend which is ‘real estate-ing’ – the demand in certain parts of the market is for ‘volume, volume, volume’, with no concern of the marine properties. But the recent happenings tells us that sea is hard and can always win, so we have to never forget that we are building boats, not houses. The design trend is for more outdoor living, so more spaces such as verandas that we can open and close spaces. This is a trend because people want to enjoy the outside and shelter from the sun. The majority of people like the sun, but they know that can be harmful for your health, so they want protected, sheltered areas.