Take It Easy

Yacht design's focus on wellness continues, with a new generation of owners looking to breathe fresh life into once-stuffy spaces.

- Kevin Koenig

ONE OF THE most interesting superyacht previews this year was Benetti’s 148ft Motopanfilo model, which introduced the brand’s Veranda deck. The Italian builder’s unconventional design eschews the traditional main salon, instead creating a less-formal living area that’s exposed on three sides. The main-deck lounge “is a space that has fallen behind”, says Giovanna Vitelli, chair of the AzimutBenetti Group, who declares the company’s reinterpretation as “the new standardbearer of a more relaxed lifestyle”.

Benetti’s latest design concept and the smaller Oasis deck that preceded it are just two examples of how clients are looking to replace starched salons and prim dining rooms with larger, easier-living exterior spaces. This also includes a preference for fold-out rear decks, reimagined bows and balconies that extend when activated, all of which are in evidence on Bilgin’s 263ft Leona, showcasing how to design every conceivable square foot across the yacht toward enhancing the outside environment.