FROM A COLLABORATION STARTED 4 YEARS AGO, TODAY THE NEW AMER YACHTS PROJECTS DESIGNED BY OPTIMA DESIGN HAVE BEEN presented BOTH FOR THE STEEL-ALUMINIUM AND FIBERGLASS LINE.
The Steel line has positioned the Ligurian shipyard Amer Yachts in the highest range of the superyacht market, trespassing into an area that for many yards is considered ‘off-limits’ or ‘danger zone’. Not only limited by size or ability to build, but because it belongs to a different kind of market with specific processes that include and require a specific management and strict cost control. Many shipyards are voluntarily not active in the steel sector and are reluctant to this market because it is too difficult. It means moving from serial models towards entirely tailor-made projects, especially when steel refers to a vessel over 70 meters, exactly the one under construction at Amer Yachts.
At the helm of the Amerio family’s shipyard Permare – building boats since 1973 – we find Barbara Amerio, a woman born and raised in yachting, who has made sustainability the main theme of the shipyard’s development, which over the years has built over 100 yachts, standing out in the market for its natural inclination to encourage development and research, promote innovation in design and above all to raise awareness among future designers towards a union between design and environmental respect.
With the steel line, the shipyard has turned its own rules by introducing a new, completely different product line, whose development is committeted to the team of Optima Design, led by the architect Antonio Luxardo. A name that brings a wealth of nautical knowledge like few others, specific to both serial and custom projects. After spending 17 years at the helm of the design studio ProShip, since 2014 he has been working with the Optima Design studio in La Spezia, together with Michele Zignego and their team of 30 professionals, operating in naval architecture, engineering and exterior and interior design.
About this important collaboration with Amer Yachts, Luxardo said “it was very interesting to discuss with the Amerio family the reason why the steel line was born and how to cope with this challenge, which many shipyards see as a dream but at high cost and risk”. In this regard, in one of our conversations with Barbara Amerio, during the September boat shows, she told us that the decision to enter this segment was not taken lightly, because in fact the business risk is much higher and require great care.
Some questions are certainly inevitable now, so we asked Barbara Amerio for a comment on their future in steel, today some time after their announcement about the new 74-metre yacht, currently under construction.
Superyacht Digest: “What kind of analysis and considerations have you made until today?”
Barbara Amerio said: “The steel segment requires a dedicated team of experts and high professional skilled people, in addition to a different supply chain. What we would like to plan is creating a stable, reliable and long lasting division, integrating Optima Design for its development. Our project includes collaborations with local universities to help young engineers and naval architects improve their experience in yachting”.
SD: “What is the main difference between being on the market with serial models and totally custom projects?”
BA: “It means adopting an approach to the project and the client that incorporates a significant ability to be flexible, dynamic and ready to promptly come up with technical and creative solutions.
A custom project aims at being unique and made-to-measure, only in this way can we offer the client an authentic brand and yacht design experience. Clients in this segment show a greater need for sophisticated choices, they ask for more, not only in terms of luxury and design, but they also ask for a product that, once built, is capable of keeping high its value on the second market. And this is partly achieved if you work to build projects that have timeless characteristics, capable of lasting also in terms of taste and trends and which always express their rarity. Amer has an added value in its offer, the winning ace lies in being not only a made in Italy product, but made in family”.
Amer Yachts has been working with Optima Design for 4 years now and together they have brought the new Amer steel line to the market, which includes steel and aluminum yachts from 40 meters to 74 metres, traditional and explorers. Currently under construction there are a 70m+ and a 50m yachts. The collaboration has now also been extended to the fiberglass line.
“For Amer Yachts, we have redesigned the new F106’ and F126’ models, as well as a full aluminium, the L146’. Our experience with the Amerio family is very important to us at Optima Design. The founder, Mr. Fernando Amerio (now 85 and still super-active in the company) is very attentive to the sea and its restless dynamics, those known and those unpredictable. The shipyard has in its philosophy a respect for the sea that belongs to few in the sector. This passion and love have also been carefully passed on to his daughter Barbara and her son Dodo, CEO and COO respectively.
Luxardo added that “This approach is not limited to the good intentions or felt as an abstract dimension but concretely expressed in actions and in those details that then make the uniqueness of their yachts, literally developed together, at 4, 6 and even 8 hands”.
“Our collaboration with Amer is very stimulating because in the development of a new design we can rely on their great technical but also sales experience, which helps us a lot to define the scope of the project, conceived from scratch and transformed into a real proposal to the client. From that moment the design process begins, we start operating like technicians, one of our groups of experts works directly inside the yard, keeping an eye on the construction every day to respect the executive project according to the real production needs. This experience is truly significant for Optima Design and we fully appreciate the Amerio family for placing so much trust in us”.
Luxardo explains that architects and designers often fall into the temptation of putting themselves at the center of the project, ending up offering the client a project that is however the result of their own point of view. “This is what we try not to do, what remains of us at the center of the project is the technical and construction experience, ours and that of the shipyard’s team. The client remains the beating heart of the entire operation, together with the philosophy of the brand.
The needs of the new owner must be fully understood and expressed in a project. If it is a custom design, for us this becomes a real custom approach. Then there is another type of product, which is the serial market, which must meet the consensus of a large range of different clients, who are however very similar to each other in needs and taste. This is also a challenge, because with just one project you have to please many, but we are trained for this too”. The yacht design sector is a very niche, there are those studios that have been designing boats for millennials, and those just specialised but already active. So we can define the sector as a really competitive field. But on which strengths can Optima Design base its experience?
Luxardo explains that “having spent a lot of time abroad is not a detail, for us it meant broadening our minds by necessity, getting to know new visions and philosophies of thought, coming into contact with different cultures. It was useful for us to conceive and develop new projects based on true interpretations and knowledge of the market. This is why our products are unique ideas”.
Talking about the Amer F106 and F126 projects, beyond their profiles and their design, they are also innovative due to the material with which they are built. “Yes, they are built with a hull in fiberglass and an enriched basalt fiber – a sustainable and recyclable material-, ecological resins and core material in recycled PET. These materials are also produced in a sustainable way and, regarding the aluminum superstructure, this is also recyclable”.
Consumption and emission – The new models developed by Optima Design have a high-performance hull, to reduce consumption and emission, and are equipped with Volvo Penta IPS, solutions that allow energy saving and zero impact on the environment.
In terms of design, the models preserve and remark the stylistic features of the brand, re-interpreting them and making them evolve, while remaining in the same original size, i.e. a full beam width, which allows for a salon with dimensions typical of larger yachts.
“The exteriors feature very elegant floor-to-ceiling windows in the entrance area of the salon, offering maximum brightness and increasing the visual relationship with the external environment”, explains Luxardo. The exteriors are today crucial in the sale of a yacht. Luxardo confirms that “the exteriors are key in the sales phase, they are an important leverage that must be well conceived to be competitive”.
“Starting from the stern, the external spaces play on the sunbathing area which can count on opening doors capable of increasing the living areas outside in direct contact with the sea. The sofa is a design piece due to its elegant shape but also a functional element in an area which, according to the lifestyle trends of the new young owners, or families, represent the place where most time is spent”.
its elegant shape but also a functional element in an area which, according to the lifestyle trends of the new young owners, or families, represents the place where most time is spent”.
The side stairs connecting to the flybridge allow a harmonious experience of the yacht: while still remaining outside you can go from stern to bow, without having to cross the inside spaces. The sunbathing area at bow is a true oasis of peace, characterized by an elegant design whose soft lines of the furnishings interact harmoniously with the structure, giving the environment a certain exclusivity. Centrally the sundeck is covered by a hard top, while at aft the generous living louge offer more possibilities for relax and convivial moments.
The wheelhouse has been designed with reverse glass for better visibility and greater protection from the sun’s rays, but also to prevent overheating.
Regarding the interiors, Luxardo explains that “the main deck offers a full-beam salon, with the possibility of having two side terraces amidships, a full-beam owner’s cabin, and the galley to port. On the lower deck, the layout includes 4 guest cabins and the crew area. The garage is located at stern and can accomodate a 4,7m tender.
The Amer 96 Sanremo, on the other hand, is a completely different yacht, a sport boat, with a dynamic and captivating design, high-performance and fast, powered by 3 IPS engines. About this new model, Luxardo explains that it has an athletic physique and a sporting soul. “The hull is made of fiberglass while the superstructure is made of aluminium. It has a salon and 4 cabins located on the main deck, a large sofa area at bow and a generous sundeck. Also on this boat the sofa area is located at the stern, in direct contact with the sea and is connected to the stern cockpit. Two staircases connect it directly to an important 10-metre long sundeck, equipped with sunbathing areas, dinette and wheelhouse. We haven’t forgotten anything! ∎