Fade to Black
Tankoa’s Solo arrives at the party dressed in formal wear, but ready to play.
Tankoa’s Solo arrives dressed in formal wear, but ready to party.
Like her slightly smaller sistership Suerte, the origins of the 236-foot (72-meter) Solo date back 10 years to when construction began at the Tankoa shipyard in Genoa, Italy. Francesco Paszkowski designed both yachts based on the same technical platform, and they briefly shared the same European owner. Yet, despite an obvious family resemblance, they are very different beasts with distinctive personalities.
“The original 210-foot (64-meter) yacht was designed with the market expectations of a decade ago in mind,” says Michel Karsenti, Tankoa’s sales and marketing director. “Then the financial crisis came along, and by the time the market was back on track, the design was kind of outdated. We had to bring it back up to a level that would appeal to clients, but we didn’t want to go overboard. I see a lot of designs that are spectacular when they’re launched, then a couple of years later they look a bit weird.”
Karsenti describes Solo as a modern classic, and her soberly graceful lines are pure Paszkowski. Among the designer’s most noticeable additions are cutouts
in the bulwarks and bigger windows to improve outboard visibility, but Solo’s extra length and higher volume compared to Suerte’s meant that the general arrangement also could be revised and optimized.
What was the bridge deck on Suerte, for example, is now a wide-body deck housing the owner’s suite with a forward-facing master stateroom, a Jacuzzi on the aft deck, and a pool on the private foredeck. And whereas Suerte had a modest observation nook forward of the radar mast, Solo has a sundeck with room for sofas and lounges. In addition, the conversation zone on the main deck aft has been replaced with a transverse pool.
Other features remain much the same between the sisterships, including a beach club with a hammam, sauna and gym, and terraces that fold out from the hull on both sides. The side-loading garage for two tenders abaft the engine room, and the underlower deck—with cold and dry stores, a refrigerated garbage room and a dedicated laundry—also carried over from Suerte.
The interior design aboard Solo, however, could not be more different. Whereas Suerte’s décor drew on light oak and warm teak, Solo’s is based on a much darker color palette.
“As we already had a relationship with the owner, we had a good idea of his likes and dislikes,” says
Margherita Casprini, who worked with Paszkowski on the interior design of both yachts. “But I was taken aback when he said he wanted a black interior—not dark brown or gray, but full black. It’s very difficult to make black feel inviting.”
Casprini researched wood samples and came up with a tinted oak that was stained nearly black, with slight variations in tone and a satin finish to highlight the natural grain. She combined it with high-gloss Macassar ebony treated to render the striped veining gray instead of its natural golden brown.
Once the veneers were pinned down, the designer moved on to marbles and fabrics. Antique noir, a dramatic black marble with white veining, is used for the soles in the lobby, reception areas and bathrooms; buttery cappuccino marble with bronze waves and accents provides a warmer aesthetic for the wet surfaces in the bathrooms; and white onyx appears in the master stateroom, VIP suite and backlit façades of the bar units. Soft furnishings and textiles in neutral shades of stone gray and coppery beige, combined with tan and