PROGETTO BOLIDE
The yacht of the future: courtesy of Fabio Mazzeo of Exclusiva Design
The yacht of the future
If the mountain doesn’t come to Mahomet, then Mahomet must go to the mountain. Bolide’s story goes a little like that. Rather than a yard seeking out for a designer for a new concept, in her case it was the designer went looking for a yard to turn his dream into reality. Fabio Mazzeo, designer and co-owner with CEO Vito Taddei of Exclusiva Design, had been toying with the idea of designing a yacht for a while. After penning many diffferent offices, headquarters and extraordinary residences scattered hither and yon, he wanted to diversify and found himself fascinated by the yachting world.
His choice of yard eventually fell on Tankoa. «The approach, flexibility and competency we found in Tankoa are unique,” explains Mazzeo. “The yard doesn’t chase big numbers but focuses on quality and its own passion. That is why we immediately felt it would be the perfect partner for Project Bolide,” he concludes. The Tankoa 72-metre platform was already a reality at the Sestri Ponente yard so it is easy to see why this marriage produced such a seductive design. When the steel and aluminium beauty builds, she will also have a good beam of 12 as well as four decks. That said, the design is so clever it actually looks more like a tri-deck.
It sprang from Fabio Mazzeo’s desire to create something genuinely unique that would go well beyond the traditional yacht concept and be inspired, in part at least, by futurism.
“Decoration isn’t an accessory but an essential part of design”
Metaphorically speaking, Progetto Bolide is inspired by power, speed and the allure of falling stars, but also most definitely plays with the idea of a speed and elegance of a bullet. The project centres around three key factors.
The first of these is large glazed surfaces which, once again thanks to some very clever design work, effortlessly meld with the steel of the hull and cover a truly astonishing 500-plus square metres.
The second of the key factors in the design is the functionality of the interior spaces which deliver a very high standard of privacy.
«At dinner one night, a client of mine started talking about the yachts he used to charter and told me that even on larger craft it was impossible to find somewhere to just have a bit of peace without seeing his guests,” says Mazzeo. “That’s why I created these traffic flows aboard Bolide that guarantee the owner almost complete privacy.” It’s hardly surprising therefore that the owner’s quarters have a very strong penthouse vibe. Spread over both fly and sun decks, they include the master stateroom, bathroom, private gym, spa, dressing room, terrace and exclusive Jacuzzi. Significantly, the owner’s quarters can be reached via a specially designed walkway that does not pass through areas of the yacht frequented by the other guests.
The third point is the impressive interaction between exteriors and interiors which,because they come from the same pen, exist in perfect harmony. But what is really fascinating about this yacht is the versatility and transformability of the spaces cover a massive 600 square metres