INTERVIEW - STEFANO PASTROVICH A TASTE Of THE FUTURE

Architect and Yacht designer

Tell us how you kept being inspired during the confinement ?

During that time I divided my work into three main tasks: 1- My contribution to the yachting community. When the Covid-19 crisis exploded in all its severity, I immediately asked myself what I could do to help. I couldn’t accept the idea of being passive in the lockdown. I’m not a doctor or a billionaire. My contribution couldn’t be scientific or philanthropic. But I could place my know-how as an architect at the service of my country. And that’s exactly what I did when I realised that when it came to the problem of obtaining medical masks, my nautical know-how and contacts could be very useful to many of the people who work in my sector. So I took an in-depth look at the details of

the Italian Government Decree on how to manufacture masks that comply with the approved specifications of the Italian National Health Institute without being Cemarked. Then I contacted around a dozen suppliers to identify those best able to meet what I considered the five essential requirements for the success of the initiative: product quality, product certification, production capacity, distribution logistics and price. An Italian company was chosen as the most suitable and what had initially been an emotional response - wanting to do my bit to help people working in the nautical and cruising world - had become reality. Now compliant washable masks that can be reused around a dozen times are available at the lowest possible price to help Italy and the rest of Europe meet the challenges of this moment. Recreational boaters, crew members, port and shipyard workers and indeed anyone working in the nautical world can now easily obtain an effective personal protective device. 2 - Keep working for the work in progress of my design company.

3 - Writing few articles inspired by the situation: I did particular like to write about the meaning of “creativity”. ( https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/world-wouldcollapse-without-creativity-stefano-pastrovich/ )

A taste of the future

Did your vision of the future of Cruises and Yachting change because of COVID19?

The COVID reinforced even more my conviction that a new era of the cruise industry is starting. The day of contact between the superyacht and the cruise industry is arriving. The new generation of the X-travellers

will finally have a place in the world at sea. If you want to know more about when I did the idea read below: During the Christmas holidays of 2008, while I was on vacation, one of my clients sent me a picture of him with a glass of champagne aboard a superyacht in Saint Barth. Then, a few days later, he sent me another photo this time from a private jet and a few hours later another from a ski resort in Courcheval, while having dinner in a splendid chalet. What’s wrong? Nothing apart of that this gentleman was not rich enough to own a yacht, an airplane or a chalet. His ten days of luxury vacation were part of a rental plan. It was at that moment that I realized how society was undergoing a radical change towards the way of experiencing luxury. A change driven above all by new cultures of emerging countries that perceived luxury in a completely different way from European and western culture. Cultures that preferred the use of goods rather than property. A change that had already taken place in the less wealthy society since the 1990s but which had not caught on to the higher level of wealth. During the 2008 crisis, I observed a sharp increase in the demand for luxury superyacht rentals against a decrease in the demand for new build. In the same period I noticed how some other luxury industries, such as private jets, luxury villas, boutique hotels, supercars, offered their goods in the form of rental rather than purchase. 2008 was therefore the beginning of the change in the relationship of society towards luxury, and above all the attitude towards the desire to experience in the world of luxury, which has always been inaccessible to a large amount of population. From 2008 the accessibility of luxury will become the main topic of discussion, research and development in my studio. During the last decade we have studied and developed different models of luxury cruise ships, from the smallest 36 passenger ones, the X-boutique cruises, to the larger ones, the X-resort cruises up to 300 passengers and finally the medium ones, the X-expedition up to 108 passengers.

‘‘ Space makes for privacy and privacy determines exclusivity.

Are those changes positive, negative or just indispensable ?

Positive because all difficulties always generate creativity and reactivity. Indispensable because since more than a decade the world of the superyacht is slow and heavy and needs to be shacked.

Can you tell us about the designing of the X-expedition cruise ?

“We’ve designed a new generation of superyachts and small cruise ships for a new generation of luxurysegment explorers. Our X-expedition is a “Protected Ship” in a class of its own: a magical safe haven from which to enjoy the world’s most beautiful landscapes in total safety, while simultaneously immersing you in an extraordinary world of its own that becomes part of its surroundings, like an island.” Technically, the Xexpedition design brings two worlds together. “Right from the first sketch, we based the design on integrating different construction techniques, leveraging the efficient modular approach of the cruise industry while combining it with the high-end techniques typical of superyachts. This enables us to achieve efficient cost management and construction times without sacrificing luxury construction detail. Each X-expedition ship is designed on modular principles using a standard cruise ship construction platform in which the cabins, windows, vertical accesses and common areas all fit together like a big jigsaw puzzle. This enables the most efficient use of space and materials while significantly reducing construction times and costs. And yet X-expedition achieves this without in any way hindering the creativity of external line and style, or of luxury attention to interior detail that distinguish a true superyacht. «In this class of ship, everything is designed around creating the experience we want the guest to live on board”. A further technical innovation of the design is its incorporation of the very latest hybrid propulsion technology, both for reduced environmental impact and to enhance the experience lived on board.

X-expedition features the first new-generation hybrid power module for the naval industry, Wärtsila HY, designed and developed by Wärtsila, and integrated in the X-expedition in partnership with Pastrovich studio. “The partnership with Wärtsila has focused on integrating the Wärtsila Hybrid system in the ship’s operating system. But the aim was to go beyond energy savings. The X-expedition ships have been designed to travel respectfully and discreetly through the most beautiful and delicate environments on earth so that guests have the opportunity to enjoy nature’s symphony of sounds undisturbed.”

The innovation thus brings a whole series of benefits:

- Zero smoke under all conditions

- Single supplier

- Green mode for zero noise, zero vibration and zero emissions

- Reduced consumption from use of motor at most efficient load points

- Lower maintenance costs due to reduced engine operation and longer Time Between Overhauls due to reduced component stresses

- Lower emissions

- increased immediately-available power.

What size is the ship ? How many passengers will it carry ?

The X-expedition design is for a ship 101 metres long with a beam of 19 metres. The modular design envisages three different configurations to suit three different markets:

- OPTIMAL CONFIGURATION for 108 guests in 48 Standard Suites, 4 Deluxe Suites and 2 Owner Suites.

- DELUXE CONFIGURATION for 84 guests in 24 Standard Suites, 16 Deluxe Suites and 2 Owner Suites.

- OWNER CONFIGURATION for 64 guests in 24 Deluxe Suites and 4 Owner Suites.

CABIN DIMENSIONS :

Standard suite: 29 sq. m (including 6.5 sq. m balcony) Deluxe suite: 58 sq. m (including 10 sq. m balcony) Owner suite: 87 sq. m (including 20 sq. m balcony) The guest/crew ratio is 1:1 in all three configurations, which only vary in terms of the personal space per passenger.

What type of clientele is your concept directed to ?

X-expedition has been designed for a new class of travellers who I calls New X-travellers. For years, there’s been a new market ready and waiting in a new generation who want to combine adventure with exclusivity and privacy. They’re travellers who find what they’re looking for in the world of boutique hotels, luxury concierge services and private jets, but are still not served by anything like that in the Cruise Industry. These adventure tourists dream of exploring the seas in the most exclusive comfort, luxury and privacy, but still haven’t found a cruise ship or superyacht able to make their dream come true. This design aims to fill that gap in the market. It’s the culmination of a long conceptual and design process that brings my vision of the voyage as adventure to life.

What living spaces have you worked the longest on ? And what detail have you payed the most attention to ?

For me a ship is beautiful when the composition of the thousand details that compose it is so well designed and integrated with each other that none of the details are visible, leaving the space light and free. In this specific project, the objective to be achieved was to make the passengers enjoy the nature that surrounds them. Nature is the protagonist and the ship is an instrument. I believe we did it. I am particularly proud of the success achieved in this project regarding the sophisticated integration between the use of commercial construction methods that belong to the cruise industry with the details of the luxury of the superyacht sector. Cost and time savings without sacrificing beauty. To make something beautiful that didn’t have to be born for that.

Is X-expedition cruise the future of luxury cruises ?

X-expedition cruise is the future cruise model for the X-travellers. For sure Owners will be attracted by the possibility to offer to their passengers a cruise experience much closer to a private superyacht, however with this project the term Experience become the real reason of travelling, in all his aspects, from visual to touch and sound. We focused our design to work together with our 5 senses to be able to increase the experience. Human emotions flourish again such as silence and meditation, the taste of eating and the taste of waiting. Perceptions and feelings that for many years I have tried to preserve in the design of my boats.