CH-CH-CHANGES
BENETTI’S NEW 121-foot fiberglass Motopanfilo 37M premiered at the Cannes Yachting Festival before making its way across the Atlantic to the Fort Lauderdale show. The design brief for this modern interpretation of the 1960s classic motor yacht was clear: Get back to the roots of the “Panfilo” series, as American owners called it, and instill the Italian elegance then favored by owners like Monaco’s Prince Rainier and David Bowie.
We toured the 2021 Motopanfilo at Cannes with Claudio Lazzarini, one half of the Rome-based Lazzarini Pickering Architetti, responsible for the interior design. “Benetti insisted this shouldn’t become a nostalgic exercise that just reproduced past concepts,” Lazzarini said. “Instead, we were tasked with reinventing the genre by breathing new life into old designs.”
The veteran architectural firm created a sense of airiness and volume typically found on larger yachts, with dominant elements including curved, bone-white beams that extend from the floor and across the ceilings. These are most prominent in the salon, where Lazzarini likened them to the ribs of a whale. When combined with mirrored surfaces and expansive windows, they evoke an instant connection to the sea.
The use of wood is one traditional motif that the designers put to unexpected use, cladding not only the floor in teak but the ceilings as well. The soft furnishings continue the subdued palette of materials and colors: The team offset Loro Piana fabrics, with names like Connemara and Papeete, in warm white Biancore tones against blue-and-malachite accents to conjure up a ’60s nautical sensibility. Alcoves in the walls between the ribs are shaped like portholes and display decorative artwork.
The owner’s suite is situated on the main deck in front of the salon and the four guest staterooms are on the lower deck. On the upper deck is a smaller salon and pilothouse with an open skydeck; on the top level is the highly inventive observation deck, a glassed-in nook with a sunbed providing crow’s-nest views.
Even with its retro elements, Francesco Struglia’s soft-lined exterior feels contemporary, with a vertical bow and slanted transom featuring a fold-down beach club with what the designer describes as a “clamshell silhouette,” a dramatic flourish of which David Bowie, we feel, would surely have approved.