Benetti Launches Second 100m Superyacht of the Season

On Tuesday, Italian shipyard Benetti successfully launched FB272, the second vessel to demonstrate its jaw-dropping new 100m+ yacht building capabilities. Less than two months after their launch of superyacht FB277, the second of the three "giga" yachts to be revealed has an entirely unique profile and impressive dimensions made to the owner's designs.

FB272 has been built to the unique taste of a very experienced owner of luxury yachts. FB272 has a displacement of above 5,500 GT, a length of about 100 meters and a beam of 17 meters. The yacht is fitted with a pioneering hybrid propulsion system with diesel-electric engines and two Azipods propulsion units connected to a special battery pack conceived and provided by the owner for total vibration-free navigation in absolute silence.

Prior to going to contract, the owner spent significant time in the development of the exterior design, initially with Hugo van Wieringen from Azure Naval Architects and then with the assistance of Raymond Langton Design and Zaniz Jakubowski of Zaniz Interiors. The exterior design was refined post contract with the assistance of Benetti’s in-house designer, Giorgio Cassetta, supporting Zaniz Interiors who took over responsibility for both the exterior and interior design of the yacht.

The superyacht's impressive dimensions offer a new sense of proportion and demonstrate the scope of the Italian shipyard's imagination and build capacity. She features an advanced Lutron domotic system - approximately 500 kilometres of cable run across her hull and superstructure. Despite this hi-tech soul, she provides masses of connection with the outside world: the huge windows with 3 meters height offer an incredibly extensive glazing which floods the interior with light, thanks to the incredible expanse of 800 square meters of windows.

FB272’s exterior lines, which include six decks, were created by the owner, Raymond Langton Design and Zaniz Jakubowski and further developed by Benetti into a buildable 3D model. A straight bow offers brilliant seakeeping credentials, while a huge forward deck area brings guests a thrilling vantage point from which to cruise and relax. The yacht is made of steel with an aluminium superstructure built to comply with the PYC (Passenger Yacht Code).

The main deck offers further dining and social spaces, sheltered and shaded by the graceful overhang of the beautifully styled superstructure. Above this is the wheelhouse and above again is a charming, private deck leading towards the helicopter pad - fully certificated by a recognized aviation agency – equipped with fuelling/de-fuelling station.

High swathes of glass wrap the main decks, with the hull featuring a long horizontal strip of glazing from mid ship to stern. Windows on the upper decks are entirely uninterrupted by structure, giving each deck a floating appearance.

Interior design for the guest areas and crew spaces were conceived and developed by Zaniz Jakubowski of Zaniz Interiors. She also provided her unique artistic expertise in luxury yacht designing to develop a wonderful exterior décor fulfilling the owner’s brief. Known for conceiving spaces that work in synchronicity with their surroundings, this sought-after designer has put her iconic stamp on FB272.

The generation/propulsion package is obtained by 6 generators of approximately 1,000 KW each. The electricity produced by those generators is managed electronically, by a sophisticated fully integrated power management system, to feed the consumption of the services on board and the electric motors of two Azipods of 2,200 KW each. The spare electricity is also used to charge 35 tons of batteries which can operate the yacht for 12 hours with no engine running.

This propulsion package is the state of the art of technology today, made by top names such as Caterpillar, Seastema, ABB, under the coordination of Benetti Technical Department. The advantage of this system is a vibration-free navigation in total silence: with such stable and soundless cruising, guests might hardly realize they are underway.

The air conditioning system and chiller units –which were based on the owner’s specific requirements and supplied by H&H- are one of the biggest ever installed inside a yacht of this size with a total cooling capacity of approximately 3,000KW. The yacht is equipped with a waste heat recovery system conceived by the owner that saves electricity in line with the latest green environment requirements.

Yesterday Azimut Benetti’s President Paolo Vitelli declared, “On this auspicious day, I could not be prouder to stand here among Benetti’s family, friends and colleagues to witness the launch of our latest enthralling creation. This iconic project has had a huge impact on local industry and, after more than 2 million hours of skilled work from over 100 suppliers, we can truly pronounce her as a wonderful achievement for Livorno and the “Made In Italy” ethos as a whole. The use of such a large number of suppliers is integral to the Benetti superyacht building philosophy: the perfect balance between the best “Made in Italy” craftsmanship with the most advanced technological and innovative solutions available on the international market.

The "Giga Yacht Season" is the result of massive investment in the shipyard - an ambitious business plan has prompted financial input of relevant investment in infrastructure, organisation, safety and security, to overcome the challenges presented by building such giga yachts.

The development by Benetti of the Giga Yacht Construction Programme has also required the creation of a very large special team of experts in this specific type of project and the adoption of the most advanced industrial processes in order to guarantee the top-quality level expected for this kind of products. Expansion at the Livorno shipyard, in the form of two new generation steel structure sheds, has enabled Benetti to massively increase its productivity. Benetti is one of the very few yards in the world with the capacity and capabilities to build yachts over 100 meters long.