Massimo Perotti presents a new kind of boat. The SX88 is a happy blend between the classic motoryacht with a fly-bridge and an Explorer. The outside lines are by Mauro Micheli and Sergio Beretta of Officina Italiana Design; the interiors are by Piero Lissoni
by Francesco Michienzi, photo by Andrea Muscatello and ©Guillaume Plisson
Massimo Perotti, president and managing director of Cantieri Sanlorenzo, has been named a Knight of the Order for Labour by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella. He said: «I am indeed honoured to receive this unexpected award, which is a good sign for the Italian yachting sector, where my company operates. The boating field has suffered a lot in these years of crisis. This recognition is also the sign of the return of calm in an important part of Italian manufacturing, with a high percentage of output destined for export».
Massimo Perotti
Perotti has had a brilliant career, with over thirty years’ experience in boating. In over half a century his yard has built over 600 yachts, each of them different, and it currently turns over around 300 million Euros. Massimo Perotti’s entrepreneurial style is marked by innovation. He is a very curious person who, as well as generating ideas, puts them into practice. There are not many innovations in the motor yachting world, which change the course of history and the perception of the things that are done. The way of experiencing a boat, and of being an owner is the starting point of every new project.
Piero Lissoni
To put it into practice, courage and a vision of the future is needed. Massimo Perotti has foreseen how the world of pleasure boating will change in the next few years and has tried to give a new response with a new kind of motoryacht. It is neither a displacement, nor a planing boat, but rather a kind of marine crossover. An 88-foot motoryacht that displays the excellent scientific and technological capacity existing in Italy. It is a clear message that the shipyard wants to give to the world, that with the creative and innovative capacity of top-level engineers, designers and technicians it is possible to innovate to make life at sea safer, and more comfortable. The Sanlorenzo SX88 boasts an advanced building process.
The hull is in fibreglass and the superstructure is in carbon fibre. The concept was created by Sanlorenzo’s own team, which – led by Luca Santella – carried through the project. The hull means that a wide range of speeds can be maintained, up to 23 knots. There is also great usage flexibility, from displacement to fast displacement. The waterlines have been designed by Lou Codega, an American designer and a great specialist in fast and ocean fishing boats. Thanks to three Volvo Penta engines and IPS 1200 transmission, the boat will use very little diesel, have low noise levels and no vibration. Science, both theoretical and applied, is always looking for new things, and these new things change our way of living.
Mauro Micheli and Sergio Beretta
Starting right from basic research and then going through industrial applications, but also from simply doing something and by a direct knowledge of materials and procedures, Sanlorenzo has created a product which can admirably calibrate the always complex and often unresolved relationship between aesthetics and functionality. Mauro Micheli and Sergio Beretta of Officina Italiana Design drew up the external lines. The mission was to design a new boat that contained some elements that were typical of the brand’s family feeling. The result is really excellent. The boat has a high bow and its line lowers towards the stern, thus distributing the bulk and giving it a reassuring look, one of being able to cope with any eventuality.
The yacht bases its functional and aesthetic characteristics on the preponderance of large open spaces and large windows that ensure an effective and excellent link between inside and out. The superstructure features very large windows and has a dark hue to reduce how large it looks and to integrate harmoniously the emptiness of the windows with the fullness of the structure.
Piero Lissoni has designed the interior décor starting from the fundamental concept of creating an open-space boat. He has created a single living area, continuous from stern to bow, with an open-plan galley, next to the dining area, followed by the living room, without needing to solve issues of linking interior and exterior, because of the large windows which look out onto the sea. Lissoni said: «I continue to think of boats, even very large ones, as if they were lofts, so very large open spaces with great liveability and most of all allowing you to be in contact with what surrounds you».
(Sanlorenzo SX88, an all-round challenge. The word to Massimo Perotti – Barchemagazine.com – August 2017)
