Excellent seafaring qualities, performance and attention to detail. This creation from Christian Grande is really interesting. With two Volvo Penta IPS 650s, it does over thirty knots
by Niccolò Volpati – photo by Andrea Muscatello
Something immediately sets the tone on board the TT460: the windscreen. It is impossible to ignore, it is the first thing that jumps out at you when you look at it, even from some distance. It is decisive in terms of looks, but also of function. Aesthetics are a question of taste – and I liked it. The lines work well in continuation with the deckhouse, and so the glass and the T-Top are a kind of natural extension of the deckhouse. And, although it is bulky, in the sense that it is something you notice, it doesn’t weigh down the structure.
The sides are very high above the water and thus hide the fairly pronounced deckhouse which gives more room below decks. But it is not just the aesthetics that are to be appreciated. Christian Grande, I would say, is the best representation of aesthetics with functionality. And the windscreen of this new model is only one of many signs of that. It provides complete protection and contributes to giving a feeling of safety when underway since you don’t feel the speed. There is a useful small window in the central section, above the windscreen glass, which can be opened to let a bit of air through.
The windscreen protects the deck very well, so the boat can be used even in winter in difficult conditions. But there is also a huge sun area, one that extends from
stern to bow.
The superstructure is so well sealed that it is used to get the air circulating amidships, especially when you are at anchor. The good feeling you get at the helm doesn’t just come from the protection provided by the windscreen and T-Top, but also from the nearly complete lack of vibration. There is some noise, and the engines aren’t completely silent, and perhaps more could have been done to soundproof the engine room, but what you don’t notice at all are vibrations. And you never notice them, at any speed, not even when you are bouncing on the bow waves from passing ships. It is a boat that has been built for solidity, strength and safety when underway. And that is the essence of the design: shape and substance, aesthetics and functionality. There is no doubt as to how manoeuvrable it is: it has two IPS in the stern that ensure that it moves around excellently. But they never feel excessive.
You can turn tightly, but never nervously or excitedly. The boat is manageable and safe at the same time, the water lines of the hull mean that you can bring those two qualities together. You get the same feeling when you go over bow waves. The hull is fairly solid, in the good sense of the term, and on waves, it feels a bit like an icebreaker: it goes up to them and breaks them. The TT460 gives the impression that it never suffers from the moderate sea and doesn’t even lose its agility.
The only drawback of the significant degree of protection provided by the windscreen is in terms of visibility. Not looking forward, since the glass is a single pane, without supports or anything to block the view, but more on the side. The fibreglass and stainless-steel support on the sides that hold up the windscreen and T-Top without there being the smallest vibration are sizeable, and so the view is necessarily a bit restricted. The IPS are the 650 models, with D6 engines each developing 480 horsepower and that seems about the right amount of power to me. And here too we see that they deliver a well-balanced performance. The boat is fun and reacts well. We just needed seven seconds to start planning, and the GPS equipment showed a top speed of 31.3 knots.
The interiors are light and well organised. The bow cabin has got good headroom since the deckhouse is fairly high, but the stern cabin is also a room that is comfortable and has been well designed.
The boat certainly isn’t small, but it gives the feeling that Christian Grande was in no need to waste centimetres. They have optimised volumes and equipment to obtain maximum comfort and liveability. There is a feeling that every element and its location is the product of research, and isn’t just put there by chance.
It doesn’t use much fuel. At planning minimum, going less than seventeen knots, it required ninety litres an hour in total, while at 31 knots top speed it was using 182. At twenty knots we needed a hundred litres an hour, and at 25 knots that figure was around 140. These are not high figures, especially since it is a boat that is 14.27 metres long overall, with a beam of 4.43 and displaces nearly fifteen tonnes unladen.
The excellence of the water lines is confirmed by the figures for litres per nautical mile: from eleven knots at 2000 rpm up to 31.3 knots at 3550 rpm, the number of litres used per mile go from 5.3 to 5.8. Fuel usage is practically constant at any speed, even for speeds before planning. And when consumption levels are so constant, that means that the hull is working well at any speed.
On deck, the set-up, design and solutions are typical of Invictus. There are two sun pads, one of them on the deckhouse in the bow and the other in the stern just before the bathing platform. Two is probably enough, but without much effort, you can get a third sun pad: the cockpit houses two convertible sofas, and the two tables sit on an extendable pole. If you lower it down to the level of the sofas and add the cushions, the cockpit also becomes a sun area. With the bow, stern and cockpit, practically the entire deck area can be used as a sun pad. However, the designer did think about ensuring that you can get around onboard. The gangways are wide and easy to use and to get from one end of the cockpit to the other a kind of corridor has been created between the two helm seats and the bar cabinet. So basically, whereas normally the mobile bar is located at the back of the driving seats, that hasn’t been done on the TT460, which instead has them half a metre further aft. That means a comfortable passage has been left to move from port to starboard and the other way round.
The other solution that brings together looks and functionality involves the grab handles. Christian Grande had already done this on other models for the yard, and he’s done it again here. There are grab handles all over the place, from deep in the bows up to the stern platform, and not just close to the beach deck but actually on its sides. The advantage is that wherever you may find yourself on the boat, even if you have just got out of the water, you always have a handhold to grab on to. But you can’t see that from outside, because they run along within the sides. The set-up of the interiors is in line with the rest of the boat and follows the same approach. The choices that I most appreciated were having a single large bathroom, with a separate shower cubicle, and the height of the two cabins, both the one in the bow and that in the stern, despite the fact it is underneath the cockpit. The beds are a metre wide, so very comfortable. And then there is no lack of wardrobes and cabinets for a very comfortable cruise for four people.
In the stern, again thanks to the IPS transmissions which don’t take up much room, there
is a garage
for a two-and-a-half metre tender.
Engine room
Two IPS engines and 960 horsepower in total produce the right amount of power: neither too much nor too little. Fuel consumption isn’t high at all and the performance level is more than enough.
INVICTUS YACHT (ASCHENEZ)
Via Donnici, 28
I-88021 Borgia (CZ)
T. +39 0961 020388
[email protected]
www.invictusyacht.com
PROJECT
Christian Grande
HULL
LOA 14.27m • Maximum beam 4.43m • Displacement 14,800 kg • Fuel tank volume 1,300 l • Water tank volume 330 l
MAIN PROPULSION
2x Volvo Penta D6 IPS 650 • Outlet mechanical power 353 kW (480 hp) • 6 cylinders • Swept volume 5.5 l • Gear ratio 1.85:1 • Maximal rotational speed 3700/min • Weight 920 kg
EC CERTIFICATION
CAT B – 14 people
PRICE
753,000 €, Excl. VAT – as standard with 2 x Volvo Penta IPS 650 (April 2022)
(Invictus TT460, beyond the design – Barchemagazine.com – April 2022)
