Seanna

The sea trial was pubblished on Superyacht 32 – spring 2012

Seanna hit the water in 2011. She’s from Benetti’s custom yacht line, with her 65 metres loa she’s proud to boast the prestigious names of those who conceived her: Stefano Natucci, Redman Whiteley Dixon, and Susan Young Design.

She’s almost twin sister to Silver Angel from Benetti yard in Leghorn and launched June last. At first sight she’s exactly like her sister with whom she shares the same external look which was drawn up by designer Stefano Natucci from Benetti with her 65 metre steel hull and aluminium superstructure but she’s entirely different below decks.

Seanna’s interior layout has been entrusted to the capable creativity of Redman Whitley Dixon according to her owner’s wishes. However Susan Young was called in from the States to provide this prestigious British design studio with precious embellishing accessories as well as works of art directly from the U.S.A. as special requests wanted by the owner.

Seanna’s modern exterior lines sport several Benetti logos like the fin shaped ones recurring in every model of this Italian brand while her interiors sport an articulate mix of both classic with modern contemporary which stands out forcibly and is further accentuated by chromatic contrasting elements of furniture and embellishments.

The architects made a point of playing dark shades of American walnut with wengé against the lighter shades of Edelman’s skins, of the textiles deployed for the upholstery and marble slabs. Marble from different countries of origin embellish various areas with light Murphy Creams, Calacatta Golds and Emperor Lights, to the dark ones in the likes of: Saint Laurent and Emperor Dark.

The way spaces have been distributed privilege a desire for privacy and added guests’ comfort and therefore entail clearly defined and separate activities between decks.

For instance four guest cabins with private bathroom, and the crew’s quarters are all situated below deck while towards the stern beyond the engine room there’s a beach club in which to relax for the amusement of the guests on board, while the owner’s suite is situated full beam along the main deck in the forward section.

Generously proportioned window panelling along the topsides provides plenty of natural light to the whole area which comprises a corner lounge, walk in wardrobe and awesome bathrooms for him and her.

Proceeding astern we find a lobby separating the owner’s suite with the remaining portion of the deck which hosts a massage parlour, a dining area for twelve, as well as a cinema which is neatly equipped with modern audio visual gear linked to BEST ‘s installation systems about which we’ll expand upon later. The upper deck hosts another lounge to relax in with a large bar followed by a small welcoming saloon area , furnished with a round shaped table set in a corner and an ‘al fresco’ dining area outside.

The helm/controls station positioned in the wheelhouse in the bow is a concentrate of in house produced technology. In fact all of the on board instruments, namely five 19” monitors and as many 12” ones are connected to the “Integrated Bridge System” developed by Benetti .

This novelty permits access and interfacing dialogue with all navigational aids through one software only, which is user friendly as well as fast in calculus and conceived to upgrade on board security and safety at sea.

As the upper deck, the sun deck too sports areas to relax in but with a difference since up there there’s more room for tan fans. In fact here we find both a covered area furnished like an elegant patio with teak strips for flooring and cosy little living rooms as well as two external terraces at the bow and stern.

The first of the two is made up of a long bar stand with lounge area in addition to a Jacuzzi tub embellished with sun pads, while the second one offers several “custom made” chaises- longue and can convert into a helipad.

Returning for a moment to the subject of entertainment and infotainment, as already mentioned the heart of the system is the innovative BEST – Benetti’s Exclusive Sea Technology – from which a whole series of controls can be run and monitored as well as the on board domotics from video screens on demand and sat. controlled communication, closed circuit video security.

In a nutshell this is an intelligent installation capable of linking inter ship communication from TV sets with automated preset lighting of the area to internal video calls by phone.

All of the electronic plants on board are made chez Benetti whereas the engines are from Caterpillar, in fact two 3516B 1,686 KW engines propel Seanna while three auxiliary generator sets ensure the on board powerhouse systems to work as required with a 350 KW C18 gen. set and two 200 KW C9 gen. sets as well. As for performance , the declared top speed is 16 knots, with a cruising speed of 15. At a more economical speed of 12 knots this yacht can cruise for 5,000 nm.

Daniele Carnevali