The sea trial was pubblished in Superyacht 30 – Autumn 2011
“The North West Passage” once an enterprise in the literal sense of the word for explorers or brave captains, due to the continuous climatic changes, has today become a route which is still not everyone’s cup of tea, but certainly doable when planned carefully.
The owner of this second Vitruvius model – a motor yacht line built by Gruppo Perini, sold under the famous, historical Picchiotti brand name must have really wanted to undertake this route since he requested the yacht be built to ABS Ice Class IB – certification which is equivalent to the Finnish-Swedish Ice Class IB and to Type C of the Canadian norms. In addition to the above, the yacht falls in line with IMO (International Maritime Organization) standards as well as AWPPA requisites (Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act).
These standards are necessary to undergo the voyage in safety since at the given latitudes even during the summer months temperatures have been known to be extremely low and therefore dangerous for the presence of drifting pack. For the sake of clarity, Galileo G is not an ice breaker but can cruise in the presence of drifting ice pack.
The technical implications, the structural re-enforcements, to do just this were detailed in a preceding issue of Superyacht – namely in issue number 28, Spring 2011 edn. – we’ll be describing the great efficiency of the hull herein but to have an idea of what it looks like inside, its layout and interior décor you’ll have to wait a little. Galileo G was launched very close to Superyacht’s closing date for publishing and we lacked the necessary time to take telling pictures of the interiors, but we’ll come back to show them to you.
For the moment we’ll tell you about what we saw on July 29th last during the first official outing at sea to which we’d been invited. The layout chosen by the owner below deck is similar to the hull which shows several features imported from sailing yachts, starting with the cockpit – which is well protected by the superstructure overhead and can be completely closed off – which aside from the technical equipment installed could belong to that of a maxi Perini. The interiors sport a classic and uniform style throughout, like a ship with few frills and much substance which exudes high level quality, wrapped in sober elegance above all due to the large glazed areas that are ever present in each zone to offer constant contact with the surrounding elements.
Large striking pictures situated in every area are proof of the owner’s and his family’s vocation to travel and explore. Perini management on board gave us a detailed run down of the pictures that had been mostly taken by the owner and his family. Giancarlo Ragnetti MD of the Viareggio based Group detailed all the ship’s interesting technical features beginning with an impressive radom to enhance communication- not exactly aesthetical but nevertheless very useful to enjoy the best possible satellite coverage even when cruising in high latitudes where the signal is weaker and barely perceptible on the horizon. Galileo’s main feature lies on the bridge – where state of the art equipment in terms of technology is deployed to control and monitor the ship’s progress and on board systems, (there’s a sonar too which measures the real dimension of ice pack and ‘bergs below the waterline).
The bridge sports lateral wings on either side to enhance visibility in restricted waters while overlooking a Portuguese type deck furnished with forward facing divans, which are followed by a streamline bow area which ends in a close to vertical bow. Finally the thrills experienced on board this second Picchiotti model have to do more with navigation than much else.
Every area we visited was virtually noise free and silence reigned while movement became perceptible only by looking out of the portholes. Acceleration was proof enough of the performing capacity of the hull when it moved from just 8 knots to 16 in “a flash” in relationship to the ship’s dimension, but again surprising as she went about rather like a speed boat can do. Galileo G’s response to the helm was again striking.
by Fabio Petrone
For further information: Picchiotti
The sea trial was pubblished in Superyacht 30 – Autumn 2011
TECHNICAL DATA
LOA: 55.70 m – LWL: 54.33 m – Beam: 10.39 m – draught: 3.20 m – construction material for hull: steel – construction material for superstructures: aluminium – ABS Classified; Malta Cross A1 Commercial Yachting Service – AMS + MCA LY2, ICE Class 1B – displacement: 753 t – Gross Tonnage: 725 gt. – engines: CAT 3512C 2×1174 KW @1800 rpm – Top speed forecasted: 16 knots – fuel tank capacity: 152,000 litres – water tank capacity: 20,000 litres – range at 11 knots: 9,000 nm. – number of cabins: 4 + 1 owner suite – crew : 6 cabins + captain’s quarters – Design: Vitruvius Ltd. – naval architects: Philippe Briand – interior designer: Perini Navi
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