So’Mar

The sea trial was pubblished on Superyacht 46 – spring 2015

In the course of the latest Monaco Yacht show Tansu Yachts presented “So’Mar” which was designed by the in house designer team and built in their shipyard. In a few months the yacht and yard won numerous prizes and awards during the main international events dedicated to superyachts.

Supremacy or leadership in the building of superyachts is no longer so exclusively detained by Italian and north European shipyards, as one could well imagine and in addition to few exceptions from US and New Zealand yards the whole issue takes on wider proportions to include also other countries that enjoy cheap labour rates and added value.

Let’s take Turkey for example which has a longstanding tradition in carrying out refits to large yachts, and more especially when dealing with wooden or steel ones. Ship yards in Turkey sport substantial hefty structures that can build yachts like Perini Navi’s “Maltese Falcon” which possesses a well equipped branch near Istanbul. In this long standing tradition’s wake many Turkish shipyards have decided to take on the construction of their own precious yachts as is the case in point for Tansu Yachts company which was formed by Riza Tansu back in 1985 as design studio working for third parties and then diversified as of 1996 becoming a ship building yard per se.

Thanks to the know how gained in project design work, the yard delivers a complete service which goes from outlining a yacht with the client, project development, construction, launching and delivery while revealing it is perfectly capable of satisfying all clients’ requests in its stride. Tansu Yachts’s fleet which is homogeneous in terms of styling, featuring minimalist traces almost military ones, is somewhat inhomogeneous in sizing.

For example there’s a small 9.6 metre planing hull “Yoda” right up to the displacing flagship measuring more than 39 metres which is scheduled for delivery in 2015. In the meantime, Tansu Yachts launched two motor yachts in 2014, of about 38 metres the 37.90 “So’Mar” and the 38.75 metre “Alyssa” both were award winning models in the course of major international events and both shared the same common denominator : minimalist styling inside and out. “So’Mar” sports taught well defined lines and with the grey paint job it looks more like a destroyer class futuristic ship, which thanks to the simplicity of its design, it reveals a definite elegant touch with an aggressively powerful silhouette which clearly suggests what it has been designed to do: namely to cross oceans.

It sports a vertical wave piercing bow which dampens vertical acceleration enhancing greater comfort, in a nut shell a real explorer type vessel with a vast stern area housing two sets of generously sized davits which underscore the vessel’s capacity to take powerful life boats and tenders on board. The area, once cleared of the tenders doubles as outdoor lounge equipped with sun beds and chaises longues which leads down to the water’s edge, while forward of this we come to another area shaded by the upper deck which possesses a lovely bar corner.

The same “no frills” atmosphere is repeated in the decor inside which is additionally welcoming and enlightened with whiter shades of pale and turquoise for the upholstery while the flooring and some of the bulkheads are decorated with natural virtually untreated essences. Irregular wood shapes and the colouring of the lining on some of the bulkheads, convey a sense of pleasing warmth while maintaining all of the charm normally attributed to modern styling, when it is enriched with few accessories.

In the case in point they’re also made out of natural material to maintain the same styling. The most stirring of the decks is surely the upper one which hosts the owner’s quarters made up of a lounge area, a private terrace, a large suite with private bathroom. Four guest cabins are situated below along the lower deck, two of them are doubles and two have twin beds.

This same deck houses the crew’s quarters for five. “So’Mar” has been designed to cross oceans. It is propelled by twin Caterpillar C18 Acert 700 HP engines which are not fuel guzzling but can push this yacht to a top speed of nearly 16 knots which come down to 13 when cruising. At 10 knots thanks to a 22,000 litre fuel tank, “So’mar” can cover 3,500 nautical miles.

For further information Baris Manco Caddesi 76/10 Kanlica | Istanbul | Turkey +90 216 4131106 [email protected] www.rizatansu.com

by Daniele Carnevali