SUPERYACHT #501
January 2004
Article selected from our quarterly magazine dedicated to the largest
and most luxurious boats with information, interviews, technical
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Article by
Lino Pastorelli
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DIANO SANTA 33
The Santa 33 is the summa of all the features which in the
eyes of captains and crews (even more than in the eyes of
owners) make a vessel "beautiful". The term doesn't merely
express an aesthetic judgement. For seafarers a beautiful
vessel is one that is seaworthy under all conditions; it has a
place for everything and everything in its place, in
accordance with tried and tested criteria based on practical
experience at sea; and it does not create problems with a
heady array of electronics. It is a vessel with a great
shipbuilding tradition behind it, a tradition developed on the
concept that boats are also made for sailing, for dreaming,
for casting off and, last but not least, for returning home.
The Santa 33 is all of this.
Built by Costruzioni Navali S.
Margherita Ligure, part of the Diano Group, it obviously
exploits the synergy and experience of those Ligurian wooden
motor yacht builders, which is to say the technology of the
oldest material worked with the most modern methods. The keel
for example is entirely in mahogany lamellar, monolithic with
the stem bar and with ash frames set at less than half metre
centres and doubled up where the structure needs greater
reinforcement: the quick work, the hull edges and the bows. A
double skin of reinforced marine ply and solid mahogany, with
a total thickness of 35 mm, is assembled using a special
technique with copper nails and deck rubber that makes the
hull as hard as steel yet flexible when it hits the waves, a
quality all the more appreciated in a 135-ton boat which,
powered by two 2.200 HP Deutz MWM engines, can shoot ahead at
28 knots.
The Santa 33 is in fact a boat that planes and planes well
with her classic V-shaped bottom, an excellent expression of
the know-how the yard has accumulated over many years of
activity. The engine room is aft, a true example of
rationality: access is by the same stairway that leads to the
crew's quarters and the chief engineer lives in symbiosis with
his noisy, immaculate domain comprising banks of cylinders,
turbines, pumps, generators etc. The centralised fire fighting
system is also controlled from here, a system which together
with the watertight compartments forward, aft and amidships
earned top certification in Class A and Maltese Cross.
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TECHNICAL DATA
Overall length: 35m
Beam: 7.20m
Draft: 2m
Displacement: 135 t
Capacity: Class A, 20 persons
Engines: 2 x Deutz 2200 HP
Generators: 2 x Kohler 40 kW
Desalination unit: Selmar 250 l/h
For further information: Costruzioni Navali S. Margherita
Ligure - tel.+39 0185 287891
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Division of space on the three decks where the owner and his
guests spend their time aboard is fairly classic: guests'
night-time area below; saloon, galley and owner's suite on the
main deck and a large sunbathing area on the flying bridge.
The owner gave precise instructions for the interior:
functional, elegant minimalism in each room and an ongoing
uninterrupted view of the sea from both the saloon and the
cabins. This explains the panoramic windows in the living area
and the hydraulic device that raises the owner's bed above the
windows forward, offering a really evocative view. The
cockpit, with original tables surrounded by a large
semicircular sofa where guests can take tea outdoors,
continues so to speak into the saloon from which it is
separated by a glass partition. Here the architect, Chiomio,
has divided the dining and living areas, maintaining dynamic
perspectives with the trigonal convexities of the tables, with
the "curves" delineated by the large sofas and the sinuous
strips of wood on the ceiling, and with the repetitive grain
of the makore wood used horizontally on the walls. Dimmed
spotlights, the resin coated floor (yes, the stuff they use in
shopping centres!), the absence of stools and suchlike, all
out of sight thanks to an ingenious disappearing trick of
sliding and hiding: these all accentuate the refined
simplicity of the interior. As is usual on such pleasure craft
the owner's suite is on the main deck. Its most striking
features are the panoramic view of the horizon forward through
great mirrored windows, two large sofas with writing desk, and
makore and fitted carpet throughout. In the evening a myriad
of lights of different brightness and colours supply discreet
illumination in this cabin which of course has DVD, stereo and
a 19" TV opposite the bed. The bathroom is divided up with
separate rooms for Jacuzzi, toilet and shower. The washbasin
and shower tray have a curious décor featuring shells
set into resin, a kind of hi-tech amber, while the metallic
silver colour of the tub and fittings matches that of the
external superstructures. The bridge is on a raised half-deck
aft of the suite, with an auxiliary command station on the
flying bridge. It is equipped with all the navigational aids
necessary for ocean sailing: radar, touch screen computer,
gyrocompass, chart plotter, radio, satellite phone and the
monitor of a telecamera system that checks astern. On the same
deck there are also the engine room and the garage which, with
the transom lowered, turns into a "runner" for launching
tender and jet skis. The engine controls are mechanical. The
adjacent galley is fully equipped, Tuscan chef included, and
is in proportion to the characteristics of the boat: ceramic
hob, ovens, three stainless steel sinks, waste compression
unit, dishwasher, various fridges, a large freezer, a
temperature controlled wine cellar and a couple of icemakers
ensure that the galley will be well supplied on long cruises.
Here a dinette with folding table serves as crew mess for
skipper and three hands. The four guest cabins are on the
lower deck, all large doubles except one. Foldaway bunks mean
that the number of berths can be increased. The furnishings
repeat the style of the main deck with lots of makore, sand-
coloured fitted carpet, a few metallic silver coloured details
and, as an elegant contrast, very fine reproductions of
mediaeval nautical charts, specially commissioned and painted
on the ceilings: Corsican, Sardinian, Sicilian and, in the
forward cabin, the whole of Italian waters. The difference
between guest and VIP cabins is fairly negligible. In practice
everyone aboard is a special guest: there may be certain
differences in the layout of the beds or bathrooms, but
certainly not at the level of finish or comfort. On the flying
bridge, reached by a double stairway from the cockpit, there
is the Santa's "soleil" zone: sundeck, dining area with dumb-
waiter direct from the galley and an external wheelhouse. In
her blue and silver livery the boat reflects what is most
classic and reliable in the fast superyacht sector. And it
goes without saying, not only in Liguria or in Italy.
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