SUPERYACHT #7
Winter 2006
Article selected from our quarterly magazine dedicated to the largest
and most luxurious boats with information, interviews, technical
articles, images and yachting news
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Article by
Angelo Colombo
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RODRIQUEZ YACHTS - LIGHT BLUE
The first pleasure craft from Rodriquez Yachts, which belongs to
the historic yard Rodriquez Cantieri Navali, is called Light Blue.
The yard's Yacht Division, which came into being little more than
two years ago, designs and builds pleasure craft over 30 metres,
drawing on the long experience of the shipyard it belongs to. In
fact Rodriquez Cantieri Navali is a point of reference for
worldwide shipbuilding inasmuch as it has contributed, over more
than 60 years, to development of the sector with technological
innovations that have crowned it with success.
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TECHNICAL DATA
LOA: 37.80 metres
Beam: 7.60 metres
Draft: 2.70 metres
Full load displacement: 158 t.
Maximum speed: 25 knots
Cruising speed: 23 knots
Range at cruising speed: 850 miles
Fuel tanks: 36.000 litres
Water tanks: 7.000 litres
Design: Rodriquez Yachts
Designer of exterior: Francesco Paszkowski
Interior design: Rodriquez Yachts
Shipyard: Rodriquez Cantieri Navali.
For further information contact Rodriquez Yachts; Via San
Raineri 22; 98122 Messina, Italy; tel +39 090 7765283; fax +39 090
7765293; website www.rodriquez.it; e-mail marketing@rodriquez.it.
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Rodriquez is famous
chiefly among commercial companies, governments and professionals
of the sea, thanks to constant research work which has led to the
creation of hulls that are highly hydrodynamic and the invention
of systems such as those of stabilisation used on vessels like
hovercraft, ferries and numerous navy ships. Rodriquez's interest
in pleasure craft is the natural consequence of a history that has
made technological evolution a strongpoint. But it required the
creation of a specific company dealing exclusively with this
field, though it draws on the Sicilian yard's precious know-how.
The yard's design team handled development of the platform and the
interiors, which faithfully reflect the requests of the demanding
owner who commissioned Light Blue. As for the design of this 38
metre yacht, the forms are the work of architect Francesco
Paszkowski who has developed a layout that responds to a special
requirement: spacious interior volumes while maintaining a line at
once streamlined and modern. One of the solutions we note right
away is the adoption of the "wide body" formula for the aft area
of the superstructure which houses the sofa saloon; but the whole
is aesthetically handled with a play of fullness and emptiness
created with dark windows and structural elements in the same
shade which give the profile an original and thrusting appearance.
Highly refined forms then, created in the name of functionality
and aesthetic pleasure. The yacht is developed on three decks. The
lower deck is taken up by the night area for owner and guests,
with the crew's quarters at the forward extremity. The crew's
quarters are equipped with all necessary comforts for long
voyages, including four cabins to sleep a total of six. The
owner's cabin stretches from amidships to the engine room and
exploits the entire width of the hull. There is an office corner,
a sofa, a dressing area, a spacious bathroom and a wardrobe. There
are two identical cabins amidships with private bathroom and twin
beds. Farther forward there are another two, mirror-image cabins
but with double beds and each with its private bathroom. Three-
quarters of the main deck is occupied by relaxation areas,
including the spacious cockpit which is completely sheltered by
the projection of the superstructure. Access to the aft sundeck is
by two stairways at the sides. The dining area in the forward
section is divided from the sofa area by a structure housing a
daytime bathroom and the stairway that links the decks, as well as
a large bulkhead screen facing the sofas. At the forward extremity
of this deck we find the galley, the crew's mess, the pantry and
laundry. The crew's night area is directly accessible from here.
The amidships and forward sections of the upper deck are covered.
The bridge, the only command station on board, is on this deck, a
rational and functional choice inasmuch as visibility from this
dominant position is total under all circumstances and the systems
have the benefit of greater simplicity. Of course we are talking
about a bridge worthy of such a vessel, where each technical
element is set in an aesthetic context on a par with the entire
yacht and where there is everything necessary for any kind of
sailing the owner has a mind to experience. The amidships section
of this deck is occupied by another saloon with sofas, armchairs,
latest generation audiovisual systems, a bar and the spectacle
offered by the great windows. Outside, in the zone aft, there is
an open air living area and a sundeck farther aft with very large
cushions and moveable tables. At this point it would be worthwhile
taking a further look at an aspect of this yacht's interiors: they
have been developed to give greater emphasis to the ample volumes,
and to this end clean lines have been employed which give each
space a modern and linear appearance while maintaining that
aesthetic warmth which, in this writer's opinion, a yacht must
possess. To all this must be added the research carried out by the
yard for the natural and artificial illumination of every area on
board, resulting in solutions such as great windows and
sophisticated state-of-the-art lighting systems. The whole is
enclosed within an unmistakable style which represents the point
of departure for Rodriquez Yachts. Let's go on to the strictly
technical aspect of Light Blue, a superyacht with a semi-planing
sharp bottom aluminium hull that can reach a maximum speed of 25
knots. At a cruising speed of 23 knots she has a range of 850
miles, powered by two 2.130 HP Caterpillar 3512B engines coupled
to fixed pitch screws in V-drive. All the monitoring and control
equipment, as well as the stabilisation systems, are the work of
Rodriquez Marine System, employing the technology used for the
latest generation high speed vessels the yard builds. Another
noteworthy element is the reduction of noise and vibrations
through the adoption of a particularly flexible structure in
aluminium that guarantees high absorption of these phenomena
throughout the vessel.
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