Exterior aft spaces and sea terraces often located here have already become commonplace, but designers are striving to further blur the lines between the interior spaces and the sea
Closeness to the water is important and desirable for many yacht and superyacht owners. It is only natural that it makes designers and shipyards look for new solutions that can ensure it.
In fact, these days few people would be ready to climb up the stairs to get to the lounge in the cockpit, or to climb them down for a swim. So why not rethink the aft section so as to make it closer to the water?
Large beach clubs, huge aft and swim platforms and fold-down bulwarks used to be possible on large vessels only, but can now be found on boats under 20 metres. So, the task seems to have been solved, and large areas for relaxation by the water have become quite commonplace now. But designers often had to compromise, look for unusual layout solutions or get rid of some areas.
Thus, a vast and flat aft platform on board the Sanlorenzo SP110 is located between the lower and main deck levels. There is no traditional cockpit with a lounge here, although one can easily arrange an al fresco dining area or a lounge here with the help of exterior furniture.
Other shipyards implement similar solutions, but for the sake of gaining exterior space, one has to play with levels and raise either the entire or part of the main deck, which often leads to the isolation of this area, and the logical connection between the exterior aft section and the interior spaces of the main deck disappears.
This might be the reason the emerging trend for terraces cascading down to the sea is gaining traction, and more and more shipyards are opting for this solution. Just because it helps one retain the conventional deck layouts, make the aft exterior, arrange traditional areas here and ensure the desirable contact with the sea. At the same time, the swim platform and the beach club stop being separate, isolated elements, as all this space is linked, with one area flowing smoothly into another.
The easiest way to understand how this can be implemented is to take a look at a few examples both among the recently unveiled and already delivered projects.
The most obvious example is the Oasis superyacht range by Italian Benetti, named due to the location of the ocean lounge aft. When the bulwarks are folded down, the area of the Oasis Deck on board the 40.8-metre Oasis 40M reaches 90 sq.m. It is home to a 7-metre pool, a lounge with a sofa, a sunbathing area with sunloungers and a sunpad in the centre. Although the space is levelled, the differences between the “terraces” are small, so the whole space is perceived as a single whole.
The 45-metre SAN superyacht by Turkish Alia Yachts features a similar, but a differently realized solution. Here, the entire aft platform is an important design element, and it is organized as an amphitheatre, where the sea is the stage.
A wide “grand” staircase descends from the main deck level to the swim platform, linking the cockpit dining area with the water. There is a pause in the centre: a terrace with low sunbeds and fold-down side wings to increase the area. In this original way Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design united a few areas and ensured the guests can move freely all around the aft section.
The 43.59-metre Frette, which belongs to Atlantique 43m series by Columbus Yachts, also did her best to move the guests closer to the water with the help of an original aft arrangement. The system of steps and terraces makes it possible to arrange different zones: a dining room, which can be located at the entrance to the saloon, a lounge with sofas and tables a little lower, and a swimming pool with a glass side right by the water.
The three levels interact and complete one another, offering the guests numerous opportunities for relaxation and entertainment. The fold-down terraces increase the area, while the rounded stern resembling that of a sailing yacht adds some special charm.
The new projects unveiled by different shipyards from all over the world confirm that this trend has caught on and the industry can see future behind it. One can find similar configurations of exterior aft spaces on board the recently presented 37.18-metre Maiora M|36, the 45.3-metre Majesty 145 and the 50-metre Sanlorenzo 50X-Space.
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