AB Yachts 30.50m AB100 Elegance

Heart-pounding performance with a top speed of over 50 knots and a warm, embracing atmosphere – a unique mix that will surpass every owner’s expectations. This exciting craft is by the AB Yachts shipyard and its technical office, with interiors by Marco Casamonti/Archea Associatc

by Paola Bertrelli-

ph. courtesy by AB Yachts

iving shape to speed” is a challenge that AB Yachts, backed by almost thirty years of experience, has risen to magnificently. The dynamic lines of its yachts, embodiments of speed, generate an adrenalin rush that reflects the innovations making the yard the natural home of performance.

The AB 100 Elegance takes this a step further, taking full advantage of the creative energy displayed by the team involved in the creation of this 30.50-metre yacht. The aim was to develop and extend the complex equilibrium of crucial elements and integrate performance with maritime qualities, highlighting comfort in all its sensory variety. While the yard’s technical office engineers developed the naval architecture and technology, interior design was handled by Marco Casamonti/Archea Associati. The decision to bring in a large

international studio (Archea’s portfolio includes the Cantina Antinori in Italy’s Chianti region and the Liling Ceramic Museum in China) and appoint one of its founding partners, Marco Casamonti, as art director of the Next Yacht Group, emphasises the powerful creative impulse that drives this Group, whose heritage draws on the traditions of the AB Yachts, Maiora and CBI Navi brands.

Experiencing the AB100 Elegance means sailing at over fifty knots in extreme comfort and with exceptional efficiency. The yacht is powered by a gutsy MJP hydrojet propulsion unit with three 2,000 MAN engines providing a cruising speed of over 45 knots with sprints over 50 knots. Ride comfort is ensured by a Seakeeper gyroscopic stabiliser that is equally effective when the yacht is under way or at anchor. The yacht’s profile is defined by soft, dynamic shapes – the hull’s sleek, thrusting shapes harmonise with the receding lines of the compact superstructure,

Cutting through the sea at over 50 knots, the AB 100 Elegance displays the exceptional performance and its promise of exceptional comfort and elegance. The yacht is 30.50 metres long with a beam of 6.8 metres. This generous width creates large spaces and has made it possible to offer a variety of layouts. This example has four guest cabins and galley on the lower deck, with a living area and helm station on the main deck

emphasising its breath-taking speed. The main and lower decks feature large windows, and there are generous open-air spaces – a lounge with saloon and sun loungers forward and on the large fly deck, and aft a beach area furnished with an ample C-shaped sofa. It is connected to the cockpit by two side staircases on the transom. This leads into the saloon and becomes an integral part of it when the sliding door retracts into the deck structure. The modular nature of the project provides a basis for extensive personalisation.

The saloon of the AB100, which made its debut at the Cannes and Monaco Boat Shows and is depicted in this article, features a series of freestanding elements by Edra in a setting designed as a sophisticated loft, furnished with a handful of pieces with a strong personality like the two sofas from the On the Rocks collection with sculptural, geometric forms, and the Cicladi coffee tables with alabaster top. In the dining area,

the Egeo table, made with a slab of dark glass with irregular edges, is surrounded by soft, embracing Blue Velvet chairs. A partition separates the saloon from the wheelhouse. Its mirrored surface reflects the sea, drawing it into the interior on all four sides of the saloon and enhancing the wonderful charm of life on the water. To the right of the partition the stairwell takes advantage of the light coming through the windshield and reflects it into the lower deck, the location of four guest cabins, two crew cabins and the galley. Grey is the dominant colour in the day area and on the lower deck, with copper notes and details. The four guest cabins host with art installations by Francesca Pasquali – each cabin features a slogan that has the impact of a statement and which, when all four are read together, reflect, as Marco Casamonti points out, the deepest meaning its creators sought to give the yacht - life is art, art is life, art is playing, playing is art. www.abyachts.com

Yacht Concept Giacomo Benelli, Head of Sales Next Yacht Group

The new Elegance version of our AB 100 models is based on market demand and our owners’ requirements, with a stronger interaction between interiors and exteriors. The result is an open space, a loft looking out onto the sea with closely connected saloon, cockpit and beach area. We’ve also added domotics, worked on the windows and a new paint spectrum that can fulfil all colour requests, with maximum reliability. In the exterior we’ve carried out a subtle restyling of several shapes, with touches that create an even more aggressive, sensual and elegantly sporty look. The strong points of our craft are their tank-tested waterlines and deadrise, optimised for all sea conditions, especially the most challenging. Performance is everything for us – and by performance we don’t just mean speed but also efficiency, manoeuvrability, comfort and safety. It’s a package we can’t split up and that more and more clients want to discover and stay with.

Including increasingly prestigious elements that also have an impact on the yacht’s weight presented a significant challenge – we increased the amount of teak, especially in the interiors, the kitchen is the kind of well-equipped space that can be found only in some of clients’ homes, the mirror TVs give greater depth to the interiors but add weight, so we had to compensate for this extra weight by using more carbon fibre and honeycomb, together with increasingly sophisticated production processes. The real jewel is the engine room. We’ve used cutting-edge technology and have designed systems that always take two factors into account – safety, and maximum operability and ease of maintenance. Skilful artisanal production, paying attention to every detail, means we’ve been able to combine every element with great success. AB100 Elegance is perfect as a day boat, weekend boat or as a boat it’s possible to spend many months on board. It’s suitable for families or for parties and celebrations. It’s also an ideal megayacht support boat (“phantom boat”). It can be brash and sensual, sober and athletic, but is always elegant and unique.

A sporty yacht with generous outdoor spaces. The beach club area is furnished with a C-shaped sofa, and behind this is a float-in garage for toys and tender. It connects to the cockpit via two side staircases. Access to the large fly deck (opposite page, bottom) is provided by stairs in the cockpit (opposite page, top) with its simple, airy design. When the slide-away door is open the main deck saloon and cockpit become a single space

Interior Design

Marco Casamonti, Art Director Next Yacht Group

Our aim for the AB 100 Elegance was to combine extreme comfort and precision within a yacht offering exceptional performance, so we sought to create unprecedented softness and comfort in the interiors. On the lower deck, for example, the walls are padded and lined with fabric, a choice that, compared to the classic use of wood, has also enhanced the yacht’s sound insulation properties without adding weight. We had an exceptional amount of space at our disposal for the saloon and we transformed this into a large loft. And how do you furnish a loft? With great freedom. We studied flexible configurations, and for this yacht we chose items by Edra, the lovely Egeo table, whose black glass top evokes the coastline of Aegean Sea islands. For example, the owner can furnish it according to his or her own preferences, which is very unusual for a sporty yacht. The partition we’ve installed on this unit, to provide greater privacy for owner and guests, can be eliminated, and the kitchen on the lower deck can be shifted to the main deck. For the AB 100 Elegance we wanted to add, not take away, combining its ability to sail at very fast speeds with the opportunity to enjoy great comfort, offer great flexibility in the furnishings and layout and create a space that can express a lifestyle. That’s why we called in Francesca Pasquali, an artist I like a great deal, to create installations for the yacht. I wanted to give a renaissancestyle vision to the interiors, combining the theme of design with that of art and poetry. An architect’s work involves study and experimentation. For us, the nautical world is another way of experimenting with spaces, construction details, of working with an extremely skilful workforce. Attention to detail is more extreme on a yacht than in a house. For AB Yachts we’re now working on a revamp and extension of the range, which will go up to a length of 150’. Our mission isn’t to change the exceptional features offered by these yachts, but to improve and refine them through a slow, constant evolution. The new model currently under construction, which we’ll see at Cannes 2023, will present something revolutionary while remaining true to the brand’s traditional qualities, and in this sense we’re returning to the renaissance idea, moving between modernity and tradition.

The yacht combines performance, design and art – all four guest cabins feature an installation by Francesca Pasquali above the bed. The works are made using coloured plastic straw and metallic writing, with slogans like life is art, art is life, art is playing and playing is art, which express the meaning and purpose behind this yacht. Opposite page, the saloon is a refined loft looking out onto the sea, furnished with a small but striking selection of items from the Edra collections

The main deck wheelhouse. The yacht, made in fibreglass composite and carbon fibre, is equipped with a powerful MJP hydrojet propulsion unit and three 2,000 hp MAN engines enabling a top speed of over 50 knots. As a result the yacht can sail from Portofino to Saint Tropez in a few hours, or from Miami to Cat Cays in the Bahamas in just one hour. The relatively shallow 1.3-metre draught makes it possible to access unexpected bays and beaches

The Shipyard Gennaro Candida De Matteo CEO Next Yacht Group

The new AB100 for AB Yachts is our top product - it has the most exciting performance and trend-setting furnishings, systems, versatility and style. It offers passengers the excitement of powering through the waves at over 50 knots almost without noticing it, in total comfort and with outstanding efficiency and safety. Reflecting the DNA of the Next Yacht Group, the concept underlying its creation is to provide a new dimension in customisation, a bespoke yacht without the complexities of a custom-made product. Not only are choices offered for the layout, decor and engines but the high level of modularity gives owners the opportunity to choose, starting from different stern and superstructure modules, their interpretation of onboard life and spatial configurations. Its strengths are those recognised by the Best Performance Yacht Award at the World Yachts Trophies in Cannes. The naval platform is the best-performing on today’s market, and can travel at over 50 knots in force 3 and force 4 winds in total safety and comfort, as we showed in the sea trials at Cannes at the time of the awards.

On board, the yacht has been redesigned to provide even more load space in the garage and accessibility in the engine room, facilitating operations and maintenance. The garage also now offers a float-in system for tender and toys, an innovative sound insulation system based on metapanels and resonators, honeycomb construction for all the flat panels, the charm of new stylistic and material details in the interiors and site-specific works of art by Francesca Pasquali. To consume less and go faster you have to be light, and we’re fascinated by the design-to-weight challenge. The right mix of carbon fibre, Kevlar, sandwich, honeycomb and lightened panels provide the best sailing qualities. But it’s a challenge that has to be perfected every day without ever being satisfied with the results we’ve achieved.

AB 100 Elegance means unequalled top speed, outstanding handling characteristics, the ability to go places other yachts couldn’t even get near, comfort, efficiency in terms of consumption per mile (almost constant once the yacht is on plane) and a total lack of vibration. The result is a surge of adrenalin, endorphins, performance and glamour.