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A QUESTION OF COLOUR
As Italian interior designer Laura Pomponi discovered, the refit for the 90-metre motor yacht Nero, a replica of J.P. Morgan’s splendid Corsair IV, was a major challenge by Mark Worden
L
aura Pomponi and her interior design team at Luxury Projects
the Yantai Raffles Shipyard in Yantai, China. It was commissioned by
(“LP”) in Ancona, Italy have worked on the interiors of at least 40
Neil Taylor who, the story goes, decided to build a replica as he was
yachts. Their projects have included a number of refits, but the largest
unable to find an original Corsair. He even set up “Corsair Yachts” in
– and most challenging – of these was the 90-metre motor yacht Nero,
the process. The boat later changed hands and the new owner opted
which they completed in time for the Antigua Charter Yacht Show in
for a refit to improve the original design and build quality of the vessel.
December 2016.
The original plan was to repaint the hull, but the owner asked the LP
The name Nero actually comes from the Italian for black. And black
team to give the interior an overhaul. Laura Pomponi says: “It was
is very much the colour of this impressive vessel, which is a replica
a race against time. The whole project took about nine months and
of J.P. Morgan’s splendid Corsair IV. The (2008) replica was built at
we came on board after three”. LP’s involvement at the MB92 yard
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[ REBIRTH ] With respect to the original yacht, which was classical and elegant, the new Nero has a very contemporary feel. Laura Pomponi has brightened up the interiors by replacing their dark tones with lighter colours. Left and below, the sketches for green marble bar and, bottom, that for the guest cabin. Right, the skylounge and the VIP cabin after the refit
in Barcelona began in May, “which is never a great time, as this is high season, when many resources are already allocated for other things”. The deadline was November: this was to allow two weeks to sail to the Caribbean. But the new Nero had to arrive at least a week before the opening of the Charter Show, as the job wasn’t done yet: “We replaced a lot of the artwork with metal sculptures by artists from the United States. Their work was shipped directly to Antigua” and Laura (an inveterate traveller who has visited 114 countries and who takes at least 100 flights a year) was more than happy to go there to oversee the finishing touches: “The crew (under Captain Adrian Roche) were great: they helped a lot in the whole project, even to install the sculptures”.
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The oak joinery and furniture
Not surprisingly perhaps, the main issue for the black Nero was the colour. The motor yacht
were lime-washed and
has a black hull and yellow funnel, but the black and gold motif was somewhat overdone in the
the black carpeting was
original interior. The new owner wanted to tone that down and replace it with “the colours
replaced with a more neutral
of the sea: blues and greens”. In the case of the furniture, that meant re-upholstering, rather
champagne colour. A lot
than replacing, and Laura reckons that 2.4 km kilometres of fabric was used. The mainly oak
of work by artists from the
interior was even more challenging: “We lime-washed the entire 90 metres!” And stripping
United States was introduced,
away the wood produced some pleasant surprises: “We replaced the black carpeting with a
while at least 2.4 km of
more neutral champagne colour, but when we started working on the foyer, we found a lovely
new fabric was added. The
ashen walnut with oak and compass rose marquetry. You never know what you’re going to
colours of the sea, blue and
come across”.
green, were used for both the
The gold fixtures and fittings also had to go and were replaced with a chrome finish.
interiors and the exteriors
The colour was similarly a factor in the lighting: LED took the place of halogen. Laura reckons that this created a softer glow: “The wood actually became less yellow with the new lighting”. At the end of the day, some 4,000 pieces of new hardware were installed. Nor was the team’s work limited to décor. A new bar was added in the boat deck lounge area, where a seventh cabin also replaced an office. This was in order to make Nero more attractive to charter customers, by giving her “a more contemporary feel” but, as Laura says, “When you do a refit, you want to apply your own style, but you have to respect the history and the soul of the vessel.” It’s fair to say that she and her colleagues have done precisely that.
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