When it comes to yachting, it doesn’t get better than a custom build. Your yacht. Your way. Every single detail meticulously planned, designed, styled and executed to your desires, creating a truly one-of-a-kind space. For our client, building was the only option to achieve their dreams. Nothing on the market encapsulated their vision, their style or the way they travel. PROJECT SECRET was their answer.
Our client has been chartering yachts for the past 20 years and like many, had fallen in love with the freedom that the luxury yachting lifestyle affords. Travelling all around the world, never needing to unpack and having everything you could possibly need in one private sanctuary. Bliss.
In 2020, they had reached a point in their yachting journey where ownership was the natural next step. From all their years of chartering across a range of motor yachts and attending boat shows all around the world, they had a clear understanding of what their dream would look and feel like. In simplest of terms, they wanted a 52m floating beach house.
Starting with a blank piece of paper, they created a design outline which included their wish list. The yacht needed to reflect their love for adventure with their family while providing a space that felt like home and one that could travel to just about every location without any limitations.
For them it was important to incorporate into their design key elements such as a unique floating staircase that both functioned and looked different to anything they had experienced before. They also wanted a permanent owner’s balcony with a sliding door that didn’t require crew to operate, an open-air dining room, along with a master suite with his and hers bathroom, a full beam VIP suite and four guest bedrooms.
As a family, they live a very healthy life, and the gym and wellness area was extremely important to them. For their design they dedicated a beautiful state of the art, full beam gym with an infrared sauna and dipping pool, as well as a relaxing hydro pool on the sun deck. They also incorporated retractable wings on each side of the beach platform, creating a wraparound deck which can accommodate umbrellas and lounge chairs.
The difference between a good yacht and the best all comes down to the team who bring the ideas to life. In our client’s quest to find the right naval architect and designer, they needed someone that understood their desire for a yacht that embraced speed and elegance. Their search quickly led to the one and only Phillipe Briand of Vitruvius.
Phillipe Briand is an esteemed designer who has just won his 16th Superyacht Award in 2024 for 66m ALCHEMY. He is renowned for his unparalleled creativity and engineering acumen, and has indelibly shaped maritime history. Throughout his career, he has designed sailing boats that have achieved two Atlantic Crossing Records in 1998 and 2003, and he also designed vessels such as VERTIGO (67m) and SYBARIS (73M), as well as over 1200 yachts.
From Phillipe Briand: “Project Secret has been designed as an island for a couple, combining different cultures and friends from all walks of life. We have optimised the available space within the 499 GT limit, creating better distribution and flow. This includes more outdoor spaces, such as the veranda, more space for activities with the gym and exceptional beach club, along with the unique and separate dining room that opens to the sea. The spirit of the architecture, inside and out, is warm, friendly, reassuring and resolutely contemporary. The upper line of the hull is deliberately designed as a curve, like an arm enveloping her passengers to take them to other horizons. Project Secret was a challenge, but it is a design we love.”
Our client could clearly imagine every detail of their floating beach house, and this meant finding the right interior designer that could draw upon those ideas, bringing the extraordinary to life. They found FM Architectura who has been responsible for some of the most beautiful design projects across residential properties and luxury hotels, such as the Shangri-La and Mandarin Oriental. And most importantly, they were up for this challenge, searching for new ways to expand the way spaces are seen and experienced.
With Francesca Muzio the client worked endlessly to ensure her interior was anything but typical. This was achieved through the use of lush organic fabrics in hues of azure and ivory, textures that are inviting to touch, and expanses of windows drawing the outside in and allowing natural light to flourish. The result: an interior that exudes an aura of serenity and envelopes guests in a cocoon of calm. One of the highlights that brings this all together and embraces the client’s vision is the seaside dining area. This opens out to unobstructed views of the sea with the simple touch of a button, allowing for al fresco dining surrounded by stunning views, blurring the lines between the two worlds.
To bring all these visions together, our client needed a boutique shipyard that was capable of delivering this project to the highest standard. Tankoa was a natural fit.
Their CEO, Vincenzo Poeri, took personal care of their project with his hands-on approach and has been a highlight for our client throughout this entire process. The expertise of their team and their cooperation ensured our client was able to be involved at every step, giving them peace of mind through their smooth operation, while adding to the total experience of seeing first-hand their dream being brought to life.
From Tankoa CEO Vincenzo Poeri: “We believe that PROJECT SECRET has many unique features that sets her apart from the others of this size; with all the features of a much larger yacht, but in a 499 GT package. Starting from the beautiful and sleek exterior design and incredible efficiency of the hull and going to the very detailed interior design, nothing was left to chance. The main salon has an asymmetric layout and dedicated balcony within the dining area which makes this space really unique as well as the gym and beach club area, in direct connection with the sea. PROJECT SECRET’S design is practical and very well thought out, setting the standards high for a yacht of her size. We look forward to seeing her cruising the seven seas.”
With delivery set for 2025, PROJECT SECRET offers the unique opportunity to acquire a highly desirable custom-built superyacht, ready to be enjoyed for years to come. If she sounds like your dream too, then please get in touch with our brokers to find out more about this truly magnificent vessel and all that she has to offer.