Glamour!
Persico Marine and Umberto Felci (both Italian of course) have been adding some turbo to the luxury performance market
‘If you can dream it, you can do it,’ said Enzo Ferrari. His 125 S, the first car ever to sport the prancing horse, was unleashed from its Maranello stable 70 years ago and soon recorded Ferrari’s first grand prix win. Enzo had never shown any interest in building anything except racing cars, but he dreamed it, and in 1950 he did it, with the 166 Inter, Ferrari’s debut grand tourer. That worked out pretty well. Comparisons between Ferrari and
Persico are obvious: passion, craft, innovation, excellence and a track record of success. They also share vision, the ability to identify a gap in the market and to own it. In the (very) grand touring market the Italian yacht builder is redefining performance superyachting through its collaboration with Wally Yachts, but, as CEO Marcello Persico wryly noted, ‘Not many people are looking for maxis and superyachts.’ In the custom build of a
65-footer Marcello believes he has spotted a new gap in the performance cruising market. He plans to own it with the Felci65. It started with an Italian owner
who wanted a soft weapon: a performance cruiser that would satisfy his competitive instincts racing in the Med, but not so twitchy it needs professional taming. ‘He wants to enjoy his boat with his wife and friends,’ says Marcello. ‘He may hire a few sailors for regattas, but he wants a boat he can run himself, so it needs to be easy to sail.’ The owner likes
58 SEAHORSE
Umberto Felci as a designer and he wanted Persico as his builder because, as Marcello points out, ‘People come to us when they want a custom boat with the focus on performance.’ Felci’s hull offers the optimal
compromise between resistance and form stability for a given displacement, streamlined and powerful with low topsides, and cup-shaped sections for stability at high heel angles and reduced wave resistance at lower angles. ‘To bring to life a boat that’s light and fast, yet comfortable and elegant,’ explains Felci. ‘Blending these features is one of the things we do best. I believe we have created an exclusive yacht for performance sailing yacht lovers,’ he concludes. During build Marcello’s team
determined that there is a market for a luxurious high-performance cruiser with premium materials, at a more affordable price. ‘When we suggested building semi-custom boats based on this design the owner said: “That’s fine with me,” so now we are promoting the project.’ The resulting Felci65 showcases
Persico’s expertise. The hull is carbon fibre sandwich, with different densities of foam depending on loading. It was built in a CNC-machined female mould using carbon laminate and a three-step infusion process with rigorously controlled impregnation. ‘It’s not pre-preg but it’s very
close,’ Marcello adds. ‘We’re really happy with the results in terms of
‘To bring to life a boat that’s light and fast, yet comfortable and elegant: that was the concept guiding us in our new project,’ says designer Umberto Felci. With the new Felci65 I can confidently say that we have succeeded in creating an exclusive yacht for performance sailing yacht lovers.’ With its comfortable contemporary interior and ultra-light weight, no one is going to be caught out describing the result of Felci’s latest collaboration with Persico Marine as ‘ordinary’. Mouth- watering, yes, ordinary, we think not
resin impregnation and weight.’ Add a Hall Spars high-modulus
carbon rig with ECsix rigging and it’s so far so normal, for Persico at least, but the project has involved plenty of creative thinking. ‘The challenge for us is finding the right balance,’ adds Marcello. ‘We know from the America’s Cup that above a certain level every kilogram you can save becomes very expensive. Sometimes, even in the AC, it doesn’t make sense and that’s the case even more so in this market.’ Persico’s experience with weight
saving for its raceboats was a big plus. Working with Felci and the owner, they devised an interior that optimised use of structure without adding more panels than necessary. ‘But you need an owner who likes this approach, who makes performance one of the priorities, but at the same time it’s not a pure raceboat so you need comfort below,’ Marcello explains. This balance also involved fitting
a lighter and quieter hybrid propulsion system, powered by Li-Ion batteries storing 1,000Ah at 24v DC. Electrical systems are managed by a CAN-bus system, there’s wi-fi throughout and all lighting is LED. ‘We see ourselves as a high-tech company,’ says Marcello, ‘and not only with composites, with comfort too. ‘With the Felci65 there were
three equal priorities: performance, comfort and cost. It wasn’t easy, but we think we found the right balance.’
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