‘And with modern hull shapes, you really don’t need the extra space. They are so wide that it’s easy to fit two very big aft cabins into the hull, with plenty of space for a technical area and tanks between them.’ He says many shipyards tend to build yachts bigger than they need to be ‘because they get more money for doing essentially the same job. But why is it that large racing yachts so rarely win a race on corrected time? We researched the outcomes of major IRC/ORC events. In more than 80 per cent of those regattas, the winning boat was a TP52. For those who want to enter the mini-maxi class, we have the solution’, he says. A typical custom build project of this type has a budget of around €3m and only half of that goes into the hull. ‘My philosophy is different,’ Semeraro says. ‘I think it’s important to put most of the money into the boat’s hull and structures because that’s the permanent part, the base construction. For the Neo 570, 70 per cent of the budget goes into the hull.’ It makes sense to use a full carbon mould even though it costs twice as much, he explains. ‘It allows us to use the absolute minimum amount of fairing compound. It’s very important to eliminate as much passive weight as possible. You only have to remove 40kg of filler, and you have saved enough weight to fit a watermaker. Using pre-preg makes the boat’s weight more predictable as well as lighter and ensures that there is no elongation whatsoever between the boat and the mould.’ Weight distribution is also crucial. All of the systems will be in the lower part of the boat; the rudder is three metres forward from the transom and there is nothing behind it apart from the tender garage, which will be empty while racing. All previous Neo Yachts have precisely hit their design weight, which is extremely rare in boatbuilding. ‘It’s usually a problem with the mentality of the boatyard and the designer,’ Semeraro says. ‘We include all of the options before calculating the boat’s design weight – the tender garage, the fridge freezer, the anchor, the air conditioning and so on.’
It’s important to remember that this design isn’t just a radical one- off. It’s intended for series production with semi-custom layout, rig, keel and equipment options. ‘We’re planning to build just a few of these boats per year,’ Semeraro says. ‘It’s impossible to produce good boats if you build too many.’ The first Neo 570 will have 450 litres of water ballast, to be used only for short-handed ocean racing. There are three different interior layout options (cruiser, cruiser-racer
Externally the resemblance to a grand prix racing yacht is striking... except
perhaps for that rather generously proportioned tender garage. Inside itʼs a very different story. The Neo 570 manages to be stylish, lightweight and luxurious all at once. Owners can choose either a lifting or canting keel and the cabin layout can be configured to meet each ownerʼs individual requirements. Itʼs a tempting offer for a would-be TP52 owner, but who wants to cruise his yacht as well as race it. Why buy two yachts when this one may do both...
and racer) and two keels, lifting or canting. ‘Hull number one will be the cruiser-racer version with two master cabins, two bathrooms with separate shower and front open space,’ Semeraro says. ‘And a 4.2m deep lifting keel. TP52s have a draught of 3.8m; this bigger boat needs the extra righting moment.’
Despite offering a canting keel option, Semeraro isn’t convinced that it will be much faster unless a specific type of offshore/ocean racing use is the programme. ‘If you analyse racing results you will find that about 85 per cent of the time, a fixed deep keel is actually faster on corrected time,’ he says. ‘Compare the performance of the Cookson 50 – which is a very good boat – against a TP52.’ The lifting keel option is a must- have for cruising, needed to get into most normal yacht harbours and many anchorages. ‘You’d definitely need the lifting keel version if you wanted to cruise the Caribbean,’ Semeraro says. Some keel systems can do both – cant and lift – but he reckons they aren’t suitable for this
super-lightweight boat. ‘The weight of the combined system would negate all the benefit of the canting keel,’ he says, at least on this size of yacht. What sort of owner wants a boat like this? Semeraro says there’s plenty of demand from customers who are tired of sailing long distances in totally stripped-out, uncomfortable boats. ‘We’re going for younger (in mentality) owners aged 40 to 60 who want both adrenaline and pleasure,’ he says. The sort of owners who will go to St Tropez with a professional crew, then spend a week cruising with their family. If they buy a TP52, they’ll need another boat for cruising.’ The design will have to prove itself on the race circuit but one thing’s for sure: with a passage planning speed of 12 knots or more, the Neo 570 will massively extend your cruising range. As Semeraro says, ‘You can sail overnight from Italy to Croatia or Greece and be there early in the morning for the first choice of fresh fish from the fishermen’.
www.neoyachts.com
q SEAHORSE 75
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