HERE AND B.NOW: BENETTI LAUNCHES FB287, THE EMBODIMENT OF THE TAILOR-MADE 67-METRE B.NOW OASIS DECK® ETHOS

With the launch of FB287, a 67-metre steel yacht from the B.Now family, Benetti puts the owner at the centre with high levels of customisation. FB287 features exteriors by RWD while interiors see Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design collaborates with Benetti.

Benetti has launched FB287, its new B.Now 67M with Oasis Deck® – a milestone 67-metre yacht that combines transformative onboard spaces with a tailor-made layout and interior style. The yacht, which draws on Benetti’s Steel Legacy – a deep expertise building steel-hulled superyachts to over 100 metres LOA – embodies every aspect of the Shipyard’s ethos: to create sensational owner and guest experiences in a design that combines form and function with finishing to the highest quality. For this new build, Benetti worked closely with RWD studio who designed the exteriors, Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design for the interiors, and Engage Maritime as Owner’s representative. The company, thanks to its expertise on some of the most complex vessels and yachts in the world, was involved from the beginning in all stages of development of this project, blending perfectly with the Shipyard and their team for what has been their first superyacht build for the owner.

“The launch of FB287 heralds the arrival of the 67-metre B.Now 67M Oasis Deck® in its ultimate form – a yacht with amazing features that has been significantly adapted to meet a client’s specific tastes and requirements,” enthuses Daniela Petrozzi, Benetti Sales Director. “Working closely with the owners and their representatives Engage Maritime, FB287 demonstrates the capabilities of the Benetti shipyard and the possibilities for clients to realise their ultimate expression of the yachting lifestyle. There was strong communication and productive give-and-take on all sides and openness to ideas, and it all brought us to the end result of FB287.”

Tailor-made touches FB287 highlights the flexibility that Benetti’s B.Now platform offers, with several elements adapted to incorporate the requests and requirements of an owner who wanted more tailor-made touches than just specifying the yacht’s stunning interior style. Those changes run deep, from a custom rectangular elevator and a beautiful custom guest staircase – constructed in marble with a glass balustrade – to widened guest corridors and guest cabin fire doors, and even custom pools.

Those pools expand on the infinity pool offered as part of the stunning Oasis Deck® aft, to include a spa pool on the hidden observation deck atop the yacht and a 40-centimetre-deep reflecting pool at the bow on the owner’s deck with waterfall effect flowing aft. Other standout features include a full Lower-Deck gym and spa area complete with sauna, steam room and treatment room; a stunning main deck saloon, including full grand piano, that flows into the aft cockpit and the exceptional Oasis Deck® area; and an Upper Deck that has been entirely dedicated to the owner, including expansive forward suite, office, and private aft saloon. The upper aft deck, featuring a seating area and alfresco dining table, is also kept private for the owner – there is no stair up from the main aft deck.

Inside out while the deck areas deliver the beachside chic lifestyle in spades, the interiors are no less impressive – indeed, the B.Now 67M was conceived to blur the boundaries between outside and inside by considering the overarching design from the inside out. For FB287, the Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design team – who had been involved in the original concepts for the model, and who had suggested a light, beach house style and colour palette – were challenged to retain the interiors’ close interaction with RWD’s exterior spaces while inverting the concept style to incorporate dark wood panels, lacquered finishes and contrasting tones.

It is testament both to the genius of the underlying layout and the design team’s capabilities that FB287’s interior offers striking visual appeal while seeming to blend seamlessly between spaces and with the wider marine environment.

Although the original concept for the B.Now 67M featured untreated, light materials, the owner for FB287 requested something very different, drawing inspiration from a reference yacht that featured high gloss materials and which was very moody and very rich. The team adopted the Gatsby style he liked and switched gear to create his ultimate interior from scratch. The result builds on the owner’s original inspiration, differentiating it from the traditional, heavy Gatsby style by evolving it into a new, modern, iconic version which is still rich in materials and finishes but which is also a bit lighter. To achieve that, the design uses woods like sycamore, ebony, wenge, ziricote and macassar, plus marbles selected specially for this owner.

The entire process was also underpinned by close collaboration between designers and the Benetti team who would come back with ideas for particular veneers that would be a good match for the overall style. That’s what brings the entire design to a different level, along with details from metal inserts that form a running motif, and boiserie panels, all of which are difficult to make with the woods the design uses.

The interior style stretches across the guest areas in one harmonious melody, not only to bring design coherence but also to suggest guest equality, embodying the philosophy that wherever you step in the yacht it should still be part of the same yacht. To achieve that, the team started with the three main areas – the main deck lounge, the staircase and the owner’s stateroom – and then translated those details to the rest of the yacht. The client also wanted to make sure that every guest suite was finished to the same style and quality as the owner suite.

The tailor-made staircase is one of many standout features of FB287. It marks a transition in style, from the darker tones of the various guest areas into the lighter walls of the stair column, finished in Calacatta stone with the recurring metal insert motif. There was the additional challenge of the glass balustrade, which became a fully custom element that was both hard to produce and hard to handle, although it really makes the yacht – the guest stair becomes essentially the yacht’s principle sculpture and art piece.