When we think of explorer yachts, we tend to think of rugged vessels with rather clunky lines and big deck cranes for launching heavy-duty tenders. Rosetti Superyachts calls the 125-foot (38-meter) Emocean an explorer, and so she is. She was, after all, designed by Sergio Cutolo of Hydro Tec, a naval architect known for his explorer projects.

But she doesn’t look anything like an explorer, so what’s going on?

“From the outside, it’s true: She’s not your typical explorer,” says Andrea Giora, sales and marketing director at Rosetti Superyachts. “But she’s built of steel and aluminum, has a range of 5,000 nautical miles at 10 knots, has big storage volumes, machinery spaces that are easy to access and maintain, and the ability to remain at sea for long periods. So in terms of functionality and performance, she ticks all the right explorer boxes.”

But she’s unmistakably a luxury yacht.

Rosetti Superyachts is a relatively new brand born out of Rosetti Marino, a key Italian player in the construction of working vessels and platforms for the offshore oil and gas industry. When the group decided to expand into yachting in 2017, it focused on long-range explorer yachts that could draw on its shipbuilding experience and commercial shipyard in Ravenna, on Italy’s Adriatic coast.

“I’ve been aboard some of our platforms and supply ships, and to see them operating safely in force 8 conditions in the North Sea is something exceptional,” says Ermanno Bellettini, CEO of Rosetti Superyachts, who has been with Rosetti Marino for almost 25 years. “In fact, the owners of Emocean came to us because they wanted the reliability of commercial vessels. That was one of the first things they put in their brief.”

Yachtbuilders are sometimes inclined to dictate what’s best for their clients based on established practice or existing technical platforms. But the owners of Emocean wanted to help choose the right suppliers for the project. As Rosetti Superyachts was new to yachtbuilding, the yard had fewer preconceptions and could offer the clients more freedom of choice.

Maximizing the interior volume, for example, was important for the owners. Emocean’s 432 gross tons is typical of yachts that are up to 15 feet longer. In fact, stepping inside from the main deck aft, the immediate impression is of having space to spare. The salon is organized into a conversation area with aft-facing corner sofas, followed by an all-glass wine cabinet with room for 150 bottles, and a dining space with sliding glass doors on both sides for a refreshing sea breeze.

For interior styling, the owners worked closely with BurdissoCapponi Yachts&Design, a studio in Ravenna set up by a pair of designers who previously worked in-house for the Ferretti Group. Based on pale Creta oak and dark smoked oak, the interior is fresh and contemporary, with glossy and opaque finishes punctuating the light, yet warm tones.

“Right from the start, they had very clear ideas in terms of style and design, both functional and aesthetic,” says designer Francesca Burdisso. “For example, they wanted the stairs and the lobby to be the main focus, and we tried to make the most of their request by creating a totally free-floating staircase sculpture and a bronze sculpture by Giacinto Bosco chosen by the owner that reaches up through the stairwell.”

Adding to the sense of airiness in the lobby is a toughened glass plate that’s integrated into the deckhead, allowing natural light to filter down from a skylight on the sundeck all the way through the yacht to the four ensuite guest staterooms on the lower deck. The crew has discreet access to the accommodation corridor from quarters forward.

In a nod to the yacht’s explorer DNA, the tender is stowed on the upper deck aft with a custom-designed crane. On the foredeck, there’s an open-air dinette and a sunpad that can be shaded by an awning. In between, the sky lounge is a chill-out zone with sofas, a flat-screen TV and a bar/pantry.

There is a beach club in the transom, but the main open-air social areas are the foredeck and sundeck, which has a bar, barbecue and dining space for a full complement of guests. There is a hot tub forward, and the owners chose to place some gym equipment there as well. Literally, a gym with a view.

Rosetti Superyachts’ commercial shipbuilding heritage is perhaps most apparent in the technical areas that guests never get to see: the wheelhouse with a ship’s office and captain’s cabin in easy reach; the dedicated laundry and bosun’s store; the extra cold and dry storage on the lower deck; and the inspection tunnel in the under-lower deck for accessing the stabilizer compartments and fuel tanks.

“The round-bilge displacement hull form is the result of 25 years of experience, 15 of them spent mainly designing explorer yachts,” Cutolo says, adding that he was aboard in rough seas with the northerly bora wind blowing in the Adriatic. “We had the owner and surveyors on board, and the boat performed very well.”

For a first yacht project, Emocean gives Rosetti Superyachts an impressive debut, and the brand is confident that it’s onto a winner. Well before Emocean made her U.S. premiere at the Palm Beach International Boat Show earlier this year, the shipyard was commissioned to build a sistership. 

LOA: 125ft. 2in. (38.15m)
BEAM: 29ft. (8.85m)
DRAFT: 8ft. 4in. (2.53m)
CONSTRUCTION: steel and aluminum
GROSS TONNAGE: 432
SPEED (max./cruise): 13.5/11 knots
RANGE: 5,000nm @10 knots
NAVAL ARCHITECTURE: Hydro Tec
EXTERIOR DESIGN: Hydro Tec
INTERIOR DESIGN: Burdisso Capponi Yachts&Design
BUILDER: Rosetti Superyachts

For more information: rosettisuperyachts.it

This article was originally published in the Fall 2022 issue.