The Perini Navi brand, even to those uninitiated to sailing, immediately recalls superlatives like peak performance, advanced technology, consummate quality, luxurious design, and exacting attention to detail. When superyacht enthusiasts and sailors hear that name, one imagines they feel this frisson of envy or lust, or immense comfort and satisfaction if they already a proud owner. Either reaction is certainly not without reason. Reviewing a list of the largest luxury sailing yachts constructed, the Perini Navi name is repeated over and over, like a mantra.
When the inimitable brand launched S/Y Seven, its 62nd ship, and its third in the 60-meter line in August of 2017, she was a natural, yet progressive evolution from the earlier Seahawk and Perseus 3. The epitome of sleek, clean lines from without as well as within, she bears a much lower profile than her 60-meter sisters. She is rather dark and quite serious, imposing even, although never dour. In fact, at first glance, she welcomes both your attention and your admiration, re-affirming the ongoing, delicate balance between contemplative design and optimized performance.
Naval architecture was from the historically ever-fruitful collaboration between Perini and Ron Holland Design. After her christening at the brand’s Viareggio headquarters, the following month the aluminum, monohulled ketch -- and indeed the Perini brand itself -- went on to make quite a splash at the Monaco Yacht Show. A few months later, in 2018, she garnered a coveted Boat International Design and Innovation award for Dante O. Benini & Partners’ cutting-edge work on Lighting, in the second year the category was introduced. It would also mark the second year a Perini superyacht claimed this distinction; the brand’s 70-meter Sybaris was the first recipient of the novel Lighting category award and even garnered two more Neptune statuettes that season.
While Benini & Partners was well-known for urban planning and commercial spaces, this was not their first superyacht, although it was their first project with Perini. While one might flippantly dismiss design style, true innovation is no mean feat and speaks to dedicated efforts to create solutions to persistent challenges. In this case, a challenge was to completely control levels of lighting for any variety of wants and needs of a multi-generational family. On S/Y Seven, that would be reading, gaming, working, displaying or highlighting, and incorporating pre-set ambient lighting in addition to the typical practical or safety measures. Control and configuration of all lighting are from a light panel touchscreen or iPad, although some are motion-sensored, as when entering guest cabins or heads in the middle of the night, no thinking is required, no glare to blind sleepy eyes. In fact, lighting design took far longer than furnishing and fitting out the living spaces. This was the first collaboration of the Benini’s firm with Perini Navi, and the results were nothing short of sublime.
