Dario Schiavo speaks with Aldo Manna of Antonini Navi about the shipyard’s new line of sport utility yachts…
32-metre explorer
Last year, we reported on Antonini Navi’s sale of its first 32-metre explorer yacht, which was quickly followed by the sale of 34-metre Seamore for an Italian owner, both scheduled for delivery in 2025. Here, we follow up with Aldo Manna, Antonini Navi partner and sales director, and founder of SUY, the sport utility yacht concept, about the La Spezia-based yard’s new line of SUYs.
The concept is based on increased space dedicated to tender and toy stowage. Currently in build and due for delivery in 2026 is the first of the yard’s SUYs, a 44-metre displacement motoryacht, SUY 135. Developed with designer Fulvio De Simoni and with naval architecture by Studio Arrabito, it is part of a larger project that Antonini Navi will be soon introducing, the SUY 190 and SUY 108.
Manna tells us that clients are giving clear signals of what they require from yachts under 500gt, demanding builds, preferably in steel, that are more compact and have different characteristics compared to a few years ago.
Aldo Manna, sales director, Antonini Navi
“Recently the need arose to have a yacht with generous volumes to stow toys, amenities, tenders, and any other means suitable for the many sporting and recreational activities that the sea and its places can offer,” Manna says. “The SUY is a concept I developed as a yachtsman who loves the sea and has 30 years of experience in sailing, which made me realise the ever-increasing need to have a large volume on board to stow a tender, but above all the ever-increasing number of toys that the owner wants to have on board. We did some market research and realised that there are at least 20 companies in the world that produce toys, amphibians, divers, that take up as much as five and six metres [space].”
The SUY is essentially a distillation of this idea, which aims to designate less volume to the liveable parts of the yacht and dedicate it instead to accommodate the storage of toys.
Manna explains that the young owner is “more and more willing to deprive himself of one or two dining areas, settling for just one, a few guest cabins, but with the possibility of having toys and amenities on board. To achieve these goals, we have raised the aft deck considerably, creating a raised aft upper deck that allows for significant aft stowage volume, while retaining the classic free-standing aft deck that can also function as an external garage.”
Seamore keel laying
The internal garage is approximately 40 square metres and “a safe environment for electrically powered toys with lithium battery charging, ventilated, watertight equipped with one or more cranes for handling toys.”
The SUY 135 has a range of 4,000nm at a cruising speed of 10 knots, with a maximum speed of 16 knots, and is fitted with zero-speed stabilisers.
Antonini Navi’s diesel-electric proposal on the SUY line foresees the supply of two or more generating sets of the customer’s choice, with variable revolutions, which can power electric motors either connected to the traditional shaft line or high-speed pods.
The generators can also be connected to lithium battery packs to provide the option of supplying both the energy needed for all the yacht’s electrical systems (hotel mode) and for cruising at low speed with zero emissions for short trips from one bay to another in total silence.
Alessandro Diomedi, sales broker at Moravia Yachting, which has been appointed central agency for the SUY series, says: “It’s an interesting and innovative concept with big volumes and great capacity to carry large water toys whilst, at the same time, special attention is given to the yacht owner’s privacy and lifestyle.”
UP40 explorer
After the 32-metre explorer, the 34-metre Seamore and this first unit of the SUY 135, Antonini Navi is also building on spec a fourth hull based on the 40-metre utility explorer (UP40) platform.
More Information: www.superyachtnews.com