New Yacht: Baia 70' 'Italia'

Timing is everything. Ironically, I was just putting some info together on this for YF. I met with Baia at the Miami Show, where I was handed a brochure on the new 70' Italia. The "One" was on display at the show, but it's the Italia that will likely garner a lot of press. It's an edgy, futuristic express cruiser combining some Wally elements without looking like an attempt at stealth.

From the Flash slide show, very edgy styling on that. Still not sure about this new fashion for long slit windows in the hull sides though ....

Kelly

Those windows don't actually run the length of the hull. The paint scheme blends with traditional (rectangular) windows in staggered placements to allow views from individual rooms within the interior.

And I agree with you Kelly... long windows bring into question hull integrity.

I took this picture at the Miami Show of Baia's "The One", their new entry level express cruiser that was the genesis behind the Italia 70', which we just featured on the splash page. On the subject of hull windows, I'm putting this image up for discussion.

It's not my intent to question hull integrity. I'm sure Baia has done their homework? But, what is often more important is consumer perception. What drew my attention to this was not the obvious, but rather the concerning comments I heard from a few people examining the same, which prompted me to look at what they were talking about. Frankly, I was a little taken back by this too.

Thoughts?

Carl, did you have a chance to take a peek at the 78'? It had a very interesting concept of making the indoors part of the outdoors. Their aft deck door folds up into the headliner making the space one big area. There is a side door that lifts up to make the walkaround decks clear for people to walk on. It is quite a show to watch them open and close them. Biggest issue that I saw if that if they are closed and you want to go out, don't plan on being in a hurry.

Big winder, huh? I see this is the new fashion craze. My guess (hope really) is that the material is not glass. If it's a composite that happens to be transparent, then it could be bonded into the hull. Thus really integral to the hull. But, I am just guessing about this. What did the material look like to you?

Kelly

Form and function

Earlier, I posted a point about a much larger boat (170') where I suggested the use of an atrium-like use of glass on the fore-deck in response to the comments coming in from those here who had seen her first-hand. The comments unanimously suggested that 'more light' was needed to penetrate the mysterious interior spaces...

Overall, the Baia, like the LSX, seem to illustrate a considerable market-trend. As always, the Italians are providing the impetus, (and a never-ending obsession with 'swish,') for a renaissance of interest in these pricey little 'men's' toys... Shall we not await the unveiling of the Danish, and then the French equivalents?

Personally, I think the LSX is an instant classic, so perhaps I err in lumping her into this category. But, overall, the Baia reads like a day-cruiser, wholly impractical over time. Yet, I am quite intrigued by these specific innovations, and I would hope that any American builders following suit will take a lesson from our automotive and furniture design history.

Consistent as they may appear, I seem to remember that the last time Chrysler put their chips on the 'Charger,' it wasn't long before the company faced a total reorganization.

Conversely, dare I point out just how 'dated' most any American products would look side-by-side?

Interesting subject.

From my experience, the large hull windows that we are seeing more of (particularly from the Italian manufacturers) are customer driven requests. It is likely that this trend will perpetuate throughout all the major manufacturers and become the norm within a year or so. Perhaps it is the norm already?

Structually, they have little effect, since they are not one large window from an internal perspective but many small appertures, divided by vertical mullions, giving light into the accomodation in several cabins. You can see this from looking at internal photographs of the boats in question. Very few 'holes' in the hull are more than 1 foot square so the only problem could be if the window is too low (Azimut 43s and 62 for example) and could be broken by carelessly coming alongside a pontoon, leaving you stuck in port until replacement glass arrives. Therefore this feature is surely better left to fwd cabins as a low, glued in, frameless aft cabin portlight, flush to the hull surface is vulnerable. I have not heard of any of these new portlights being broken in this way, but I doubt if it would be advertised if it had caused a problem.

Visually, Riva got this right when they seemingly started the whole thing off a few years ago with long, thin windows rather than tall ungainly black squares that break up the profile of the boats hull (ferretti, azimut, etc).

It also works better on dark coloured hulls in my opinion, where the feature is disguised.
Baia have been clever on the new 70 by overlapping two pieces and by the looks of it have recessed the glass, as have other european manufacturers.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.
Cheers

The idea of oversized portholes is not really new and some of my favorite Feadships from the 60:s have them nicely fitted. Many yachts from Perini Navi has big portholes, but you dont see them as they are flush with the dark hullsides. I had it myself on a sailing boat in the late 60:s and it was fun to see the water pass by when you were healing.

But the windows and portholes of many Italian production boats today, are not really good looking I think. The newer Azimuts has too many shapes and looks like those boxes where babies are learning to fit different pieces together. The Ferrettis are a little better but not as made by a yacht designer.

The Baia 70 however is really well designed in my eyes. Normally I am not impressed by soap designs but this yacht has more of a unity in the lines and the two dark fields hiding the portholes gives a nice overall balance to the yacht. Actually better looking than some of the recent Riva models...