San Lorenzo 72

Customer satisfaction

Where better to start the San Lorenzo story than with the word: custom? After all, the whole idea with this revered Italian yard is to provide a proven hull with serious engineering with which you, the discerning customer, stamps your own style using virtually unlimited interior furnishings, fittings and cabin layouts. Fly to Italy and watch your dreamboat unfold. Sail the Med' before you have your boat delivered back home.

A boutique yard with a 46-year history trotting out about 30 boats a year, San Lorenzo builds custom boats headed by its semi-displacement 40-metre superyacht, a boat fashioned from aluminium. But the word semi-custom is at least apt for its composite craft in a bigger range of yachts from the sleek SL62 through to a 37-metre.

The $6 million SL72 that debuted at the 2007 Sydney International Boat Show showcases the Italian badge beautifully. The boat seen here makes a statement about style and elegance, boasts superyacht systems in a walk-in engineroom, but also reflects the wisdom of its importer who chopped and changed some things to make this flag bearer a yet better boat for local conditions.

To this end, the crew quarters were moved from the bow to the stern. All the boat's impressive main breakers panels were also located back aft in the crew den to give the boat a clean and simple appearance. Meanwhile, the galley, ordinarily partitioned from the saloon, was opened up to create a more engaging layout. Then come the soft furnishings.

Such flexibility - the fact you virtually have carte blanche when you buy a San Lorenzo - will be music to the ears of those with deep pockets who have worked their way through various off-the-shelf production boats before. It follows that you then realise the limitations of your factory-rolled boat and look to new horizons like a (semi) custom boatbuilder.

Yet despite hailing from the fashion capital of the world, the SL72 isn't so contemporary that it will date. The boat teams sleek low-profile lines with ship-like bulwarks, an accommodating flybridge with a low centre of gravity - she doesn't roll like some of the oversized motoryachts on the market -and a big accommodation plan boasting three cabins and four heads, plus separate luxurious crew quarters for two with a fully kitted-out en suite.

While bone-coloured travertine is used for the vanity tops in the bathrooms, while the showerheads are the latest and greatest Italian designer numbers, and though there are leather lounges, the Italianate styling isn't at all glitzy. Making a big statement, the wonderful timber joinery - satin-finished American walnut, which is a large-grained timber more like oak - offers a sense of understated elegance and timelessness is this semi-custom 72-footer.

In fact, there are more than 100 timbers to choose from, four levels of gloss finish, swatches upon swatches of the latest trendy textured fabrics, lots of trick lighting plans, options on the flooring from timber to Amtico to marble, and chair and table types. And depending on what you specify, the dash is custom made before being finished in soft hide.

SUPERYACHT SYSTEMS
Home to twin MTU V10 2000 Series engines with the M92 electronic upgrade thereby generating 1360hp aside, and with V-drives to maximise the size of the owner's stateroom, the SL72's walk-in engineroom is a real highlight.

Accessed through a watertight door in the transom and through the foyer of the crew quarters, the engineroom is akin to what you get in a fully custom boat rather than the ho-hum arrangement that's par for the production-boat course.

Such is the 24V fan-forced ventilation that once we cracked the second watertight door off the crew quarters, a fair gale buffeted the face as I walked inside. Headroom is about two metres and, I noted, twin Kohler generators, 22kW and 19kW models, to power the tropical-strength chilled-water air-con.

Hydraulic units running off the MTUs are used to power the responsive bow and stern thrusters, the boat's paserelle and the 600kg-lift Besenzoni crane on the flybridge, which can lift a jetboat or big RIB. Such are the hydraulics that no belts are found in the engineroom.

A full-width aluminium fuel tank - upgraded from 5000 to 6000lt - is located roughly amidships, with a smaller gravity-fed day tank that, without the need for pumps, keeps the fuel system nice and simple. There were dual fuel filters for each MTU and, under the checker-plate centre walkway, a series of big sea strainers. The boat was plumbed for a watermaker.

All the San Lorenzo's plumbing systems including grey and black water tanks have back-up pumps, I'm told, while the fire-fighting system goes well beyond what's necessary. I should add that the San Lorenzo cooling system for the MTUs was mighty impressive, with the stainless steel piping reminiscent of something you would find in a small ship. Which, this is.

Local San Lorenzo importer, Euroyachts, says not a lot is needed to put the boat in survey. I'm told, the SL72 would meet demanding international A.B.S. standards in respect of construction and engineering (if, in fact, A.B.S. certified yachts under 24 metres in length).

Among the thoughtful stuff are an emergency steering system with spare wheel rather than tiller, an emergency engine-driven bilge pump, and an oil-change system. The boat is all 24V/240V with an inverter fitted for powering the AV if you decide to shut the generators down.

As for the hull construction, San Lorenzo uses solid GRP and vinylester resin for the running surfaces and composite construction for the hull sides and decks. There is a complex series of stringers, cross members and bulkheads to give the boat rigidity. There is no keel, nor are there prop tunnels, but full-width chines are used to good effect for spray deflection and lift. Also, not that the SL72 reflects the boat's true length, since there is no add-on boarding platform, bowsprit or other appendage.

Besides housing all the boat's main breakers, the crew quarters have transverse bunks - all the beds including the single mattresses here are extra-wide  -  plus a luxury head with Tecma loo and travertine vanity top, slimline Italian shower rose, and more. Last but not least, all the machinery is soft mounted to prevent vibration and the boat is fitted with an automatic chain-wash system.

LUNCH ON EITHER DECK
While boats like this are all about living in comfort and cruising in style, entertaining is a big part of their inshore agenda. The SL72 has a decent cockpit covered by a big flybridge overhang. You can do eight in shade around the table in the cockpit from whence bulwarks lead forward to the integrated foredeck sunpad that's big enough for a full complement of bronzed statues.

The teak decks are, I'm told, all 12mm extra-thick planking. Accent lighting and varnished timber rails also trace the decks, where the stainless steel rails along the bulwarks are rectangular for a better grip than regular round rails. Where the crew quarters were formerly located in the bow, the SL72 now has a big storage hold for fenders, water toys and such like, with a second big storage hatch running the length of the base of the windscreen.

A penthouse of sorts, the flybridge features a big aft deck for toting the tender or, sans duckie, doubling as an observation post. Nearby is an amenities pod with fridge, sink and scope for icemaker or recessed barbie. Seating ranges from an L-shaped lounge to a rear-facing one. Extend the table, add some occasional chairs and eight can dine up top. The boat was to be fitted with a bimini for shade as well.

Electronics centre round a Raymarine E120, which was linked to closed-circuit television for better views when docking. But the boat was fitted with wiring runs for a remote-docking device to make it an easier vessel to handle shorthanded in future. Meanwhile, the MTUs are inherently nice things to use, the big timber wheel gives a ship's feel to the modern boat, and full marks for the waterproof covers over the engines gauges and switch panels in the open bridge.

INDOOR LIVING
The SL72 has not one, but two wine fridges - the mark of a luxury boat, for sure - and scope to fit a custom wet bar in the saloon. There was a pop-up TV in a cabinet, operated with a radio remote, before a massive U-shaped leather lounge for 10 in the lower saloon. There was also scope to fit another popup television alongside the breakfast table and lounge for four behind the windscreen.

Locking cantilevered ships doors lead into the galley to starboard and the base of the internal steps, opposite, that lead to the bridge. In the centre of the boat is a dedicated dining setting for six with glass table, trick dark-brown San Lorenzo leather chairs, digital and optical lighting. A smart touch was the pullout timber servery that lets you boost the food-prep space in the galley and stage, say, buffet breakfasts. Sisal carpet throughout the saloon is soft and serviceable.

But the marble flooring, granite counters (perfect for making pasta) and stainless steel European appliances, mainly Miele, create an upmarket feel in the galley, which was opened up to better integrate it with the living areas. From four-burner cooktop to microwave oven, side-by-side fridge/freezer to dishwasher, it's all here along with extra freezer space, say the specs.

Accommodation is forward, after the foyer with separate washer and dryer and a handy dayhead for guests. With three double cabins, a pullout bed in the media room, and the aforesaid aft crew quarters you can sleep 10 aboard. Features of the VIP cabin in the bow, with queen-bed against the wall, are big opening portlights that let you direct natural ventilation aboard at a protected anchorage.

White and gold bedding and a manmade suede bedhead add elegance, while marble floors and vanities and a big shower stall, with Tecma loo and Italian bathroom fittings, finish off the en suites.

The media room is a real retreat, with pull-across door, flatscreen television, wine fridge and lounge that converts to a daybed. There's a DVD player and, in movie mode with the curtains drawn, you can immerse yourself in another world. Worse case, throw the grandchildren in there with their Xbox.

There's a port cabin with a double bed, but the full-beam stateroom is the bomb, with a massive bed and a terrific two metres of headroom that defies the sleek lines of this yacht. There are yet more big portlights, separate AV and air-con, built-in drawers, a walk-in wardrobe with custom storage space, and a makeup centre or office with a stool and 240V outlets. The owner's en suite is something else, with a massive shower and more wonderful marble. And with the generator running, barely a whisper, I was told.

ITALIAN STALLION
With the big MTUs offering 2720hp in total, the 50-tonne (light-ship displacement) SL72 is eager to please. Its aerodynamic lines remind me of a missile, as does the performance. The best speed they've had out of the SL72 thus far is 32 knots, but if you want more grunt then twin 1520hp MTUs are an option.

Champagne-and-canapé cruise speed of 10kts was clocked at 1000rpm, 15kts came in at 1600rpm, and a long-range coastal cruise speed of 20kts was noted by the skipper at 2000rpm. All the while, the boat remained smooth and quiet thanks to underwater exhausts, full floor and roof insulation, and five-blade props.

But the push-button retractable screen on the lower dash, which operates all the boat's systems via a touch screen, is the piece de resistance. Everything from the wipers to the fans, the trim tabs to the lights and pumps can be selected and, at the push of a button, you can check fuel, water and holding tanks. Big boat stuff.

Euroyachts says the SL72 is only 15 per cent more expensive than a Princess 23M. Both substantial motoryachts, but the SL72's systems are in keeping with a true yacht and not a production boat. They are at once simple and logical and, with the aftermarket docking station, just one person should be able to take this 72 out of its pen. Put it all together and words like superyacht as well as (semi) custom really do come to mind.

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