Nauta 151 Bluewater Performance Sloop Taking Shape

“Combining comfort and safety to explore the world with an extremely lightweight yacht that was competitive in superyacht regattas wasn’t an easy task,” admits Mario Pedol, co-founder of Nauta Design in Milan. “The owner wanted a solid, autonomous and safe yacht that was also efficient and modern with a powerful sail plan.”

The request came from a repeat client for whom Nauta had previously designed a 34-metre sailing yacht based on a broadly similar brief. The owner was assisted, as for the previous time, by the MCM’s Nigel Ingram who acted as Owner’s Representative.

“Working for a repeat client is always very gratifying,” says Nigel Ingram, “and on this occasion especially so as not only MCM but also Nauta and Reichel/Pugh, all of whom worked on the previous project, received the call from this very experienced client. A strong team to work with Royal Huisman on this very special project.”

The owner has stepped up in size to 46 metres, however was eager to retain the spirit of his former yacht, including the deckhouse design.

“The deckhouse is essential as it allows to look outside and see the sea while seated in the main salon,” says Massimo Gino, Nauta Design co-founder and partner. Although carbon fibre construction was considered in the early phases of the project, the design team eventually opted for an aluminium project that could still provide high performance but combined with robustness and acoustic comfort for extended bluewater sailing.

“I started thinking that an aluminium hull weighs 60-70% more than a carbon boat, but the weight of the hull and deck is only about 15% of the total weight of a sailing yacht,” says Pedol. “Our early intuition was that an aluminium construction sailing yacht could be much lighter than the existing aluminium fleet. Royal Huisman supported this vision with enthusiasm and accepted the challenging target of a light displacement yacht. Extensive research work and calculations confirmed our initial thought.”

The Nauta 151 Project 405 features an exterior profile defined by an unobtrusive deckhouse that blends gracefully with the austere sheet line. Royal Huisman has embraced Nauta’s bid to make the yacht as lightweight as possible by blending aluminium with carbon composite construction. The deckhouse, guest cockpit and hardtop are all in carbon fibre by Rondal, Royal Huisman’s sister company, who are also building the Panamax carbon mast, boom and the yacht’s integrated sail handling system.