Pensacola: Tailor made art

Written by Miquel Mallafré Translation Marco Benevento

On board

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Pensacola is not the first 2100 Open launched by Couach Yachts, nevertheless, it deserves our interest because it allows us to show the capacity of the French shipyard to adapt itself to the most demanding orders. In this case giving capacity to the owner’s works of art.

The French shipyard Couach Yachts has coined the phrase “yacht couture” to explain its work philosophy consisting in the tailor made construction of yachts of the highest level. The company has a broad experience in the naval construction, with frequent orders made for different French and foreign public organizations, which has allowed them to develop a very demanding technology and to generate synergies between the official orders, in which solidity and performance are required, and those coming from private owners, in which the sports performance and the design elements that contribute to the luxury and comfort are added. On the technological section we will stand out that both the hull as well as the deck and the superstructure are hand laminated, using composites and Kevlar, combining monolithic areas of high resistance with others in which balsa sandwich or PVC foam cores are used to obtain rigidity and low weight, with the purpose of obtaining high speed performance. About the aesthetic aspect it is a good example of the capacity of the shipyard to develop any order, because on a length in which the make usually offers a distribution in three double cabins and three bathrooms, they have gone to four cabins and three bathrooms, with the par ticularity that the whole boat has been designed in detail to take in a series of contemporary works of ar t belonging to the owner. In this way Couach shows its capacity to reinterpret itself, because when Pensacola was launched the shipyard had already built other ten units of the 2100 Open model.

Functional exteriors

If we look at Pensacola moored stern to the quay we will already be able to see that the functional aspects have been very well taken into account. For a star ter, the communication between the cockpit and the platform takes place through central stairs framed by handrails, but also two other smaller lateral stairs have been anticipated. What is so much reiteration for? Very simple. The main stairs hide the hydraulic gangway and, when it is in place to go ashore there would be no way to descend to the platform. In addition, the platform is divided in two asymmetric parts, which are common with the transom, to allow the access to the garage of a tender and a water bike. Thus, when one of the two parts goes up there is always a useful stair on the part that is fixed.
The cockpit is very ample and is divided in two by a central corridor. Each one of these par ts is equipped with tables surrounded by large C shaped sofas, whereas the front part has a grill on starboard and the port side has a fridge and a sink, with work surface and many spaces advantageously used for stowage on both sides. Other solutions experienced by the shipyard consist in placing a central solarium, with a large garage underneath, or arranging lateral sofas, but what is important is that the make can adapt the design of the aft deck to the desires of the owner in every single unit. Another remarkable characteristic in this case is the window that separates the interior from the outside, because it is possible to open it until being against the poop deck, which allows generating a great communication between the inside and the outside. Over the poop deck a rolling up awning extending towards the stern has been anticipated, with the aim of protecting all the living area, where, by the way, a second steering position with the handles for the engines and the switches for the bow and stern thrusters have also been anticipated to attend the manoeuvre of mooring in port.
The fore deck has a triple utility. The main surface is destined to the solarium, but there are also the hatches that illuminate from above the two forward double cabins; next, more forward, there is a sofa that allows sailing seated looking forward and, finally, there is the manoeuvre, with a central windlass and large fittings. At this point it is necessary to pay attention to the design of the rail, made in wood, that runs all along the boat, but is interrupted where it is convenient to fix cleats and fairleaders in a very elegant way. From here there is also access to the crew cabin, with a very well used space, but in this case we will highlight the deck lights made in thick glass flush on the floor to provide natural light right over each one of the two bunks.

More in Super Yachts Review nº 034