On a sunny mid-September morning, the keel laying ceremony of the Flexplorer 146-36, project name Nasarda, took place in the newest shed of CDM facilities in Ancona. Laying the keel is a highly symbolic moment in the life of a yacht as it is the recognition that its construction started. It is usually a formal event yet, as customary at CDM, the keel laying ceremony of this new Flexplorer 146 has been informal and cheerful with the young American owners and their children sharing their enthusiasm with the yard’s team and all participants in the event.
A series of objects, little stars, seashells, rocks have been placed by the children in a steel box later welded by their father to the keel for good fortune to the yacht and her owner family. Flexplorer 146-36 Nasarda is one of three 499 GT Flexplorer 146 currently in build at CDM’s facilities. She features exterior lines and naval architecture by Sergio Cutolo/Hydro Tec while her fresh and informal interiors will be created by award-winning Winch Design studio with the utmost attention to eco-friendly materials.
The interiors will actually be something never seen before in terms of choice of materials, their origin and production,
carbon footprint and appearance. Not much can be disclosed at the moment, but it should be known that all materials carefully chosen with the expert help of the Sustainable Material Manager from the British design firm come in fact with a specific set of data related to the different sustainability criteria which identify and classifies their impact on the environment. Vasco Buonpensiere, co-founder of CdM, says: “I am so very proud to see that our growth is not only to be seen in our financial results, but also in our customer satisfaction (30% of our vessels under construction are for repeat clients), in the quality and reliability of our vessels and the fact that designers like Francesco Paszkowski, Winch Design, Achille Salvagni, are building stronger and stronger relationships with us as a reference shipyard for knowledgeable and mature yachtsmen worldwide.”
Great attention has been dedicated to technical aspects and equipment, too. Flexplorer 146-36 will feature great manoeuvrability and stability as well as dynamic positioning. The yacht will have special equipment to comply with specific rules and restrictions in order to be allowed to sail in protected areas such as Galapagos and other marine sanctuaries, Alaska, etc.
The Flexplorer 146-36 will also feature special systems to manage and reduce electromagnetic fields and radio frequencies. A huge A-frame crane in carbon fibre with multiple hanging points will allow to haul
and launch tenders and toys from the immense stern deck. Buonpensiere adds: “Once again, our pragmatism and solid know-how of environmental friendly technical features is highly appreciated by our customers and their consultants. Many wave the flag of sustainability yet being ‘green’, most of the times, passes through a series of apparently inconspicuous technical choices and environmental friendly behaviours: we shouldn’t forget that we are probably the only shipyard which – already 12 years ago when the word Sustainability wasn’t known by the most – were installing bilge oil separators as a standard on our 86 feet vessels even if it is compulsory to have it only on vessels over the 500 GT threshold and financially supporting the Charles Darwin Foundation, caretaker of the Galapagos Islands.”
