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They weren’t in a hurry or anything, but as I trundled my bag along the concrete quay toward the boat, I could tell not only that had I been spotted, but also that the engines were already running. Fresh from the airport, I was returning to Cannes, France, the day after the boat show closed, to join Sessa’s C52 for part of her return trip to Italy. However, I would only be riding along on part of the trip because another show was about to start, in Monaco. I had booked myself into a hotel just along the coast at Menton, near the French-Italian border. The Sessa was my taxi.
Lines were cast off, and Francesco, the captain, was conning our ship out of the harbor before I had even unpacked the test gear. After the rigors of early-morning air travel, I was as ready as anyone to get on the water, for it was a clear-blue autumn day with the azure Mediterranean at its most alluring, and I had spent a good couple of hours the previous week investigating the boat’s every nook and cranny with a tape measure and notebook. All that remained was to take her to sea.
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It was an enticing prospect. This area is one of Europe’s classic and classiest cruising grounds. The French Riviera was put firmly on the post-war yachting map by the likes of Aristotle Onassis and Stavros Niarchos, whose sybaritic rivalries occasionally strayed towards the bizarre—whale scrotum bar stools, anyone? —while Brigitte Bardot, sunning herself aboard her Riva off St. Tropez, also did wonders for the area’s image. It’s only about 65 nautical miles from the Iles d’Hyères to the Italian border, but the roll of honor reads like a gazetteer of posh yachting: St. Raphael, Antibes, Cap Ferrat, Villefranche, Beaulieu, and of course, Monaco.
The interior of the C52 is an altogether more tasteful confection than either of those infamous Greeks would have appreciated. Sessa offers a choice of styles, which gives you the option of a chic and modern interior or a warm and traditional one—or, of course, a combination of the two. The paneling can be of white lacquer or natural oak and the upholstery white or beige leather. The galley surfaces can be brushed stainless steel, as on my test model, or nut-brown marble, while silk fabrics in the staterooms can be in either yellows and creams or fiery reds and browns.
The flagship of the company’s range, Sessa’s C52 is a well-thought-out three-cabin boat with two heads, an en suite for the master cabin in the forepeak and a second one amidships, semi-en suite with the port guest cabin. The accommodation below decks is arranged around a central saloon and galley area, with a large dinette on the starboard side and the galley to port. The folding table is an elegantly simple oak double-leaf design with a nested pair of upholstered stools stowed underneath and held in place by a sort of elasticated leather garter—using these, you could comfortably seat six or maybe more. The galley is short, straight, and simple, with both high and low cabinets, a single sink, and a central fridge below the worktop.
Up forward, the owner’s cabin is a relatively palatial affair. I had three fingers’ clearance over my head, or around 6'2” headroom, plus there was a queen-size central berth and a head to starboard with a circular shower stall. The owner is clearly expected to go cruising, with plenty of stowage provided: a 40-inch-wide, double-fronted wardrobe on the port side, a smaller one opposite, and three big drawers under the foot of the bed.
Sadly, the same cannot be said of stowage for the guests. Neither the double cabin to port nor the twin on the starboard side has enough locker space for more than a weekend away, with just a smallish hanging locker apiece and some shelves. The cabins themselves are fine, however—reasonably spacious, and with marginally better headroom in the standing areas than the master. If you have guests of different sizes, it might be worth remembering that the berths are slightly lower in the starboard cabin and so have more sitting headroom.
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