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For a while there, everyone
looked apprehensive.
It was a Saturday late in June, typically a beautiful time to be in northern
Italy, especially along the Mediterranean coast. But this day the crowd
gathered at Benetti’s shipyard kept looking anxiously at the sky.
They were concerned about the christening for the new 50-meter (164-foot)
Amnesia going off without a hitch, to be sure—but it wasn’t
the threat of rain that had them peering upward. Instead, it was the impending
arrival of the British owners via helicopter. Suddenly the ’copter
appeared on the horizon, approached the shipyard, and landed on Benetti's
new helipad. That, along with the presence of opera singer Andrea Bocelli,
turned the crowd's attention back to earth, and shortly thereafter the
bubbly broke across Amnesia’s bow, just as planned.
Well, almost everything went as planned. The group of people standing
along the front of the slipway received their own christening of sorts
when Amnesia eased down the ways and splashed their feet. Yet whether
they stayed dry or got a bit of a dousing, everyone attending the christening
of Amnesia certainly came away with a memory to last a lifetime.
It's fitting, since from her sumptuous decor to her array of on-the-water
diversions, this Benetti intends to make it hard for guests to remember
the last time they had so much fun.
Her Italian styling, courtesy of Stefano Natucci, certainly makes a big
impression; even during her first summer chartering in the Mediterranean,
where numerous Italian- and European-influenced megayachts spend the season,
Amnesia turned heads. Similar to the four previous 50-meter yachts
Benetti has launched within the past decade, Amnesia has sweeping
lines, large and uncluttered deck spaces thanks to an aft tender garage,
and large oval windows forward.
Her owners and guests can enjoy the yacht’s good looks all the more
because Amnesia is built in compliance with the MCA Code governing
the safety of large yachts. Since Benetti had already incorporated some
MCA requirements on previous launches, such as the 50-meter Queen M in
1999, it was a routine process this time around to address stipulations
such as watertight doors, fire doors, and extra means of escape in accommodation
spaces below deck. Other requirements included fabricating the stairwells
of steel, since steel is nonflammable and therefore, in conjunction with
the fire doors, will prevent potential fires from funneling elsewhere
onboard.
While these safety features are hidden until necessary,
others are visible, but not obviously so. This applies primarily to Amnesia’s
interior decor. The light-tone overheads and carpets and soft-colored
fabrics are all treated for fire resistance, yet to look at or touch them,
no one would ever know it. They add to an overall warm atmosphere highlighted
by cherry paneling with burr wood accents as well as Afyon marble, imported
from Turkey and containing fine veins of salmon and gold.
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Benetti’s Amnesia continued >
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