SOLO: A TANKOA STORY

Innovative but rebellious, Tankoa is a shipyard that produces superyachts its own way. It doesn’t follow trends, but instead creates masterpieces that realise the Owner’s wishes. Tankoa’s latest creation, the 72-metre Solo, is a superyacht with an efficient heart and a rogue streak, as we found out one morning in Monaco.

Steve Chalmers

You never know what you’re going to get when you step on board a Tankoa. It’s like going to the cinema to watch a movie that you haven’t seen the trailer for on YouTube. One thing’s for sure with the Italian shipyard: it’ll build a superyacht how it sees fit and fill it with whatever the Owner desires. So yes, Solo does have a tropical fish tank and a bio-ethanol fireplace, yes, that’s real fire, on board a superyacht.

EXTERIOR

We spent the morning with Solo at the Monaco Yacht Show, where she certainly stood out from the 200 other yachts berthed stern-to in Port Hercules. Designed by the man of the moment, Francesco Paszkowski, Solo, like Suerte before her, is a masculine shape. Her lines are bold and confident. Subtle curves can be found in the white superstructure, but it’s sharp edges and 90 degree angles the rest of the way. Militaristic is a good description, made all the more naval by the battleship grey hull.

Fresh air: The three Northern Lights generators are equipped with HUG soot burners to eliminate the usual black smoke stain on the sides of the hull and allow

Not just a pretty face: Solo, apart from being one the most efficient yachts in recent history, is high tech, eco-friendly and incredibly well-equipped.

The hull itself was created by Professor Ruggiero, whose ultra efficient design allows the 1600 Gross Tonne vessel to cut through the water at up to 17.5 knots.

Efficiency is even more impressive, as at 10 knots, with one generator running, she burns a total of 195 litres per hour, providing a colossal range of 7,000 nautical miles. At a cruise speed of 15.7 knots, she still only burns 570 litres per hour, giving her a range of over 4,000 nautical miles with a 10% margin and at her full speed of 17.5 knots, she still can travel over 3,000 nautical miles with a 10% margin.

ECO FRIENDLY

Solo also happens to be super green, making the most of her twin Caterpillar 3516B main engines. These are equipped with Eco Spray SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) systems which significantly reduce emissions. HUG Engineering ‘Nauticlean’ marine soot burners eliminate the usual nasty black smoke stains and a CO2 monitoring system allows the captain to constantly find the sweet spot in terms of speed, to reduce emissions to the minimum.

Far from her rebellious nature, Solo comes with an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) manual, strategically located fuel tanks that limit the possibility of fuel leaks in case of a lateral collision and just to top the guests’ comfort off, the big Tankoa is fitted with two independent stabiliser packs that power the superyacht’s four zero-speed fins.

INTERIOR

“The interior design was realised in collaboration with Margherita Casprini to perfectly reflect the wishes of the Owner,” commented Paszkowski. “Dark and light shades have been carefully balanced to complement each other and the discreet colour palette chosen for the soft furnishings. Both materials and finishes are combined with painstaking attention to detail and Made-in-Italy top brand names.” This, in one quote, describes Solo’s interior perfectly. As soon as you step inside, your world goes dark. We’re so use to experiencing the industry’s buzzwords of “flooded with natural light!” that we’ve forgotten just how good a subtle, low-light interior can be.

Entering Solo is like walking out of the sun into a gentlemen’s club; here, Casprini (who heads up all aspects of Paszkowski interior designs on a consultancy basis) has, at the request of the Owner, used natural materials assembled in a way that the décor offers great balance and modernity, while also being timeless and understated.

Invest in success: Solo has been designed for both private use and charter purposes as requested by the Owner.

Solo’s main woods consist of high gloss Macassar ebony, custom tinted grey oak and black oak. Look up and the celings are made of brushed aluminium, tinted grey oak and nubuck. Stones are Forest Black Antique marble from France, Cappuccino marble from Rajasthan, Striato Elegante Honed marble from India, and Pure White Onyx from Mexico. There are also numerous materials sourced from unorthodox places. For example, the stairwell oak is sourced from a 300-year-old farm in Norway and the sauna wood came all the way from a medieval castle in Finland. It’s a surreal ambience, made all the more dreamlike by the inclusion of the tropical fish tank and the bio-ethanol fireplace.

Militaristic is a good description, made all the more naval by her battleship grey hull.

LUXURY LODGINGS

Solo has accommodation for 12 guests in six cabins, a VIP suite and four doubles (two of them convertible into twins) located on the main deck to ensure total quietness. The Owner gets his own suite on his huge and very private deck. Here, the master bedroom has the advantage of 180 degree glazing plus an overhead skylight and direct access to two intimate outdoor terraces, shaded sun pads and a Bisazza mosaic-tiled, glass-walled Jacuzzi.

The suite is completely separate from the rest of Solo’s guests and thanks to a 4.5 tonne-certified, touch and go helideck, the Owner can arrive in style in an
Augusta 109.

Smooth sailing: As safety and comfort are paramount, Solo is equipped with two independent stabiliser power packs that power the four zero speed fins of 3.6 s

“Internally, Solo has been a true challenge. Since the inception of the project we clearly expressed our will to produce and deliver a boat that could compete head-to-head with the world’s best builders, mostly from Holland and Germany,” commented Tankoa’s Sales & Marketing Director Michel Karsenti. “This ambition was impressed on all our engineers, craftsmen and project managers almost every single day during the construction. No board meetings ended up without the reminder of how important it was to position Tankoa as the highest quality builder in Italy.” Having spent hours on board, experiencing Solo’s delights, such as her winter garden and the beach club with its gym, sauna and hamman, the simple conclusion is that Tankoa’s Solo is a world class superyacht and a worthy cover star for this issue.

www.tankoa.it