THE SLIM LINE
A couple of trends have influenced yacht design in the past fewyears – one consists of packing as much volume as possible on to a shorter hull, which results in a tall structure and capacious dimensions; the other takes the opposite direction, keeping the height low and lines long. K2, a 50-metre tri-deck built at Palumbo Shipyards in Ancona, Italy, with exterior design by Luca Dini, abides by the second school of thought: long lines, a low profile (generous headroom notwithstanding) and a volume just shy of 5 00GT.
This figure is important because, beyond that 500GT mark, a yacht becomes subject to a slew of additional certifications under international rules designed for ships. They’re applicable to everything from machinery to construction materials, adding substantial cost and time to the build for features that don’t make sense on a yacht of this size. Striking the right balance is a high- stakes game. “This is a complex recipe, and you have to be careful with the ingredients,” says Gianpaolo Lapenna, COO of Palumbo Superyachts.
A few requirements made it even more complex than usual to achieve that balance
