Happiness is a yacht that never stops. That’s certainly the case with Saramour, CRN’s 61.3-metre that has been cruising plenty of miles since her launch last year, and was one of the stars
of this year’s Monaco Yacht Show. The fact is, she should have been one of the stars of last year’s show, but the owner was so keen on cruising his new beast (which launched in May of last year), that the show never had a chance. Boats fail to appear at shows for any number of reasons, but the most palatable for the yard concerned is when the owner just can’t get enough of his yacht.

Saramour’s radar arch offers some shade for those on the sundeck

The cruising itinerary thus far has been exclusively Mediterranean based – the Greek islands, the Balearics, Sardinia and Corsica. Saramour’s owner worked closely with the yard on many aspects of the yacht’s build, but the keynote, emotional principle that CRN was given before the project began was that the yacht should be built as if it were a house – “it should create the same cozy and familiar feeling and the same privacy as a home”, the yard says.

The fold-down transom door creates a big terrace over the sea

For Francesco Paszkowski, engaged by the owner to design the yacht inside and out, this was a first CRN yacht, and when he says “the yard was looking to introduce innovative features while preserving a family feeling”, he means not only the particular characteristics of the yacht, but how the project as a whole progressed. “It was the first time for us to work with CRN and we tried to learn as much as possible of the yard’s traditions. I wanted to understand the things that characterise its identity,” he says. “Saramour is an evolution of the CRN brand DNA.”

The owner’s suite on the dedicated owner’s deck

Unusually, the owner wanted a sixth deck, with the sundeck above the ‘fly deck’ to maximise exterior space. The upper deck is given over entirely to the owner, with the bridge and captain’s cabin moved to the fly deck above. That extra space is great news for a designer, but there was a potentially competing request in the specification – the yacht needed to look good on the water. “We tried to exploit the volumes of the boat and yet give her slender lines – despite her six decks,” Francesco Paszkowski says. And it’s something that he’s pulled off, with a yacht that has plenty of engaging visual quirks in profile. The sweeping knuckle at the bow brings a certain sportiness, while the three rectangular recessed windows on the main deck and the long streak of windows on every deck, work as a contrast to the curvaceous sundeck. “The sundeck profile is leaning slightly backwards, and that helps to create a harmonious result,” he says.

The owner’s private hot-tub, shaded by the fly deck overhang

The owner’s deck is more than just a getting-away-from-it-all retreat, with a spacious studio and office area, and access forward to a pool and sunbathing area. “The overhang has been purposely shaped so that nobody standing on the deck above can look down on it,” says Paszkowski. The pool itself is an engaging space, lined in shaped teak and decorated with a startling blue-and-white mosaic. A glass panel forward allows the light and water to play, and the pool also has its own illumination. The whole space can be covered to create a huge sunpad.

Custom-made sofas and colourful artworks in the owner’s salon

While privacy is a key issue, the owner’s deck has a wonderfully open feel, with a great view forward from the main suite through the huge expanse of windows to the private terrace, and also from the light-filled salon that leads to the dining table on the aft deck. Paszkowski says that light is “a fundamental aspect of the project”. “Wide windows provide the interior with abundant natural light, as does the skylight on the fly deck,” he says.

The view from the beach club

Complementing all this natural illumination is a generally light interior décor. The main wood is Canaletto walnut, which contrasts with the lacquered burgundy finish – together, this gives the interior something of a summery feel. Thala beige natural marble in the bathrooms and some of the wall recesses is another light material, while the primary colours used for the seating vary between white and cream. Saramour feels, as a whole, an open and relaxed yacht.
With one whole deck bagged by the owner, you might suppose that this is a yacht to own rather than to be a guest aboard. In fact, guests are very well catered for, with options aplenty. The yacht’s fly deck has a generous acreage of non-sociable sunlounging, or you can engage with other guests around the seating and table, though the free-standing furniture can be arranged to suit yourself. The deck can also be utilised for touch-and-go heli operations.

Elegant mosaics decorate the wellness area

Inside, there’s a wellness area with a sauna and Turkish bath, and the space benefits from glass panels in the roof. It can be configured as a gym or massage room (there’s Technogym equipment in situ, as well as a massage bed that can be moved outside). The captain does rather well with his cabin on this deck, with plenty of natural light flooding in. There is also a staff cabin to port with pullman berths.

Stairs either side of the wellness area lead to the sundeck – an out-of-the-way space that underlines the virtue of having a sixth deck. The round hot-tub gets some shelter from the main mast, while there is also plenty of sunbathing space. It’s not just the upper parts of the yacht that offer a high quotient of guest possibilities. The beach club area, too, has a fold-out door that creates a perfect solarium over the sea, with room for a pair of sunloungers and some occasional chairs further aft. Unusually, the yacht’s main tenders are housed in port and starboard transverse garages, with folding doors either side. They hold an 8.2-metre Riva Iseo and a 6.4-metre Castoldi.

There is plenty of main salon seating

Once you get used to the neutral tones of the décor, the sudden flashes of colour come as a thrilling surprise. This is particularly true on the main deck aft, where the orange cushions of the seating area – shaded by the overhang from the owner’s deck – catch the eye. Inside, too, great virtue has been made of artworks from the owner’s collection. CRN talks of the owner wanting “to turn the yacht into an art gallery that reflects his passions and taste”, and you sense a collector who prizes the conceptual and the vibrant above all else.

Artworks add a thrilling dash of colour throughout

Elements of the best of modern design are everywhere in the guest areas, with paintings and art pieces are used as more than decoration throughout – there is a clear sense that they have been curated, so that the pieces reflect the colour palette of the cabin. A bright yellow seating area at the main salon entrance is another refreshing burst of colour, a step away from any sense of neutrality, and towards the personal and the characterful. The salon isn’t full beam but it has an open feel, and at first it seems an homage to modernity, but the antique Persian carpets catch the eye, bringing an eclectic air to the whole space. Again, it is a personal touch that works.

A TV screen lives in a ceiling panel and can be lowered when required. The yacht’s entertainment systems, as well as key elements of the environment in the cabins, are iPad controlled, with a system developed by CRN in co-operation with Videoworks.

With the owner’s suite a deck above, there is room for a VIP forward on the main deck, past a balcony to starboard – a winning hideaway. The suite is full beam, with the bed to starboard and a cosy sitting room to port. The colours are more expressive here – the furniture, the décor and the works of art – while the living area boasts two magnificent recliners.

An 8.2-metre Riva Iseo in the tender garage

Below, once again, the temptation to cram too much in has been resisted. Amidships is a second full-beam VIP suite where the bed and bathroom are divided by a see-through glazed surface with a Venetian blind. The bed itself has a curved lacquered bedhead (as do the beds on the VIP above and in the owner’s suite). The conversation area in the middle of the cabin is furnished with cider-shade armchairs with burgundy stitching and a coffee table with a glass top. There are two other doubles forward, each benefiting from artworks from the owner’s collection. No guest aboard Saramour is going to feel in the least short-changed.

When Paszkowski talks of a brief that specified “large cabins and social areas for long, relaxing holidays and family time, as well as the highest privacy”, it’s not difficult to see a potential for conflict between the need for seclusion and the desire for openness. But he and CRN have pulled off the trick remarkably well. Here’s a yacht that remains big and expansive with a rich set of choices for guests, yet is never less than an intimate, personal and cosy domestic space.
• A version of this feature appears in SuperYacht World Iss 45 (September/October 2015)