Today Nauta and Wider are very pleased to announce the start of the construction of the Moonflower 72 project, an innovative superyacht equipped with latest generation of the Wider hybrid propulsion system, a trademark of the leading yacht builder.
In early 2021 Mario Pedol, co-founder of Nauta Design in Milan, and Marcello Maggi, who heads up W-Fin Sarl, the holding Company that owns 100% of Wider equity, met up and reciprocally updated their respective projects, constructions and outcoming plans for the future.
Nauta was looking for a builder for a superyacht project in the 70 mt L.O.A. range and attention turned to Wider as the proposed builder.
The two veterans of the superyacht industry immediately saw eye to eye, and soon after the preliminary design package was shared with Wider. That led to an agreement between the client, Wider and Nauta which consisted in signing a Letter of Intent in early September 2021 and a contract in January 2022.
“The Moonflower 72 retains all the key features of modern yet timeless design, onboard liveability and maximum connection with the marine environment – fundamental characteristics of all Nauta projects,” says Mario Pedol. “With Wider we found just the right cocktail of technology and team organisation to make the project a reality.”
The exterior styling reflects Nauta’s trademark preference for clean, uncluttered design without fussy or superfluous detailing. Visual lightness, seamless outdoor/indoor connections, predominantly horizontal lines and the extensive use of glass, highlight the balanced proportions, while the chamfered sheer line amidships adds a dynamic aspect to the displacement hull.
An exterior highlight is ‘The Island’ feature patented by Nauta Design, an expandable aft deck/beach club with folding bulwark terraces that provides a single walkaround space allowing guests to move freely from one side of the yacht to the other, either from inside beach club or from the open aft deck.
“We’ve invested heavily in restructuring the shipyard in anticipation of orders like this one and thanks to the current management that has been working together for 30 years, Wider is able to build the Moonflower 72 to the highest quality levels,” says Marcello Maggi.
The Moonflower 72 will be equipped with the Wider hybrid propulsion system comprising two variable-speed generators of 1,860kW each and a sodium nickel battery bank of approximately 1MW.
As usual for Wider, the use of the latest innovations and technologies to be in harmony with the sea and the environment played an important role in this project too. Considerable attention has been paid to the recovery of energy dispersed in the form of heat from the electrical propulsion system, as well as optimising the operation of the onboard amenities to increase efficiency and reduce consumption by using AI to automatically learn the habits of owner, guests and crew.
