"Actually, this is the second time Fincantieri shipyard has worked with them," Marco Mazzù explains when asked what brought on Fincantieri's collaboration with legendary Italian design group Pininfarina, most famous for its iconic automobile designs. "The first time was in 1991 on 68m Destriero. This was a unique project, a yacht that could reach up to 59 knots. She broke the speed record for crossing the Atlantic from New York to England at an average speed of around 54 knots." This record still hasn’t been broken, nearly 25 years on. For Mazzù, Pininfarina represent the best in Italian design, as the group behind some of the most beautiful Ferraris. "They are a company with a wonderful 85-year history," he adds. "This boat is a celebration of that history, its name is Ottantacinque; 85. It will combine Italian creativity from Pininfarina and Fincantieri’s technological innovation."

As the shipyard behind leviathan super yachts like 140m Ocean Victory and 134m Serene, Fincantieri's focus has been on the top end of the market until now, but Mazzù says that they are starting to look at a next size level down. "We are looking at the 'smaller ones' more recently," he says, laughing when he clarified that 'small' still means 70 to 100m. "This is us reacting to requests we are increasingly getting for this size bracket."

Ottantacinque is a good hint at what Fincantieri's could offer the market in this new size range. The yard's strength has always been in its focus on technology and innovation, something that stems from its diverse engineering background. This 85m capitalises on combining its advanced engineering capabilities with the aesthetic vision of Pininfarina. "They design the lines and we have the technology to build them," says Mazzù. 

"You can feel Pininfarina in the whole design," says Mazzù. "The aft deck has the wonderful slope, for example, like the back of a sport’s car and the lines are mirrored above, with an infinity pool flowing down the upper deck, giving the impression of connection between the decks." 

Two identical pools on the sundeck challenge the typical use of space in this area on yachts by both featuring adjustable bottoms that can each be independently raised to increase the deck space to a total 160sqm if required for entertaining. The yacht's 14.8m beam means that living spaces are maximised, allowing for an additional jacuzzi on the owner's deck and a helipad on the bridge deck. 

The concept features twin pools with raisable bottoms to make deck space truly flexible.

When it comes to any yacht Fincantieri designs or builds, Mazzù is keen to stress that it is all about making a certain lifestyle possible. "Ocean Victory for example has travelled from the Med through to the Maldives, Fiji, Palau and New Zealand," says Mazzù. "Complete luxury, complete privacy but exploring the world." 

Keeping track of the whereabouts of its two yachts is something the yard does with the captains to enable them to provide aftercare and maintenance services. "We do the refits for our yachts," says Mazzù. "But we have also done boats of different sizes and yards ... some Feadships and even work on 160m Eclipse and 155m Al Said." 

The idea of keeping connected with your yachts when they leave the yard to offer all aftercare and refit services is something that all shipyards try to do and something that is easier with such a fledgling fleet (all be it 274m-worth of fleet). But something that has been on the lips of many shipyards for a while is the concept of offering extended warranties in order to secure a long term relationship with clients. Is this something Fincantieri would offer?

"Of course there is a value to having control over the boat when it leaves the yard," he says. "But there is also a cost associated with this. I guess the idea of this is similar to the extended warranties of cars. To avoid losing the clients in the long term, they offer longer warranty periods. But with us, the boats that we do come back to our yard anyway. We know the boats inside out. All the systems and the complexities. For a small boat the risk is that they could go anywhere. But with boats like this, you want to work with those who understand it and built it. We don't feel the necessity to offer extended warranties. This is of course unless a client wants to negotiate this."

For Mazzù, coming to Monaco is important. Not just to connect with potential clients, but, as Fincantieri is a relatively young superyacht brand, to present their market vision and continue to show people who they are and what they are doing. "There will probably never be a Fincantieri yacht at the Monaco Yacht Show, our owners are too private," smiles Mazzù. "But we can come and share our passion and vision all the same."