Serenissima I

A crew of nine for ten guests is close to one carer per guest, the kind of ratio that turns an owner's cruise into full service rather than shared duty. Mengi Yay built Serenissima I in 2024, and at 499 gross tons and 48 metres she carries the scale to support a crew that size.

Build and provenance

She is built in steel below the waterline and aluminium above, keeping her weight lower without losing strength. Van Oossanen drew her naval architecture, and Nuvolari Lenard designed both her exterior and interior, one studio carrying the look from the hull lines through to the furniture. She is built to commercial coding.

Layout and accommodation

Ten guests sleep in five cabins, with a private owner's deck set above the guest decks for the principal suite: a walk-in dressing area and its own bathroom, with windows over the water and a private terrace beyond. Four further cabins sit on the lower deck, including twin en-suite rooms that can be arranged as doubles. Nine crew live and work in five cabins of their own on the lower deck, kept apart from the guest areas. An elevator connects every interior deck, so moving between them never means the stairs.

Performance and engineering

Two 1,450 hp Caterpillar C32 engines give her a 12-knot cruise and a 16-knot top speed, the pace of a yacht built for comfortable coastal hops rather than long passages. At 499 gross tons, Serenissima I carries enough hull to keep that cruise steady in a chop.

On deck and at anchor

The sundeck and the owner's deck aft each carry their own jacuzzi, and a balcony drops down from the owner's suite when she is at anchor. Below, a cinema room and a wine cellar give the evening somewhere to go besides the salon. An elevator, already noted, keeps all of that within reach without a flight of stairs.

Where she lies and how to see her

Serenissima I lies in Imperia, on the Italian coast. Boatcrowd is the point of contact for a viewing, and we are there for it. Once a buyer's offer is accepted, a survey and sea trial come next before anything is final. She also runs in our charter fleet out of Monte Carlo, cruising Monaco, France, Italy, Croatia and Greece, so a buyer weighing the purchase can book a week aboard first.