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alt="Absolute 60 Fly: Silence is Green"/>
You’ve got to hand it to them: the team at Absolute Yachts never rests. Just about a year after launching their Navetta 64, they’re at it again with the new 60 Fly, one of the Italian builder’s two world premieres at this year’s Cannes Yachting Festival.
While the volume-maximising lines that characterise the shipyard’s look remain the same, there are lots of pleasant surprises aboard this new yacht. And one of them is completely intangible.
The cockpit is visually connected to the large swim platform, which is 5m wide and 2m deep
The Absolute 60 Fly continues the inland shipyard’s tradition of engineering for comfort, performance and quality of life at sea. Starting from a beach platform that’s over 2m long and almost 5m wide, you can sense the 60 Fly is going to have what it takes to make a great vacation.
With a hydraulically operated up/down mechanism, the platform is large enough to be furnished with lounge chairs, making it as suited for sunbathing as it is for swimming and launching the tender and toys.
The cockpit is clear of fixtures, accommodating modular furniture
Steps lead up from the beach platform to the aft cockpit where the chrome rails have glass panels under them, so the two areas are in direct visual communication. Due to modular furniture designed in-house and first used aboard the Navetta 64, the aft cockpit can be arranged to taste, ideally with the couches facing sideways over the water.
As the furnishings can be removed completely, use of the cockpit is flexible and adaptable according to different needs and uses throughout the arc of a day.
The cockpit shown when set up for dining
The cockpit is shaded by the overhang and can be fitted with privacy screens while the entire beach area can be shaded by a concealed awning, keeping the whole area private even in a crowded bay.
Covered side passages lead to the foredeck, which is furnished with a couch, table and sun pads. Closer inspection of the sun pads reveals that they have headrests that easily flip around to become backrests in case the seating arrangement planned for this area calls for two couches.
The foredeck has a sofa, table and flexible sunpads
Breezy and open, the foredeck is perfect for lounging by day, enjoying a drink in the evening or even dining. This area can also be shaded by an awning.
From the yacht’s name you know the fly deck is going to be important – and it doesn’t disappoint. A stairway leads up from the port side of the aft cockpit. Like in the cockpit, the aft section of the fly can be set up with modular pieces according to need and taste, while the aft enclosure is in transparent glass so it doesn’t feel enclosed at all.
The flybridge’s aft area is free for loose furniture
Under the hardtop there’s a bar with a sink and grill to port and a U-shaped couch with an inlaid teak dining table to starboard. The helming area is convivial, with two seats by the wheel, sun pads right next to it and a banquette across the way. This is clearly a boat that is a pleasure to use in company.
But the best part of the flybridge isn’t visible even when you’re on it. Absolute’s engineers have been testing solar panel setups at their shipyard in Podenzano for the past couple of years. They finally found an arrangement that meets their standards and have installed it on the hardtop of the first hull of the 60 Fly, which will offer it as an option.
Solar panels have been fitted on hull one of the Absolute 60 Fly
Cesare Mastroianni, CCO of Absolute, explains: “We test everything in-house. Even the glass we used under the railings was crash-tested at the shipyard in the presence of RINA-certification technicians. We had wanted to provide a certain amount of renewable energy aboard our yachts, especially for running them in hotel mode with the engines and generators off, so we began testing solar panels a couple of years ago.”
The system installed on the 60 Fly produces 1.5kW, enough to run the fridge, water heater, entertainment system and more for hours without using the generators. Owners and captains can monitor energy consumption on the Garmin screens, so they always know how much energy is being used – and how much is left.
Systems can be monitored at the main-deck helm, which has a side door
“Although the solar power on this model is not enough for running the AC, we installed windows and portholes that can be opened for natural air circulation through the yacht,” Mastroianni adds. “With this setup you can enjoy time at anchor in total silence with zero emissions, a real plus.”
All this and we haven’t even visited the inside yet. The galley is to port as soon as you walk into the saloon, with a dining table to starboard. Drawers fitted for storing plates and glasses are concealed under the furnishings and open easily and silently with Absolute’s elegant leather drawer pulls.
The aft galley to port is opposite a dining table
The entire saloon has floors in roughly finished walnut and is on the same level as the aft cockpit, so with the large sliding glass doors open, indoors and outdoors are like one continuous space.
The window behind the couch in the comfortable living area opens for natural air circulation and there is an up/down TV.
The saloon benefits from huge windows all around
The twin-seat helm operates a Volvo Penta IPS propulsion system with joystick control that’s operated via intuitive Garmin touchscreen monitors. Absolute was an early adopter of this energy-efficient, low-vibration propulsion system as it chimed with their values of intelligent consumption and onboard comfort.
There are just five steps down to the full-beam master cabin, which is one of the yacht’s standout features due to its location fore on the lower deck.
The elegant master suite has large forward windows
The centrally placed bed is backed by a panel of velvet and gets excellent views through large panes of glass that include opening portholes for natural air circulation.
This is no plain vanilla interior: textured walls, dark and light contrasts and tactile, luxurious finishes abound. In the master bath, also full beam and fitted in stone, a testament to Absolute’s careful engineering is the way the shower floor follows the yacht’s hull shape, to the benefit of draining water quickly and efficiently.
The master suite’s dressing table to starboard
The en-suite VIP amidships is just as elegant and well-appointed as the master. Intriguingly, a secret door at the back of its large closet conceals … a large storage space.
Built where Absolute used to place a twin cabin, this space can be used for provisions, extra toys and equipment or anything else a seafaring family might want. An additional twin cabin has a bathroom that can also be used as a day head.
The VIP cabin to starboard has an inward-facing bed and en-suite bathroom aft
But there is still another cabin aboard, the two-person crew cabin accessed from the transom. Its separate access route guarantees privacy for the owners and guests, although could also make it a bone of contention for those who want to go out at night and sneak back in the wee hours undetected.
The Absolute 60 Fly has all the characteristics of intelligent construction, engineered systems and well thought out spaces that you expect from this shipyard with the added, yet intangible, plus of green efficiency. While the 60 Fly may not be the largest yacht in the Absolute fleet, it represents a big step towards their greener future.
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