REVIEWED>UNIESSE 56 SUPER SPORT“With 2,000 horses snorting in the pod drives,
the 56SS blazed across Miami’s Biscayne
Bay fl at-out at just a fraction under 41 knots.”
660 GAL.
FUEL
CAPACITY193 GAL.
FRESHWATER
CAPACITYinformation includes GPS, chart plotter and radar, as
well as FLIR night vision and a proprietary Uniesse
systems monitor. ¶ The yacht’s audiovisual system
has iPad controls and multiple zones combining
3G and 4G Wi-Fi, Apple TV, and components from
Panasonic, Waterfall, JL Audio, Canton and Revel.
To control the system, the staterooms and salon
are fi tted out with iPad minis in docking stations. ¶
So what’ll she do? The 56SS not only looks James
Bond-ish, but she walks the walk. Power on our
test vessel came from twin 1,000 hp Volvo Penta
IPS1350s matched to pod drives. Owners can choose
anything from conventional straight drives to Arneson
drives for the rooster-tail fans—or even water jets.
¶ With 2,000 horses snorting in the pod drives, this
56SS blazed across Miami’s Biscayne Bay fl at-out
at just a fraction under 41 knots, which is missile
speed given the yacht’s nearly 30 tons of leather,
marble and other materials. Volvo Penta’s team
says it saw a similar speed in Europe, hitting 40.6
knots with 14 people aboard. ¶ With the hammer
down, the only word I could think to jot down was“hushed” thanks to soundproofi ng, and thanks to a
monocoque hull and house structure with a blend
of resin-infused materials: a solid
1½ inch hull underwater, Airex cor-
ing in the topsides, and transverse and
longitudinal stringers of resin-encased
closed-cell rigid foam. The engine beds are 4 inches
wider than the Volvo Penta-required minimums, ac-
cording to Uniesse. ¶ At speed, there were no creaks
or groans, even in a steep chop or hard turns. The
only distracting sound came from a water bottle
in the galley sink, until Uniesse president Rafael
Barca removed it. (Like I said: attention to detail.)
¶ In addition to the standard 21-kW Kohler genset,
the engine room can accommodate a Seakeeper
gyrostabilizer. The fi t-out here is seamanlike, with
stainless- steel plumbing and loomed wiring. ¶ Back
at the dock, I noted that the 56SS’s fairleads spun in
my hand. Uniesse wasn’t content with just a beautiful
stainless-steel fairlead for dock lines. No, the builder
decided on custom-made ones, with twin rollers so
dock lines don’t fray. It was yet another example of
how the Uniesse 56SS hits the mark on the obvious
and the not-so-obvious, with a splash of innovation.Take the next step: uniesse.comhooked
on innovation
Uniesse customizes
many components
that others incorpo-
rate off the shelf. An
example is the anchor
roller on the bow.
Polished to a blinding
level, it incorporates
a Lofrans 1,500-watt
windlass and a custom
plow anchor. In addi-
tion, Uniesse protects
the teak decking from
the chain with pol-
ished plates that have
an anchor stopper
to take the load off the
windlass. And there
is a built-in chain
washer to knock off
mud that comes
up with the anchor.SEPTEMBER 2019 YACHTING5 3