NOVEMBER 2017
implicity of use, engaging styling, and the seamless
integration of systems – when Omer Malaz, the owner of
Numarine, briefed his team to conceive a new 105ft
explorer, these were the guiding philosophies he set down.
Take one guess who his inspiration was. And, just like an Apple product
that you expect to work straight out of the box, the yard’s first ever explorer
took on a 600 mile passage (with a full complement of guests) just 10 days
after delivery.
Malaz hopes that Marla, hull No 1 of the 32XP series, is just the first of
a breed of steel hulled explorers that will dramatically expand the Turkish
shipyard’s offering beyond the planing and semi-displacement composite
performance yachts for which it’s best known. Smaller and larger XP
models are available, but it’s the 32XP, at 106ft 7in, that has captured a
growing market – two more have already been sold.
Large internal volume and quiet cruising were the goal and Malaz’s team
obliged with a yacht of just under 300 gross tonnes with 3,500 square feet
of living space, accommodation for 12 guests and ample room for the
stowage of matching luggage.
The Apple inspiration continues in a simple user interface that is key to
her operation. It’s enabled her captain, Antonio Del Mastro, to get the
measure of her rapidly. “This boat follows a logic,” he says. “It’s taken me
only two weeks to learn how to run her.”
Assured of remote troubleshooting from the yard should anything
go wrong, the yacht’s systems are so easy to understand that the captain
has opted to run Marla without an engineer. “Aspects of the engineering
are made obvious, for example the fuel transfer system, so I am
confident in using them myself,” says
Del Mastro. The user interface was
designed by British company Energy
Solutions and a month after launch
Del Mastro is convinced of its merits.
“It’s wonderful,” he says. “It allows me
to sleep a lot easier at night.”
Marla’s exterior certainly displays
distinct and engaging styling. When
viewed from the water, she provokes
comparisons with a trawler yacht –
hardy and stout. Her wheelhouse,
with its inverted raked windscreen, is
perched above the deck like a turret,
protected by high bulwarks.
“In creating the new XP explorer
series we tried to evolve the design
language of previous Numarine yachts
into a more robust, muscular, and
angular design,” says the Istanbul-
based designer Can Yalman, who was
responsible for her exterior look.
The vertical bow shape was
designed to look contemporary butS
SMALL WONDER
The 32XP’s vertical
bow helps maximize
internal volume.
And space is a big
theme. The owner
loves the spacious
beach club, right