Yachts International — January-February 2018

FEBRUARY

2018

33

The yacht is Rover’s first with Benetti. Several
years ago, he was among the designers who answered
the company’s call for a design to commemorate
Benetti’s 140th anniversary. The builder embraced
his ideas, and Rover developed a range from 164 feet
to 295 feet (50 to 90 meters), all dedicated to life out-
side. The range became known as the Benetti Beach
concept. For the Seasense project, Rover fine-tuned
the main deck beach layout to suit the Cohens.
“We wanted a yacht both contemporary and time-
less,” Cohen says. “We feel Seasense’s silhouette,
with its plumb bow, is both classic and modern with-
out being heavy or overdone.”
The Cohens made more than 10 trips to the
Benetti shipyard in Livorno, Italy, to watch the
Seasense project evolve. “Vincenzo Poerio is such a
gentleman,” Cohen says of Benetti’s CEO. “He was
extremely present and available during the course of
the build. Whenever we raised issues such as the teak
decking or the ceiling heights, Benetti responded in a
very productive way.”
For Seasense’s interior, the Cohens contracted
Area, a Los Angeles-based design firm they knew
from their commercial and residential properties.
Area had also consulted with the Cohens on their
previous yacht, a 92-foot (28-meter) Riva Duchessa,
but Seasense was the firm’s first foray into a custom
yacht project. Cohen gave Area principals Walt
Thomas and Henry Goldston a clear directive: “Make
this yacht unique.”
“Charles did not want to replicate anything that
he had ever done before,” Thomas says, “so our mis-
sion was to be original and not repeat anything.”

More than 100 fabrics, textiles and materials are

aboard Seasense. “Charles and Clo made the whole

effort more fun,” Goldston says.

Cohen says his art choices for the yacht are

graphic-design-related and spatially oriented, each

ideal for a specific space. For instance, the vertical

lines of a Claudia Comte series of drawings mirror

the vertical widows in Rover’s exterior styling; Studio

Roso designed the mirror-polished stainless steel

sculpture/chandelier above the master bed to fit the

room’s high ceiling.

To match the Cohens’ lifestyle and penchant

for cinema, the main-deck salon has a 98-inch flat-

screen TV and media center. The onboard film library

includes many restored classics.

Forward of the salon are the formal lobby with an

elevator accessing four decks, and a marble staircase

with a blue wooden structure and steel inserts. The

yacht accommodates 12 guests with the master suite

and VIP stateroom on the main deck, and four guest

staterooms on the lower deck. Aft on the upper deck

is a sky lounge with a circular inside/outside dining

table, a bar and a built-in pizza oven. Crowning the

top deck is a well-equipped gym with access to the

The pool aboard

Seasense has a depth

that ranges from 2

feet (0.6 meters) to

3 feet, 11 inches (1.2

meters). It holds 7,132

gallons (27,000 liters)

of water and is partially

integrated into the

hull structure, built of

steel with a space for

collecting water when

the pool is empty, so

as not to waste fresh

water. Before starting

construction, Benetti

tested stability in vari-

ous sea conditions by

using a scale model at

the Maritime Research

Institute Netherlands.

The pool’s cover, turning

the space into a basket-

ball court, is constructed

from 22 panels. —J.B.

Swimming

Star