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t’s not every day that this magazine
publishes a story on an 18 metre
yacht – but then the Sherpa is no
ordinary yacht. The innovative
dayboat was launched by Arcadia Yachts in
Naples just over a year ago, but already it has sold
seven hulls (the third, Panta Rei III, is pictured
here) and spawned a second range in its image.
With a towering bow, workboat bridge and aft
deck at water level it resembles a survey vessel,
ready for anything. But though the Sherpa is a
capable navigator, with a 1,000 nautical mile
range, that is not its calling. “She is a unique party
boat,” says yard owner Ugo Pellegrino simply.
“We have often been 20 or 30 people on board and
she doesn’t feel cramped.”
That’s thanks to the huge social areas, where
Arcadia’s design team has been lavish with the
boat’s real estate. First, there’s a nine square
metre bathing platform, which can include an
optional transformer. “It’s literally just a step
above the water,” says marketing director
Francesco Ansalone. Climb a few steps to the
cockpit, and you begin to understand how 30
people could get lost on this boat. At 41 square
metres, it provides the same space as Arcadia’s
much larger A85, stretching far in under a deep
hardtop and out to the full 5.5 metre beam. The
boat’s radical design, with its flybridge and
superstructure perched right in the bow, frees up
most of the main deck for the cockpit. “We
promote a main ample convivial area instead of
several small ones,” says Pellegrino. “In terms of
convivial space Sherpa ofers 63 square metres of
total area, which is 44 per cent more than the
average 55ft to 60ft yacht.”
In hull No 3, which is in the yard alongside
three other Sherpas for winter storage and
maintenance, this space is split between a huge
sunpad facing aft and a series of connected sofas
and tables. It feels as if someone sliced of the
upper decks and removed the side glazing. With
10 speakers around the boat, retractable cleats
and pop-up LED lighting, this is a floating
entertainment space of impressive proportions.
“It’s like being on board a megayacht without the
same costs and being much more agile,” one
owner tells us.
Nor has Arcadia neglected storage for toys: a
23,000 litre garage is revealed under the cockpit
sofas at the flick of a switch. Hydraulics raise a
large deck section (sofas and all) to the vertical,
allowing a hidden davit to swing jet skis and a
tender of up to 2.85 metres up and over the side.
There’s more than enough room to store diving
kit, windsurfers and wakeboards – plus enough
crates of beer to lubricate your 30-plus guests.
Not for nothing is the Sherpa branded a
“pocket megayacht”. Or, as the yard’s delivery
skipper Mario de Camillis put it, a boat that is
“enjoyable like a toy and reliable like a ship”.
But, of course, the boat is no Tardis, and the
space you gain in the social areas you lose in the
accommodation. On the main deck, there is a
well appointed owner’s cabin and an impressive
marble-clad shower room, which “makes me feel
like I am in a spa”, says one owner. The finish in
hull No 3 includes white leather panelling by
Poltrona Frau, a complex fabric-like laminate
that mirrors the “silver sand” of the exterior
gelcoat (chosen to match the owner’s Rolls-
Royce) and dark oak so highly varnished that itI
Custom designed tables can be adjusted up or down and the sofas can be moved as desired. There are 10 speakers positioned around the boat and pop-up LED lighting