Moored stern-to quayside, it’s apparent that the new 22.7m BGM75 from Bluegame isn’t your typical multihull. Sitting lower in the water and with a narrower beam than a typical catamaran, you nearly have to do a double take to confirm that, yes, she does have two hulls beneath her.
Philippe Briand of Briand Yacht Design, which handled the boat’s naval architecture, says: “This is an evolution of the monohull, rather than an evolution of a sailing catamaran.”
Case in point, BGM75’s main deck doesn’t tower over the water the way that other catamarans do. Her midsection between the two hulls hovers only 90cm above the surface. It’s just enough clearance to allow her to reap the performance benefits of a multihull platform while keeping her profile low and sleek.
The reason for the difference, Briand notes, is that some powercats have simply been sailing catamaran platforms repurposed as motoryachts; not, like the BGM series, designed from the outset to maximise the benefits of a multihull motoryacht.
“So far, there aren’t too many powercats purposefully designed as a powercat,” he says.
Briand explains that sailing cats need to sit higher in the water to afford for slight heeling while underway, but a powercat doesn’t need this same provision. As such, the Frenchman was able to lower the decks and eke out as much space as possible when designing the BGM75 from scratch.
“What I like in life is a challenge,” he adds. “I like to design something that doesn’t exist yet but, of course, makes sense.”
THE CHOSEN ONE
Luca Santella, Bluegame’s founder and Head of Product Strategy, explains why Briand was selected, going on to cite the multiple benefits of a narrow catamaran platform, from performance and comfort to exterior aesthetics and interesting layout options.
“Between the five designers, Philippe gave the strongest answer to our brief,” Santella says. “His idea to have a narrower cat was fantastic. It felt like we didn’t have to compromise, which is rare when starting a new project.”
Another reason for choosing a catamaran over a monohull is comfortable seakeeping. Two hulls mean the yacht is more stable and less susceptible to rolling, and utilising a narrower platform maximises this, says Briand. This enhanced stability can also help to quell seasickness.
“Seasickness is actually a matter of acceleration – it’s amplitude multiplied by the speed,” Briand says. “A monohull has a big amplitude but low speed of rolling, and a wider catamaran has a small amplitude and quick-rolling reaction, which can also be bad for seasickness. But the BGM75 is in-between a cat and a monohull, so it has a moderate amplitude and a limited rolling period for added comfort in any sea state.”
In addition to the naval architecture, Briand Yacht Design presented a full concept, which changed slightly in terms of style and exterior lines after longtime Sanlorenzo collaborator Zuccon International Project stepped in to help shape the exterior to look like a natural addition to the Bluegame range.
The BGM75 has bountiful outdoor living spaces for its size, and the aft main deck features an interesting seating area with a modular settee with a wooden base so can sit one way looking aft, forward or starboard. There’s also a bow lounge and expansive flybridge with a bar area, cooktop and comfortable loose furnishings.
The flybridge is protected by a fixed hardtop that has a shape reminiscent of a hull of a yacht – wide at the back and narrower at front. The ceiling of the hard top is finished in a teak-like wood that mimics the teak on the deck below. Santella says that for the Asian market, they could enclose the flybridge in plexiglass windows for protection from the elements.
FULL-BEAM MASTER
Lissoni & Partners – another long-time Sanlorenzo collaborator – was called in to create the yacht’s interiors. An advantage of a multihull is, of course, enhanced volume, due to its beamier body and two hulls. While the BGM75 is narrower than other cats, at well over 8m it’s still wider than a monohull of the same length.
“Space-wise, it’s like a 30m monohull, in terms of volume and what you can offer to the clients in the layout,” Santella says.
It was important to Santella that the BGM75 have a special owner’s cabin. “Considering our level of product, we didn’t want an owner staying down in one of the hulls.”
By lowering the floor of the main deck to be close to the water, the design team was able to carve space for guest accommodation out of the space between the two hulls at the forward end of the main saloon.
Steps lead down from the saloon to an owner’s enclave where a cabin stretches the width of the superstructure. This nearly full-beam cabin is akin to what you might find in a monohull.
“So far in the cat market, you’ll find cabins in the hulls, but not in the space between the hulls,” says Santella. An en-suite bathroom is separated from the bedroom by tempered glass walls, which gives the illusion of space while still offering privacy.
The first unit has three cabins. In addition to the forward owner’s cabin, there are two cabins in the port hull, while the starboard hull holds a day head and galley that’s connected to the crew mess and crew cabins.
Zuccon also consulted on the general arrangement and provided a layout option that has four cabins with the galley on the main deck. Lissoni & Partners designed the cabins to have a neutral and natural feel, with walls adorned in a stone-like surface, complemented by walnut joinery. In the guest cabins, the beds sit up on elevated wooden bases.
There are already plans to expand the fleet, with a BGM65 due to launch in 2025 followed by a BGM85 in the future. With the BGM series, Bluegame is on a mission to prove that two hulls are better than one.
www.bluegame.it
www.simpsonmarine.com
Images courtesy of Bluegame
This article was first seen on YachtStyle.co.
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