09 October 2023
Italian shipyard Tankoa has started construction on the Tankoa T560 Apache, a 56-metre full-custom superyacht developed by designer Alberto Mancini.
The new Tankoa T560 Apache draws its inspiration from Mancini’s 76-metre T760 Apache design, which was first unveiled at the Monaco Yacht Show in 2021.
It’s no small feat to take the features of a large yacht and translate them into a smaller package, but the Tankoa team and the Mancini studio say they relished the opportunity.
The yacht’s American owners tasked the team with keeping the proportions similar to the larger 76-metre yacht – ensuring it was sleek and elegant – while retaining huge volumes inside, with features that are more typically found on yachts larger than 1,000 gross tonnes.
“The tricky part was to maximise internal space with minimal compromises, to create a beach-style home-away-from-home retreat with expansive external spaces and without the formality that is sometimes found on yachts of this size,” says Claudio Corvino, sales and business development Manager at Tankoa.
“The result is an incredible yacht with incredible spaces – and with a design that not only meets all the requests of our American clients but which also demonstrates the capability, flexibility and ingenuity of the Tankoa team.”
The inception of the Tankoa T560’s development took place initially at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in 2022, specifically for a young American couple, with active participation from Fraser Yachts USA on both the sale and project development fronts.
In particular, the broker responsible for the sale is J.D. Crawford from their Fort Lauderdale Office. The sale was successfully finalised in early August 2023, and Fraser Yachts will also be involved on the project management side during the construction.
“In my initial client engagement, we prioritised their unique needs. After exploring market options, we found Tankoa to be the perfect partner for realising the client’s vision. Tankoa’s deep understanding led to successfully designing a vessel tailored precisely to the client’s requirements,” says JD Crawford from Fraser USA.
“This collaboration highlights my dual role as a sales broker and a discerning buyer’s representative for new builds, reaffirming our commitment to custom solutions.”
Up top, the bridge deck offers the captain and crew – and interested guests – an unrivalled view for pilotage. The seamanlike positioning of the main helm also frees up the upper deck for the owner’s suite, with its forward position conferring panoramic views from the 50-square-metre interior studio apartment. This also allows for a huge private terrace complete with a 5.5-metre flying pool and an alfresco lounge area with a firepit at its centre.
Further aft, an inviting upper saloon leads out to a large upper aft terrace complete with alfresco dining for 12, while one deck down, the communal guest areas are kept beach-chic informal with a comfortable aft saloon and a convertible forward dining area.
The layout also allows for five guest suites, all located forward at the main deck level – a rare feature for a yacht of this size – including a full-beam VIP forward and four sumptuous twin/double cabins with exceptional sea views.
With guest cabins at the main deck level, the crew are afforded a generous area for their quarters on the lower deck, while the midships area is offered to owner and guests as a wellness centre to port and a gym to starboard with drop-down waterside terrace.
The tender garage is located forward at the main deck level, behind the mooring deck and under the owner’s terrace, offering space for a 7-metre tender, rescue boat and toys.
Another feature carried over from the larger concept – a beach club and waterside aft deck with a 4-metre glass pool and drop-down side balconies that create a vast 90-square-metre play space.
Stylish smoked glass in the transom connects the inner part of the beach club to the exterior, while the main aft deck – connected to the beach club via two aft stairs – serves more as an upper terrace than a separate guest area.
There is a seamless flow between interior and exterior on the T560 Apache, however, and this layout is coupled with lines that disguise the yacht’s 840GT volume.
“The T560 Apache design shifts the key features of the original 76-metre T760 Apache concept into a 56-metre yacht, guided by the requirements of an American client who loved the larger concept but wanted the same features in a shorter hull length,” says Alberto Mancini, founder and principal of AM Yacht Design.
“My designers and I focused particularly on the owner’s upper deck suite, which not only offers an indoor area of 50 square metres but which also couples that to a private bow terrace of 85 square metres that includes an amazing 5.5-metre all-glass pool.
“It’s a feature that we took directly from the larger Apache concept and managed to deliver in the T560 without compromise. We are incredibly proud of the overall design of the yacht.”