New Gladiator at Canados

Gladiator armour

The exterior design of the Gladiator 571 Blade is the result of a close collaboration between Canados Engineering and young Roman design firm Satura Studio.

Canados extrapolated the 571 design from one of its best sellers, the Gladiator 493. It showcases some of the most successful features on a Canados yacht, including a large aft, foredeck sun pads and built-in loungers plus a central steering position.

While required to keep the family style, Francesco Viola, head of Satura, was asked to incorporate new features such as the reversed sofa above the swimming platform, cockpit side fenders lockers, built-in foredeck reversed armchairs and a generous tender garage.

The most challenging part of the design process has been maintaining the purity of a modern-classic design while creating the outboard version, which is equipped with three to four new Mercury V12-600 hp engines. Incorporating a one-piece hard top and double curve windshield was also not easy.

Circulation on board was another top priority for Canados, with only one step from the aft sun pad to the foredeck and a stairless cockpit.

Safety was essential in the performance-oriented model. The base version will run an honourable 36 knots, and up to well over 50 knots, with only twin Volvo D11-725 hp engines. Thus, like the 493, the walk-around concept has been retained, with the bulwarks offering protection from the sea.

Technical aspect

While most builders create a style before designing a hull that could eventually fit the design, Canados works in the opposite way.

The company designed the hull for the Gladiator 571 Blade first, then conducted a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis.

Once the desired results were obtained, the shipyard’s technical office and Satura started on the design.

In the meantime, Canados manufactured tiny models of the boat to initiate a tank testing campaign at the Rome based Centre for National Research (CNR). Canados did its testing in CNR’s 470-metre pool.

Four different tank-testing sessions took place before Canados was happy with the results. Over 70 pool runs were necessary to evaluate the hull responsiveness, comfort and stability in various conditions to finalise the naval architecture of the Gladiator 571.

With a plan to offer this model with three different propulsions, shafts, surface shafts and outboards, runs were conducted at 30, 35, 40, 50, 55 and 60 knots to make sure handling was optimised at all speeds.

Giovanni Senatore, long time Canados head engineer and one of Italy’s most knowledgeable and respected naval architect often quotes “nature doesn’t give anything for free”, which is accurate when it comes to the impact of weight on performances and consumption.

Therefore, the Gladiator 571 Blade will be built entirely of vacuum-bagged E-Glass. All other components will be made of carbon fibre, including the hard top, roll bar, exterior galley, sofas and sun pad. As a result, the boat is about 10 to 30 percent lighter than its competitors.

Comfort and luxury

The Gladiator 571 Blade calls for the best components available on the market. What the shipyard can’t find with A+ suppliers, it has custom-made.

The Gladiator 571 is also entirely painted in Awlgrip® as part of standard specification, which allows clients to choose the colour of their hull, deck, superstructure, roll bar, hardtop or components from a 4000-reference colour palette.

Her interior layout and comfort will not limit the boat to day cruises. The exterior layout also features various social spaces which guests can enjoy at anchor or under way.

The interiors of the Gladiator 571 Blade were left to Satura in terms of architecture, who opted for an automotive style while still allowing the Canados carpentry division to express their art in wood essence, finish, inserts and more.

However, Canados encourage the owner to express themselves in style, decor, material, colours, fabrics of the cabin. The interior is specially built interior to fit the owner’s exact needs and desires.

Range and performance

As much as the Gladiator 571 Blade is a pure day-cruiser, she can be used for serious cruising, thanks to the comfort and volume of her interiors, the presence of a tender garage and a double curve windshield joined to the hard top.

The Gladiator’s quest for speed is not ego driven; the company isn’t trying to be the fastest on the water. The true quest stands in reaching the best possible hull finesse, comfort and efficiency.

The range of the yacht varies depending on the engine package, but is usually between 240 and 350 nautical miles at cruise speed.

Canados understand that clients are not all into performance and are therefore truly attentive to reliability and simplified maintenance.

The model will offer flexibility in terms of engine choices and performances, including classic shafts transmissions.

The Gladiator 571 is available with seven different power packages.

canados.com