Supersports on the Water

The makers of the world’s fastest production super sports car, Bugatti, and the world’s largest motor yacht builder, Palmer Johnson, are embarking on a joint project. Under licence granted by Bugatti, the world renowned yacht brand has designed a new series of stunning and elegant open carbon-fibre sport yachts, featuring distinctive Bugatti design elements and advanced materials. The series bears the Niniette name and is available in three models from 42ft to 88ft. Prices for the smallest model start at €2 million.

Company founder Ettore Bugatti had already developed racing boats and yachts in the 1930s. The visionary’s very personal relationship with his yachts is evident from the names he gave them: Niniette was the pet name of his daughter Lidia. Now, more than 80 years later, this tradition has been revived and the brand motto of “Art, Forme, Technique“ is once again being applied to a boat.

As with the sports cars, the Bugatti design team followed its approach “Form follows Performance”. The luxury yacht with its carbon fiber hull takes up style elements of Bugatti’s iconic classic cars and combines them with the revolutionary hull shape of Palmer Johnson’s SuperSport series. The design is characterized by the falling shoulder line of the Bugatti Type 57 C Atalante and the perfectly balanced proportions of the Type 41 Royale. Purist, flowing surfaces and lines create a perfect equilibrium between elegance and sportiness.

The design of the Niniette’s hull is based on Palmer Johnson’s ground-breaking SuperSport series – a mono-hull with two sponsons that provide greater stability at speeds and also at anchor. According to the yacht builder, the top speed of the carbon fiber yacht is 38 knots (about 70 km/h).

The central model in the new series is the PJ63 Niniette, with a length of 63 feet (almost 20 meters) and a beam of 20.3ft (6.2 meters). This yacht features a 63 m² salon on deck, a 43 m² salon below deck, luxurious accommodation for up to 4 guests and a crew cabin. On request, Bugatti can tailor the interior to meet customers’ individual requirements. The PJ63 Niniette has a basic price of about €3.25 million. The production time for all three models is about 12 months.