BEAUTIFUL ITALIA 12.98, ON THE WATER AND TESTED

On the water, it is even more beautiful than in the drawings: elegant boats without a huge beam, and with a moderate freeboard have become so rare that when we look at a new one, that is also very well designed, the WOW factor is huge. Truly a gorgeous sailboat.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the interior, and I bet it will not please most. I am not talking about quality, which is a good one, I am talking about the interior style. Looking only at the drawings I have said in a previous post:

"I remember that 10 years ago when I saw the interior of the first "big" Italia yacht, the 13.98, I was truly impressed with the quality, design, and functionality. Near perfection in what concerns my taste.

In the last models, the quality remains high but the desire to innovate, and to make stylish interiors, led ... to cutting on functionality, over design style. ..that profusion of floating decorative wooden slats that we can see in the drawings, ...will create a nightmare in what regards cleaning, accumulating dust, not to mention finding and killing mosquitos, that are frequent in many med regions, and in other places."

The inspiration seems to be Japanese and the overall design shows quality, but also an oddity. Why in hell would somebody want a boat with Japanese taste, if you are not Japanese? 

Contrary to Japanese design, the looks of this interior are not the result of a kind of functionality but result from the use of some elements of that language, applied here out of context and function.

Bigger Italia yacht (13.98). The use of  mirrors can give a "funny" look

Why would someone control the interior luminosity of small hull port lights with a wall full of slats?  In the cabins, for controlling the light of a small port  hole the use of a big roller shutter with slats is ridiculous. And what to say about the extensive use of mirrors in a sailboat? We all know that mirrors tend to have a short life in sailboats, needing frequent replacement. I cannot resist posting this photo of a bigger Italia yacht where the mirror gives such an odd look that it seems that the cabinets are broken, and out of place.

They say they can provide the boat without slats, but then the interior would look naked and unfinished. In fact, the boat screams for a different interior and that would not be solved by having slats or not.

The references to traditional Japanese design are evident,

 and one wonders why? Vert few of these boats will be sold

 to the Japanese and most of them will be sold to Europeans

  and North Americans.

In some places, textured waterproof paper is used and that seems to me a great idea, that could be used extensively in the interior, with different colors.

That could make for a unique and very different space, without unfunctional solutions, or oriental references. Like it is, there is no doubt that it is original, but being original is not enough, much less when that originality is dissociated from functionality.

And it is a crying shame because all the sail tests confirmed the impressions I have given about this yacht's sailing potential, in the post I made about it two years ago, when it was still in the design stage. I said then:

A good-sized but stark galley. the galley
 tap could not be less practical.

"The hull has ... a different design, narrower, with the max beam pulled aft, but maintaining a rounded transom shape, without chines, for a very good performance in light winds and upwind. All in all, the new boat will have not only a superior power/drag relation as it will probably have a more favorable handicap, one easier to reach.

Compared with the previous model it will be, not only a faster yacht, but also a more competitive yacht in ORC/IRC races, excelling in upwind and with lighter winds, but with overall good performance.

Why use big wood roll blinders for a small port light?

Compared to the Grand Soleil 44, the 12.98 is slightly smaller (13.16 to 13.40m) but considerably narrower (3.95 to 4.27m) with a not very different B/D (32.8% to 33.3%), but having the GS 13cm more draft. With more hull form stability, more B/D and more draft the GS 44 is a more powerful boat, but it is still to be seen if the lesser drag on the 12. 98 more than compensates (or not) for the lesser power.

Probably the 12.98 will be faster in light wind and upwind while the GS 44 will be faster downwind and beam reaching, with medium to strong winds."

Between the two, in what regard sailing characteristics I would choose this one....but, if I was really buying and choosing between the two, I would buy the GS44 instead because I would not be happy living in this interior, that I really don´t like and in this case, it is not a small difference, it is a basic difference, that I believe will handicap the sales in Italia yachts, not only on this but also in other models with a similarly designed interior.

And I have found out that this is not a personal dislike, Michael Good on the test video of Yacht.de says the same thing in a more "polite" way, but even so in a rare display of frankness, because they don't usually say this type of things regarding interior design options, being more, or less laudatory regarding style and quality but rarely critic.

On the same test sail, the tone regarding the 12.98 sailing performance is quite the opposite, it is enthusiastic. He says: "The racy Italian in the moderate version as a sports tourer "Bellissima" can shine with excellent sailing characteristics, both in strong and in light winds. On all courses and in all conditions, it shows a high-performance potential and the best steering characteristics."

"Controlling the IY 12.98, on the other hand, is simply a dream. The boat sits beautifully on the rudder, especially close to the wind, can be steered perfectly at the edge of the wind with a pleasantly light rudder pressure and reacts without delay to the impulses of the very directly coordinated steering."

https://www.yacht.de/yachten/fahrtenyachten/italia-yacht-12-98-mamma-mia-die-kann-was/

https://www.yacht.de/yachten/fahrtenyachten/italia-yacht-12-98-schneller-schlanker-und-schicker-performance-cruiser-im-test/

On the Yachting World magazine test, they were also impressed with the 12.98 sail performance, in this case, only the light wind performance (light wind was what they got as sailing conditions during the test). They were also favorably impressed with the steering control and feel.

On the German magazine test, they were not too impressed with the two-winch position that is standard on the cruising version, which uses a running rigging with two winches on each side near the steering wheel, because they are too close, one to the other. 

This is just the prototype and they say they are going to change that, but you can also have on Belissima (the more sedate performance cruiser version, the one that was on test) the same running rigging used on the "FuoriSerie", the faster cruiser-racer version, with a 6-winch layout, one that will allow you a better and faster sail control, without needing to open and close clutches, having all sheets already on the winches, that can be electric and controlled by a button.

The price is attractive, considering the good quality building, finish, and sail hardware,  about 390 000 euros at the shipyard without VAT. A very well-equipped sailboat will cost about 550 000 euros, already including  VAT. You can have more details about the Italia 12.98 here: 

https://interestingsailboats.blogspot.com/2021/12/a-beautiful-anf-fast-43ft-yacht-new.html