The 60-year-old OTAM shipyard, with two megayacht models among its sport boats, is now marketing stateside through Denison Yacht Sales.
The brokerage house is handling all inquiries for North, Central, and South America. OTAM’s expansion to these shores makes sense, for a few reasons. First, the United States is the number-one boating market worldwide. Second, the open-style yachts and megayachts from OTAM, ranging from 45 to 100 feet, hold great appeal to some Americans plus Central and South Americans.
OTAM gets its name from Organizzazione Tigullio Assistenza Motoscafi. It was a refit and repair yard established in 1954. OTAM soon became a Riva service center, continuing to specialize in wood boats, even building some of its own, through the 1970s. With fiberglass gaining popularity, though, OTAM changed construction methods. It served as a subcontractor for an unnamed American yard in the 1980s. The following decade, OTAM began building fiberglass yachts under its own name. It now has construction facilities near the Genoa airport and a marina in Santa Margherita. More than 75 yachts have been delivered to date.
The two OTAM megayachts are the Millennium 80, pictured, and Millennium 100. The Millennium 100 has not yet been built, but a few OTAM Millennium 80s are on the water. (On a related side note, the Millennium 80 was initially called the Record 80. She was based on a famous yacht designed by the equally famous Fabio Buzzi named Record! which, true to her name, set several records.) OTAM uses Aramat, a combination of Kevlar and fiberglass, in all of its boats and megayachts. All of the models have a 21-degree-deadrise hull, which is generally considered a deep V. Deep-V hulls are touted for better speed, something which OTAM emphasizes. Top end ranges from 50 to 58 knots, depending on the model. The Millennium 80, for example, is said to hit 50 knots with twin 2,600-hp MTUs and Arneson surface drives. Switching the engines to quadruple MTUs or Caterpillars, however (each with different hp and with Trimax surface drives), reportedly allows the OTAM Millennium 80 to see 54 knots. Cruising speed is said to be 45 knots regardless of power package.
What’s equally noteworthy is the fuel burn, which OTAM says is not the diesel-guzzling figures you’d expect. OTAM says it’s upwards of 40 percent lower than that of other opens. As an example, the Millennium 80 reportedly burns 264 gph at top speed with the twin MTUs. Put another way, that’s 5 gallons per mile. With the quadruple MTUs, it’s 317 gph. And with the quadruple Cats, it’s about 357 gph.
Truthfully, most open yacht buyers don’t worry much about fuel burn. It’s about getting where they want to go, fast. OTAM should satisfy that desire.
Leave a Reply