In 2004, Amels delivered the 161’7” (49.3-meter) Larissa. This spring they re-delivered her, as Volpini, following an extensive winter refit.
About a year ago, the current owner acquired the megayacht, and she was due for her 10-year survey. Capt. Nathan McFadyen says that a few different shipyards were considered. He explains that the owner’s team selected Amels because it offered a two-year warranty on all work. McFadyen says they liked that idea, and the idea of one point of contact, better than employing a yard that had a number of subcontractors. The Volpini team also liked the idea of the original builder doing the work, for consistent quality. Ben Young of SYM, the owner’s representative, says, “We wanted it to look seamless, so you don’t notice it’s had the refit. The team did a fantastic job.”
The first order of business for Volpini was removing all hatches and doors and doing a full repaint. Then, interior-design elements were addressed, mostly woodwork changes. The owner was adamant about one thing: “It had to look original,” McFadyen explains. He adds that the Volpini team had previously hired a company elsewhere to redo some of the joinery, “but they couldn’t match the wood at all, so it was a bit of disaster. So, coming up here, and actually looking at the finish now, it’s perfect. You can’t tell the ship’s been touched, played with; it’s absolutely fantastic.” Amels tapped Metrica, which originally made all the interiors for Larissa, for the task.
Amels further upgraded some of Volpini’s machinery and electronics. The remainder of the work also focused on items for the 10-year class survey. Overall, the timeline for the refit of Volpini was “bang on,” McFadyen says. In fact, he adds, work wrapped up a few days early.
Volpini is currently in the Med. She’s one of nearly 40 refits to date for the yard.
On a related note, if you enjoy following Amels yachts in their travels, check out the interactive Amels fleet map. It displays in real time where its megayacht fleet is. Amels uses publicly available data from AIS.
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