It’s not easy to make a 496-gross-ton trideck look sleek without wasting space, but Italian designer Francesco Paszkowski nailed it with Tankoa’s all-aluminum S501 Series. Check out those lines: the high bow dipping to a chamfer at the bow, the near-square stem, the climbing chine, and the heavily raked bridge windows. They all punctuate the 164-foot length overall, and then the yacht sweeps back to create generous aft-deck overhangs and an elegantly raked transom.
Launched in spring 2022 and shown at the Monaco Yacht Show this past fall, Kinda is the fourth hull in the S501 Series. Like its sistership Bintador that launched four years ago, Kinda has a hybrid propulsion system. There are three cruising modes: diesel-mechanical, diesel-electric and full electric. Choosing the appropriate mode can improve fuel consumption, and the intervals between engine and generator servicing should be longer, saving on maintenance costs and inconvenience. The zero-emissions mode could allow access to otherwise restricted waters.
In conventional mode, the most efficient cruise speed is around 12 knots, at which Kinda’s twin 1,400 hp MAN V-12 diesels burn just over 42 gallons per hour. With a little more than 15,000 gallons of diesel, that translates to a transoceanic range of almost 4,700 nautical miles. Maximum speed is 17 to 18 knots at half-load. In diesel-electric mode, top-end speed drops to around 10 knots.
In fully electric mode using batteries alone, and with normal hotel loads, expect a little over two hours’ autonomy at 5 knots, and perhaps an hour and a quarter at 8 knots. At anchor overnight, owners should get seven hours of run time on batteries alone with normal hotel loads. Twin electric fins from Italy’s CMC provide stabilization at anchor (and when cruising) but can be disengaged to boost fuel efficiency.
Kinda’s outside lounging spaces include the usual cockpit and upper deck aft, but there’s also a sun deck up top beneath a hardtop, and there’s a noteworthy foredeck terrace. Unlike the three previously launched sisterships, all of which have hot tubs on the sun deck, Kinda has its hot tub on the foredeck. It’s a 1,300-gallon glass-wall affair flanked by sofas and able to be shaded by a Bimini top.
Views from all these spaces are enhanced by frameless glass balustrades. Even the hardtop has tinted-glass skylights that cut down on the shadows. Furniture outside comes from Italian brands such as Talenti, Kettal, Varaschin and Tuuci.
The transom’s main event is Kinda’s beach club, which includes a gym, a shower and a day head (one of three aboard). A transverse tender garage aft is big enough for a 21-foot Castoldi RIB, and there’s room on the foredeck for a 14-foot Castoldi RIB, flanked by a crane and a couple of personal watercraft. The transom door folds down, creating a dock abaft the swim platform.
Kinda’s interior was conceived by Margherita Casprini, a longtime associate of Paszkowski. The main salon and sky lounge have a contemporary, soft palette with brushed-oak veneers, rich leather paneling and dramatic Botticino marble. All is cool and calm aboard Kinda. The open-plan salon has three distinct social zones: a lobby aft with a small table and chairs; a conventional lounge with an L-shaped sofa, two armchairs and a coffee table; and a formal dining table amidships. Loose furniture comes from Minotti, Vitra, Flexform and Gallotti&Radice.
Accommodations for 12 guests are in six staterooms. However, the layout aboard Kinda is a little unusual, with two of the staterooms forward on the main deck in what is effectively an owners’ suite with a lobby/study, a master stateroom and a VIP. The master occupies the full beam with a forward-facing king-size berth, an en suite head, a lounge and a walk-in closet. The VIP spans two-thirds of the beam to port with an aft-facing king berth, a lounge chair and a coffee table, and an en suite head.
The remaining four staterooms are belowdecks. Two have inboard-facing queen berths with pocket doors to their en suites. The other two have aft-facing twin berths.
There’s also quarters for nine crew, including a captain’s cabin on the bridge deck. All other crew quarters are on the lower deck beyond an amidships galley and crew mess. Staircases connect to pantries on the main and upper decks, so crew can move around discreetly.
Kinda is this owner’s first trideck yacht and will be used for private family cruises. With luxe accommodations and trans-Atlantic range, the owner’s hardest task will be choosing a waypoint.
Exploring the Med
During its first summer season in the Mediterranean, Kinda was used for intimate family cruises along the French Riviera and the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, Elba and the Aeolians. This summer, the yacht will head to the Eastern Med’s Greek islands and Turkish coast.
In Build Now
Tankoa has more than a half-dozen tridecks in build from 147 to 190 feet. The first all-aluminum Tankoa T55 Sportiva is scheduled for delivery in early 2024, and the second is set to go to a European owner in late 2024. The T580 is Tankoa’s biggest-ever project: a 190-foot, fully custom Francesco Paszkowski/Margherita Casprini design with a steel hull and an aluminum superstructure. It also should be delivered in 2024. In addition, there’s a fully custom 170-foot all-aluminum hybrid project on track for completion next year in association with Philippe Briand and Vitruvius Yachts. The smallest Tankoa to date, at about 147 feet length overall, is a Giorgio M. Cassetta design with a steel hull and an aluminum superstructure. It’s called T450, and it was started on spec in autumn 2020, sold once, and is now available again with a proposed 2025 delivery date.
Capable Hands
For the past few years, the Tankoa team has been steered by CEO Vincenzo Poerio, who previously led the Benetti half of Azimut-Benetti.
Take the next step: tankoa.it
