Having started out in 1992 with Sessa Marine, Christian Grande has been the recipient of 15 international design awards - and at more than 180 feet in length with a 33-foot beam, his latest design, the Acapulco 55, allows plenty of scope for original thinking…

Acapulco 55

The impressive lines of the Acapulco 55


Despite its prodigious scale, hydrojet drives enable a top end of around 32 knots - and the muscular external lines make it look every bit as sporting as that figure suggests. From the steep, angular bow, the elevated topside structure runs all the way to the stern, without even the slightest dip toward the deck. Instead, it frames and contains the 55’s entire open bow space, leaving the boat’s internals to drop away as it runs aft, only terminating above the cockpit space, where it juts out above the transom and offers the external passengers some welcome shade.


It’s a beautifully uncluttered and aerodynamic shape - and that cleanliness of line is maintained on the foredeck, where the bow anchors are neatly hidden behind flush housings. It helps make the wide open forward space a serious hub for social gatherings, with an unencumbered deck enabling great freedom of movement around the central swimming pool. I’m not sure the designer’s analogy (like ‘sitting round the fireplace in a beautiful villa’) really rings true, but it’s a design with a great deal of merit nonetheless.

Acapulco 55

The Acapulco has a beautifully uncluttered and aerodynamic shape



Down below, the space is arranged around a twin staircase, creating a sense of ‘spatial complexity’ that is helped in no small way by the variety of shapes and fabrics. You get rigid black structures next to soft white leather; dark glossy surfaces alongside clear matte elm flooring; and bronze toned ceilings above both rectangular and porthole windows to help vary the nature of light ingress. It’s a compelling union of classic and contemporary touches. And while the press information for this Italian superyacht is every bit as ludicrous in its florid poetic overstatement as you might expect, the boat itself looks like another conspicuous highlight on Grande’s impressive CV.

Written by: Alex Smith
Alex Smith is a journalist, copywriter and magazine editor with a long history in boating and a happy addiction to the water. He’s worked on boats, lived on boats, bought boats, sold boats and – when he’s not actually on board a boat – he can generally be found in his Folkestone office, tapping away at the computer and gazing out to sea.