Having designed the coolest megayacht on the high seas Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko’s “A” – refined freak Philippe Starck has turned his attention to a much smaller but no less stylish craft. His latest project is a version of the Tofinou 12 sailing yacht from France’s Latitude 46 boatyard, employing precious woods, leather and steel in his own unique aesthetic to complement the teak, mahogany, carbon fibre and Kevlar underpinnings. Due to be unveiled at next month’s Paris Boat Show, he four-berth weekender features twin carbon wheels which Starck has wrapped in luxe leather.
A stainless steel-framed rosewood companionway gives onto a saloon is decked out in floor to ceiling leather, with wide curved seating, oversized cushions, a varnished painted oval table and mirror polished stainless steel mast support, as well as elegant bespoke leather storage pockets from the famed house of Goyard. “A Tofinou doesn’t exist,” Starck states. “It’s just a dream, an evocation, a breeze, a sigh of happiness. So little materiality, so elegant. The perfect quality and timelessness of Tofinou born within the natural intelligence of the relationship between the sea and man. A dream.” Whatever you say, Phil.
