Building these one-off vessels is a great opportunity for our team to learn something new and to work out of its comfort zone.

A pure custom yacht, Acala takes full advantage of CDM’s experience and its approach to explorer yacht building. Acala has been commissioned by an experienced yachtsman who, over the years, owned yachts built by shipyards such as Feadship, Lürssen, Blohm and Voss.
He is a repeat client for CDM, a yard which gained his full confidence having enjoyed the feel of comfort and safety of his previous Acala, a Darwin 102, cruising in the Med but also sailing the expanses of the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic and reaching the wild beauty of remote destinations and the best diving spots in the world.

“I am delighted and proud with this milestone launch,” Vasco Buonpensiere, CdM’s co-founder and Sales & Marketing Director, says. “The trust this Owner confirmed in CdM gives us the highest reason of pride. It is a statement of appreciation for both our yachts and ourselves as a team always committed to the Owner’s satisfaction. The mutual trust established between with this client and CdM team has been pivotal to the good result of the whole process that lead to the completion of such a complex project.”
“The work on technical specifications has been extremely detailed and it lasted almost 12 months to achieve a double result: to build a 43-metre yacht with the most detailed and comprehensive specs we have ever drawn up and to proceed with no need of major modifications as construction progressed,” Vasco Buonpensiere maintains. “In the light of these approach and procedures, within the team we joke around saying that we have built the smallest 80-metre yacht ever built!” Buonpensiere says.

Acala inaugurates a new collaboration with Horacio Bozzo Design who designed her conspicuous and eye-catching lines. “The aim of our design work is the pleasure of seeing the Owner’s desires taking shape and recognizing himself in it,” says Horacio Bozzo, yacht designer and naval architect based in Viareggio, Italy. “Designing an explorer for an experienced Owner who grew up around boats and understands yachting perfectly, is very gratifying,” Horacio adds. “We started from a white piece of paper and brainstormed a lot with him to fulfill the whole family needs.”

Her severe profile with a raked bow and compact superstructure captures the very soul of an explorer vessel combining it with the elegance of a luxury yacht that will stand the test of time. Large windows on the Main deck whose mullions seem not to join the superstructure that are undoubtedly Acala profile’s signature features. All shapes, volumes and lines compose a harmonious geometry while her roomy body encompasses luxury social areas and very large and comfortable crew quarters, as requested by the Owner whose plans include long term cruising to reach the farthest corners of the world.

Guest areas are spread over three decks plus a Sun Deck. Acala features a nicely organized interior layout that sleeps twelve guests in six suites. A large lobby sits in between the main salon and guest night quarters. The full beam Main deck, from amidship forward is dedicated to guests and Owners. Three large Vip and extremely comfortable Owner suite to starboard side are flooded by natural light from large windows. Two twin cabins are located on the Lower deck. An intimate salon on the Main Deck and a large panoramic sky lounge on the Upper Deck with dining area have been designed and decorated for indoor relaxation and entertainment. A particularly large cockpit features dining and lounging areas, a swimming pool and lots of space to relax. A large and partially shaded Sun deck perfectly integrated into the profile provides the social hub for Acala’s guests with an al fresco dining, bar, vast sunbathing area alongside a second swimming pool. A dumbwaiter connects the galley located on the Lower deck to all deck, Sun deck included, to convey food and drinks and ease the work of crew. Acala interior design by Mexican architect Simon Hamui, is luxurious and relaxed at the same time. It means that it offers the possibility to feel at ease with both beach clothing or formally dressed for a dinner.
She has a full displacement naval architecture by Sergio Cutolo/Hydro Tec offering large volume (440GT) and the smoothest of travel even in rough seas ensuring excellent comfort and total safety. Engineering has been developed by the yard technical department in collaboration with Hydro Tec. Needless to add that she, like all explorer yachts built by Cantiere delle Marche, features a thick and robust steel hull and light aluminium superstructure.

With a Gross Tonnage of 499GT, a total length of 43,10 metres, a beam of 8.60m, thanks to hull geometry, 62 400-litre fuel tanks, and the extremely frugal consumption of her twin Caterpillare C32 Acert engines 746kW each, Acala will have a range of above 5 000 nm at 10 knots and a top speed of 14 knots. The yacht’s engine room, as all engine rooms built by CDM, is a showpiece that stands out for its cleanliness and functionality with all the yacht’s systems and machineries set up to accommodate easy maintenance. Acala is a pure breed explorer therefore she needs a high level of independence. The engine room is one of the sources of that independence as its redundant equipment allow to sail far and wide and to reach remote areas of the globe where it is impossible to access any sort of assistance. An expansive lazarette provides a very large storage area needed for many cruising necessities, water toys, diving equipment, etc. The main tender is stored on the Upper deck forward. Crew quarters and service areas are functional and well-appointed, as requested by the Owner. Five cabins are on the Lower deck alongside a roomy crew mess opposite a professional galley and the Captain has his own cabin on the Upper deck next to the wheelhouse. “CdM’s strategy to dedicate one slot per year to fully custom projects proved to be successful and extremely important for the technical growth of the shipyard. Building these one-off vessels is a great opportunity for our team to learn something new and to work out of its comfort zone: this is the only key to move forward and improve, in our opinion, and that’s why we opted for this strategy,” Ennio Cecchini, CDM CEO says. “Being chosen by experienced owners such as this gentleman who decided to have his second yacht built by us, after having owned yachts built by the most reputed Northern European brands, is the best possible prove that our commitment, dedication, technical skills and quality are second to none.”