MAGNETIC
On board Ocean King's first Ducale 120, Vãyus
Freshmen yacht owners looking for quality family time built the first Ocean King Ducale 120. Clare Mahon finds out how their adventure began with a steel-hulled explorer
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
A couple looked around their empty nest and wondered how they could draw their three grown sons back to them for a bit of quality time together. Much to their surprise they discovered that a steel-hulled yacht could create exactly the magnetic field they were looking for. This is how Vãyus, the 36.2-metre steel and aluminum Ducale 120 built by Italian shipyard Ocean King, came to be.
“When this adventure began (about five years ago), I was looking for a fibreglass boat, something that would bring my family together because our three grown sons are living and working in London,” Vãyus’ Italian owner recounts. “My wife and I talked it over and thought that if we bought a house the kids would come over once or twice a year to visit, but if we bought a yacht, it would be more special. Kids, friends — everyone would want to come.”
He met a broker with whom he discussed the merits of a displacement yacht. “I was especially interested in the increased solidity I’d get with a steel displacement yacht. [The broker] introduced us to Ocean King, and we realised that we had interests in common: I wanted to invest in a yacht, and they were looking for an owner who wanted to invest in a yacht. But I took a risk going to a newer shipyard.”
It may not do justice to Ocean King to call it a newer shipyard because the brand is an offshoot of the well-established Cantieri Navali Chioggia (CNC) shipyard, founded over 35 years ago in a small, hard-working Italian town about an hour south of Venice.
After specialising in refit work on tugboats, supply vessels and commercial fishing boats up to 100 metres, in 2007 two of the shipyard’s partners, brothers Alberto and David Ballarin, decided to dive into yachting waters. They established Ocean King to put their experience and expertise to work building explorer yachts that combine true workboat looks and durability with all comforts. CNC, now called Adriatic Shipyard, continues with commercial shipping projects.
In 2012 Ocean King brought the Ocean King 88 to market, followed by the Ocean King 100. In the same time frame, the yard carried out the conversion of a commercial tug that became known as the expedition yacht Genesia (winner of Best Rebuild at the 2018 World Superyacht Awards).
With this auspicious beginning, Ocean King commissioned its core group of collaborators — Ginton Naval Architects, studio inNave for engineering and systems and VYD Studio for design — to create two new lines: the Doge and Ducale. A bit softer than the yard’s first explorer yachts, they retain masculine looks and robust seaworthiness. Vãyus is the first Ocean King Ducale 120.
Proudly emblazoned as it is with the yacht’s logo, it’s surprising to hear that this seawater pool was a last-minute addition
“The 35- to 40-metre yacht size is an interesting market segment where GRP is more common than steel, but if you look around this yacht there’s lots of content here,” the owner says as he welcomes us aboard at the 2023 Cannes boat show.
One of the first things to meet the eye when boarding Vãyus is a glass-backed pool that seems to hover over the beach platform. Proudly emblazoned as it is with the yacht’s logo, it’s surprising to hear that this seawater pool was a last-minute addition.
Even though his boat was almost ready for delivery, the owner couldn’t resist going to the boat shows. “I saw a yacht [with] a similar pool and asked the shipyard if I could have one,” the owner laughs. “The answer was yes. This is another advantage to building in steel: you can change things, whereas with fibreglass you can’t.”
Of course, there is more to adding a pool to a yacht than just building a container for water, especially if that yacht’s delivery date is getting close. Ocean King’s Alberto Ballarin explains: “We were looking forward to presenting the yacht at the 2022 boat shows when the owner came to us with the request for an aft pool. It wasn’t just a question of adding a feature, we had to re-engineer the oleodynamic systems and modify what had already been completed. The whole process added a good six months to the build, but in the end, it was worth it.”
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
“I love the pool,” the owner says. “We took a Mediterranean cruise that was a month and a half long, and it was perfect, even in navigation. I would sit right next to it when we were under way and never got splashed.”
Modular furnishings by Manutti on the large aft deck can be arranged according to need and, thanks to a combination of sliding and folding doors, the entire aft section of the main saloon can open onto the outdoor lounge and the side passages. The floors are carpet-free, with soft Alcantara used as ceiling lining to absorb sound.
Inside, light colours and interior furnishings are spare, to leave as much open space as possible and create a beach-house vibe. “One piece of furniture I could probably do away with entirely is the dining table in the main saloon; well no, scratch that,” the owner says. “I could do away with it as a dining table because we always ate outside, but I did enjoy seeing our three sons all sitting at it, working remotely. Let’s say it has been more useful as office space than for dining.”
Inside, light colours and interior furnishings are spare, to leave as much open space as possible to create a beach house vibe
Heading toward the owner’s cabin forward of the main deck, he points out the ceiling height and the doors’ robust thickness but it’s hard not to be distracted by the huge windows and the views beyond.
Predominant materials are white oak, steel and leather, and the large space is minimally furnished with a bed, night tables, a crystal desk, a chair and an LG NanoCell flatscreen TV with a Sonos soundbar. There is ample closet space, and the full-beam owners’ bathroom is fully lined in marble and divided into his and hers sides with a shared shower at the centre.
There are two more VIP cabins and two twins on the lower deck, all with en-suite baths and all finished with the same materials and to the same level of luxury as the rest of the yacht.
The large space is minimally furnished with a bed, night tables, a crystal desk, a chair and an LG NanoCell flatscreen TV
The upper deck has peapod-shaped couches by Royal Botania, a dining table under the overhang and a sky lounge that opens on three sides. Confirming its indoor/outdoor vocation, this space is furnished with a huge modular sofa by Manutti and is often used as an open-air cinema. From here you can walk around to the foredeck set-up with its two lateral C-shaped couches that can become sunpads.
The sundeck is the icing on the cake, with a Jacuzzi and sunpads, a bar and dining area under the hardtop and sun loungers facing aft. The owner confirms that Vãyus’s roughly 2,690 square feet of open deck space are the yacht’s focal point.
“We looked carefully at the furnishings and the details to make the yacht’s interiors personal with a coherent look throughout and I’m very proud of the result we have obtained, but in the end we found that we would spend practically the whole day outside,” he says.
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
ANDREA MUSCATELLO
Even the arrangement of the indoor spaces invites you to step outside. “In the morning it would be breakfast together by the pool, then some remote work followed by more pool time,” he says of a recent trip with the family. “Our evenings would begin with a cocktail on the sundeck, then we’d head down to the upper deck for dinner and maybe a movie, then down again to the main and lower decks to our cabins to sleep. But we were practically always outside, the whole day through.”
But looking only at the owner’s side experience of this steel and aluminium yacht wouldn’t do justice to its explorer roots. Vãyus is a ship at heart. “Our history is in commercial shipping and our intention was to transfer that knowledge to yachting,” Ballarin says.
“We like to build yachts like commercial vessels, ready for continuous use. Same power plants, same strong and safe machinery, same set-up, so that the chief engineer can do maintenance work aboard, in the engine room. Many shipyards build what they call explorers in fibreglass, aluminium or steel, with semi-planing or full displacement hulls. Our idea was to build small, sturdy ships with thick hulls, no plastic and no glue.”
Vãyus has lower deck accommodations for six crew, plus a captain’s cabin off the bridge on the upper deck. All crew passageways are on the port side for privacy — just one of the many features that give Vãyus its blend of shipping looks and yachting comforts.
Heavy-duty equipment, like the two MAN D2862 LE44X engines that are the powerhouse of the yacht’s shaft drive propulsion system, are well insulated and vibration is kept to a minimum by Vulkan ProFlex flexible couplings.
ANDREA MUSCATELLO The sundeck has the same modular furniture by Manutti that is used on the main deck aft (left). Glass inserts in the hardtop have UV filters, while glass railings mean clear views. Vãyus could cross the Atlantic twice without filling her tanks
ANDREA MUSCATELLO The sundeck has the same modular furniture by Manutti that is used on the main deck aft (left). Glass inserts in the hardtop have UV filters, while glass railings mean clear views. Vãyus could cross the Atlantic twice without filling her tanks
Robust and reliable systems run from five Böning touchscreens on the bridge ensure a maximum speed of 14 knots and a range of 7,500 nautical miles with the efficient management of the 13,208 gallons of fuel that the yacht can carry.
The engine room gives access to the side-opening tender garage, another custom feature added to the core project because the owner wanted a 6-metre Williams tender in addition to the stash of water toys. With its draft of less than 2.4 metres and 358 gross tonnes of volume, it gives owners the range of possibilities and freedom of movement that they’d get with a larger yacht.
“At Ocean King, I found some real, forward-looking entrepreneurs and together we got this excellent result. Look at the thickness of the steel plate, the way it’s soldered: this is an oceangoing yacht that will last for the rest of our lives and even beyond,” the owner says. “The process wasn’t easy and there were risks involved, but the shipyard already has two new orders in their Doge range, so this is only the beginning for them.” Since that conversation, the first Doge 400 began sea trials in May 2024.
Ballarin confirms that Adriatic Shipyard and Ocean King will continue to work in tandem in the future, combining commercial shipbuilding knowledge with creature comforts to produce true explorer yachts. And in Vãyus Ocean King’s Ducale 120 has already shown it can exert the kind of magnetic force able to put a scattered family back together.
The sundeck offers 645 sq ft of space and a 43 sq ft Jacuzzi
The captain’s cabin is right behind the wheelhouse
The sky lounge cinema room opens on three sides
For Vayus, Ocean King added a saltwater pool on the main deck aft
Guest beds are oversized, measuring 3' 3" by 6' 6"
LOA 36.2m | Gross tonnage |
LWL 34.2m | Engines |
Beam 8.5m | Generators |
Draft 2.4m | Speed (max/cruise) |
Stabilizers | Tender |
Range at 9 knots | Owners/guests 10 |
Fuel capacity | Crew 7 |
Freshwater capacity | Construction |
Interior design | Classification |
Naval architecture | Builder/year |
Exterior styling | For sale For charter |
First published in the September 2024 issue of BOAT International US Edition. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.