The boundless beauty of Tankoa's all-new superyacht T560 Apache

True beauty knows no bounds. This is the case for the all-new model to join the line-up of Italian boutique shipyard Tankoa, who has started construction on a 56-metre full-custom superyacht for aclient who also knew no bounds.

Developed by designer Alberto Mancini, the new Tankoa T560 Apache draws its inspiration from Mancini’s 76-metre T760 Apache design that was first unveiled at the Monaco Yacht Show in 2021. It’s no small feat to take the features of a large yacht and translate them into a smaller package, but the Tankoa team and the Mancini studio relished the opportunity.

“The task was to replicate a similar design with similar proportions to the 76-metre version, keeping the yacht sleek and elegant but still offering huge volumes inside with features that are more typically found on yachts larger than 1,000 gross tons,”says Claudio Corvino, Sales and Business Development Manager at Tankoa.

“The tricky part was to maximise internal space with minimal compromises, to create a beach-style home-away-from-home retreat with expansive external spaces and without the formality that is sometimes found on yachts of this size,”Corvino continues. “The result is an incredible yacht with incredible spaces – and with a design that not only meets all the requests of our American clients but which also demonstrates the capability, flexibility and ingenuity of the Tankoa team.”

The inception of the Tankoa T560's development took place initiallyat the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in 2022 specifically for a young American couple, with active participation from Fraser Yachts USA on both the sale and project development fronts. In particular the broker responsible for the sale is J.D. Crawford from their Fort Lauderdale Office.  The sale was successfully finalized in early August 2023 and Fraser Yachts will be also involved on the project management side during the construction.

"In my initial client engagement, we prioritized their unique needs. After exploring market options, we found Tankoa to be the perfect partner for realizing the client's vision. Tankoa's deep understanding led to the successful design of a vessel tailored precisely to the client's requirements”says J.D. Crawford from Fraser USA. “This collaboration highlights my dual role as a sales broker and a discerning buyer's representative for new builds, reaffirming our commitment to custom solutions.”

Suite heart

Up top, the bridge deck offers captain and crew – and interested guests – an unrivaled view for pilotage. The seamanlike positioning of the main helm also frees up the upper deck for something truly extraordinary – a feature borrowed from the T760 Apache concept but delivered so perfectly that it could have been made for the T560 model. It is here that the owner’s suite takes pride of place, with its forward position not only conferring exceptional panoramic views from the 50-square-metre interior studio apartment, but also allowing for a huge private terrace complete with 5.5-metre flying pool and an alfresco lounge area with a firepit at its centre.

Further aft, an inviting upper saloon leads out to a large upper aft terrace complete with alfresco dining for 12, while one deck down the communal guest areas are kept beach-chic informal with a comfortable aft saloon and a convertible forward dining area. The layout also allows for five guest suites all located forward at main deck level – a rare feature for a yacht of this size – including a full-beam VIP forward and four sumptuous twin/double cabins with exceptional sea views.

Practical magic

With guest cabins at main deck level, crew are afforded a generous area for their quarters on the lower deck, while midships area is offered to owner and guests as a wellness centre to port and a gym to starboard with drop-down waterside terrace. The tender garage is located forward at main deck level, behind the mooring deck and under the owner’s terrace, offering space for a 7-metre tender, rescue boat and toys.

If beach chic was the American owners’ desire, that’s certainly what they got with another superb feature carried over from the larger concept – a beach club and waterside aft deck with a 4-metre glass pool and drop-down side balconies that create a vast 90-square-metre play-space. Stylish smoked glass in the transom connects the inner part of the beach club to the exterior, while the main aft deck – connected to the beach club via two aft stairs – serves more as an upper terrace than a separate guest area.

Free flow

It's the seamless flow of interior to exterior that really marks the T560 Apache, however, and this practical and invitingly informal layout is coupled to seamlessly flowing lines that brilliantly disguise the yacht’s impressive 840GT volume. It speaks to Mancini’s design nous and the strength of the original concept that so many of the key features have transferred from the larger concept to this new yacht.

“The T560 Apache design shifts the key features of the original 76-metre T760 Apache concept into a 56-metre yacht, guided by the requirements of an American client who loved the larger concept but wanted the same features in a shorter hull length,” says Alberto Mancini, founder and principal of AM Yacht Design.

“I and my designers focused particularly on the owner’s upper deck suite, which not only offers an indoor area of 50 square metres but which also couples that to a private bow terrace of 85 square metres that includes an amazing 5.5-metre all-glass pool,” Mancini adds. “It’s a feature that we took directly from the larger Apache concept and managed to deliver in the T560 without compromise. We are incredibly proud of the overall design of the yacht.”