Price Reduction – 2002 Maxi Dolphin MD 65

Form, function and outright performance from the legendary Maxi Dolphin and Luca Brenta. It’s about as Italian as Ferrari or Parmesan, but with a higher carbon content. Extensively refitted and the only one with a retractable telescopic keel.

FURTHER BROKER’S COMMENTS:

Launched in late 2002 as the first in a series of five semi-custom high performance cruisers, ONLY LU has been refitted with the retractable telescopic keel in 2016. She is undoubtedly not short in the looks and style department, she is also a highly competitive cruiser racer.

Currently configured for effortless short-handed fast cruising, she boasts an extremely high specification including:-
• 3-cabin, 3-heads interior layout with additional crew cabin with crew heads forward
• Retractable telescopic hydraulic keel – Installed 2016
• Yanmar 125hp diesel engine – replaced 2020
• Retractable bowsprit
• Retractable hydraulic bowthruster
• Retractable anchor arm
• Nordic carbon rig with Park Avenue boom
• Stainless steel rod rigging – 2016
• Dyneema halyards
• Harken electric and hydraulic winches
• Fully-battened mainsail system with battencars
• Carimat Magic Trim hydraulic sail-handling system for mainsail and genoa
• Hydraulic sub-deck genoa furler
• 24vDC electrics
• 6 kw Fischer Panda generator
• 120 litres/hour watermaker
• Air-conditioning
• Fridge & freezers
• Raymarine and B&G instruments package
• Carbon fibre folding gangway
• Tender garage with hydraulic bathing platform
• Electric tender windlass

MANUFACTURER’S COMMENTS:

The MD65 by Luca Brenta is a successful project that has developed into a series of five models with different interior layouts. Only Lu, the first model of the MD65 by Luca Brenta series and launched in 2002, is built in sandwich with a CoreCell core and pre-preg composite materials of epoxy resins, carbon fibre, glass fibre, Kevlar and post-baking. The hull is made on a male mould with the structural elements for the assembly of the bulkheads built off-site and then assembled on elastic joints already inserted. The interiors are in sandwich and all the furnishings are the work of the shipyard’s craftsmen. The interiors are organized with the central lounge, with dining area, galley, relaxation area with sofa and chart table: at the bow, the master cabin with two beds on the wall and at the stern of the lounge, two double cabins with low beds. At the extreme bow is the crew accommodation. All cabins have a private bathroom. The opening transom creates a bathing platform and gives access to the garage that can house a 3.80-meter tender. The décor chosen by the owner is with light woods combined with white leather upholstery for sofas and seats.

DESIGNER’S COMMENTS:

Built in 2002, ONLY LU is designed for small series production; a smaller boat but which includes many of the innovative comfort features of its larger sisters. In the 65′ Maxi Dolphin we have managed to fit almost all the extras that are normally found on larger boats.

The first step towards simplification is the result of our experience in regattas, where the tendency is to be light and therefore systems that save weight are invented. Inventiveness follows research and the market produces what designers need. Often this research is expensive because prices do not exist and must be created ad hoc to then become a common heritage. We have been able to do research also thanks to people who have invested. Of course, when you approach series boats you have to set things up so that they have a more accessible price.

The choice of a shipyard that knew and appreciated the work of the studio was of fundamental importance in order to be able to operate without severe budget constraints and, indeed, the union of more experiences, ours as designers with that of the builders, would have given the best results; by doing so the costs for what we call ” cool things ” would certainly have been less evident, wanting to remember that often the greatest costs are for design and prototypes, while the built piece is not necessarily expensive.
The main parameters were, starting from the destination of the project, that it was designed for Mediterranean use or in any case in favourable seasons and conditions, with the ability to excite for performance, beauty, easy to drive and manage; the guiding concepts were: to make use simpler and safer, to dedicate more space to life above deck and to pay great attention to all the details, such as the maneuvers hidden below deck, large walkable spaces, routes without differences in level, areas intended or modifiable according to use, which give a typically “Brenta office” look.

The sail plan, as tested in the larger fast cruiser series, is characterised by a very large mainsail and 7/8 rig.

The experience gained for the interiors of the Pendennis Wally 106 ‘WALLY B’ was the starting point for the interiors of the 65′, in general a more marine or softer development was a must given the size of the boat and the marketing assumptions. I would not define our interiors as minimalistic but, given that our inspiration and our background were racing boats, minimal for use and weight needs, minimalism intervenes at the time of decoration and living the boat, one should never forget that one is on board a technological vehicle and not a villa.

MANUFACTURER’S HISTORY:

Utmost elegance, use of the most advanced technologies and of the new project visions in the continuous search for beauty: this is the course followed by Maxi Dolphin since 1987.

“Beauty? It’s something that makes you feel good, therefore something very individual. To me it means order, harmony and sharing. No beautiful thing makes sense if you cannot share it with others”. With this vision, along with his passion for the sea, boats and nature, in 1987 Vittorio Moretti created the Maxi Dolphin boatyard.

The first boat built by Maxi Dolphin was the 73ft CARMEN DI BELLAVISTA, designed by Bruce Farr, followed by the maxi 118 ft VIRIELLA, designed by Germán Frers. Two boats built according to that search for innovation, which is the basis of the Moretti Group, operating not only in the boating sector, but also in that of industrialized building , as well as in the top class enological, hotel and catering sectors.

A long number of sailing boats followed CARMEN DI BELLAVISTA and VIRIELLA: standard monotypes (over 300 produced Dolphin 81) and from 75 to 100 ft One-Off sailing boats, the outcome of the cooperation with the main yacht designers.

Roberto Starkel, Germán Frers, Bruce Farr, Luca Brenta Design, Bill Tripp, Finot-Conq are some of the designers for Maxi Dolphin, which in 2007 launched the MD Power: an innovative line of motor yachts, built using the same technologies of sailers and applying the same concept of custom-made, the real hallmark of all Maxi Dolphin boats.

2002 Maxi Dolphin MD 65 ‘ONLY LU’ for sale –  Now asking Euro 395,000 EU VAT paid – full details here

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