Meet ‘Anjelif,’ a Curvy 163-Foot Superyacht With a Helipad That Doubles a Dance Floor
As Maria Francesca Angelini wrote down her wish list for her first yacht, Anjelif, she knew she was asking a lot from a 163-foot vessel. At the same time, she wasn’t prepared to accept any compromises. After all, the very definition of a custom yacht is tailoring the design to the owner’s vision—and the first yard she met with, Italy’s Palumbo Superyachts, was up for the challenge.
Unveiled at the Monaco Yacht Show by Palumbo’s Columbus Yachts brand, Anjelif is a schooling in just how much you can pack into a mid-size vessel that rivals some yachts 100 feet longer. The list was eclectic and most likely horrifying to the designer who first saw it. A teak helipad that doubles as a dance floor? No problem. A suite of wellness facilities in the owner’s quarters? Also possible. A plunge pool heated to 100 degrees Fahrenheit? Of course. “It wasn’t easy, but I ended up with everything I wanted, and Anjelif is an extraordinary yacht for this reason,” Angelini tells Robb Report.
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The Italian businesswoman and entrepreneur signed the contract to build the all-aluminum hybrid yacht at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, in June 2020. With over three decades of experience heading up her family’s Monaco-based pharmaceutical business, Angelini approached the build was influenced by the health crisis unfolding around her. As a result, she mandated a unique circulation system that sanitizes the air onboard, similar to a private jet.
“It was designed to be a Noah’s Ark for my family and friends if needed,” she says.
Worst-case scenarios aside, Angelini imagined Anjelif as a “temple of wellness.” “Luxury holidays have to be comfortable but also healthy,” she says. Initially intended for private use only, halfway through the project, Angelini decided she would offer the yacht on the charter market. She has also pledged to donate 5 percent of every charter fee to charity.
Some charter yachts play it safe to appeal to all tastes and preferences. Anjelif is the exact opposite: every single detail has a meaning and speaks to Angelini’s passions and interests.
Here are nine facts about Anjelif, which is now available to charter in the Mediterranean with Fraser Yachts from $350,000 a week.
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Suite Life
Wellness was front and center of Angelini’s vision for Anjelif. “I was paralyzed in an accident 20 years ago, and a lot of the facilities you find onboard were essential to my recovery,” she says. The forward main deck is given over to a spacious owner’s suite, a multi-room apartment complete with a massage space, office nook, gym, Jacuzzi, shower-turned-hammam, private terrace, and infrared sauna. When in charter mode, the sleeping area can be partitioned off to open the massage room and gym to all guests.
Circular Living
Fun fact: There are no hard-edged corners onboard Anjelif. “Corners put a stop to energy and also stop your line of vision,” Angelini says. “I wanted all the shapes rounded.” She even went as far as to reshape the design of the deck to remove angles. The beds and lounges have curved edges while circular and spherical shapes of all sizes serve as artistic features across the vessel—whether the shapes are framed as decoration above the owner’s bed, embedded into the ceiling in the gym, or used as a lighting installation above the oval-shaped eight-seater dining table on the upper deck.
Below Deck
On the lower deck, smart partitioning is also a feature of the four guest suites. A large VIP stateroom neighbors a second double suite, which can either serve as two separate guest rooms or, thanks to a central sliding door, convert into one large family suite. In fact, all four staterooms are modular depending on guest arrangement. The other two rooms have an innovative two-in-one system that can transform two single beds into a double.
Touch and Go
Angelini knows a touch-and-go helipad made from teak on the bow isn’t your standard feature on a yacht of this size. “When I told the team at Palumbo, their reaction was the same as with the pool, and everything else, but they were up for the challenge,” she says. Strict charter regulations mean the helipad can only be used when the vessel is in private use; the rest of the time, the expansive space serves a variety of purposes. Depending on the guests’ moods, it can alternatively be a laid-back lounge area, an alfresco dance floor, or an outdoor cinema for movie nights under the stars.
Simple Elegance
The interior is also characterized by the use of natural materials like oak, walnut, crystal, and precious Taurini stones. Beyond the aesthetics—large slabs of colorful Taurini stone are embedded into bathroom walls and corridors as if statement works of art—she selected all interior materials for their natural characteristics. “I wanted materials that were alive so they would release energy and communicate with the atmosphere on board,” she explains. Angelini also sought to steer clear of typical luxury materials like marble. “I wanted something unusual because I’m not a usual person,” she says.
Resistance Training
A plunge pool on the aft deck isn’t an uncommon sight on a vessel of this size, but keen swimmer Angelini wanted anything but standard for her yacht. Not only can the water be heated to a toasty 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but the pool is also equipped with a counter-current system that can be calibrated according to the weight of the person swimming.
Beach Club
Rather than the typical beach club setup where the interior flows into the exterior of the lower deck aft, Anjelif has a closed-off transom with a cabana-style lounging area carved out of the hull for cocooning. A hydraulic staircase enables guests to directly access the water, while a fold-down platform on the starboard side serves as a tender and toy launchpad.
A Breath of Fresh Air
Anjelif has another feature rarely seen on any superyacht: Two distinct airflow systems were created at Angelini’s request because of the pandemic. “I spoke to the engineer and said that we had to sanitize the air on board because I was looking at [the pandemic] going on and you never know what might happen in the future,” Angelini says. The first system uses cold plasma to filter outside air coming onboard through the ventilation and air-conditioning systems to suppress bacteria and viruses. The second is an airspace system regulated to sanitize every room on the vessel at specific times of the day.
A Bit of Bubbly
Angelini chose the yacht’s distinctive “hampagne” shade for both the hull and superstructure because the way the color reacts to sunshine reminds her of her favorite flower—the sunflower. “When the sun is shining on Anjelif, you can’t imagine how brilliant the color is,” she says. “It comes alive.”
