IJE — 108m, 2019
IJE is the vessel that crowned Benetti's Giga Season — and the longest yacht the Italian yard has ever delivered. The story of her construction is also the story of a builder reaching a level of ambition previously reserved for the German and Dutch yards: at 108 metres, IJE was larger than any yacht Feadship had built at the time, and placed Benetti in direct competition with Lürssen at the top of the market.
The exterior was designed by British studio RWD (formerly Redman Whiteley Dixon), who created a sweeping, low-slung profile defined by an extraordinarily extended bow — described by RWD designer Adrian Chisnell as "the longest proportion we've ever done." The superstructure reads as a single flowing form rather than a stack of decks, an effect achieved through wide passageways and 24.5 tonnes of grey-tinted laminated glass that dissolve the boundary between interior and exterior.
Below the glass sits a world built almost entirely of oak. Benetti's in-house Interior Style Department, led by Mauro Izzo, created curved connections between floor, walls, and ceiling that give the interior a protective, almost cocoon-like quality — a deliberate contrast to the vast openness of the exterior decks. The owner's brief was clear: a sleek, elegant yacht that could also carry three large tenders. The result was 929 square metres of open deck space across five decks, a helipad on the bow, and what is reported to be the largest single-point lift crane ever installed on a yacht — used to deploy the tenders, which include a VanDutch 40, from a vast stern garage.
IJE accommodates 12 guests in 11 suites and carries a crew of 28. Her twin screw propulsion delivers a top speed of 18.5 knots, a cruising speed of 14 knots, and a range of 6,500 nautical miles — genuinely ocean-going capability. She was delivered 40 days ahead of schedule, an unusual achievement for a vessel of this complexity. Over 500,000 work hours were dedicated to the interiors alone.
"The launch of FB275 marks the culmination of the first part of our Benetti Giga Season. I feel very proud — the boat is glamorous, and the world will be shocked by the quality we have created." — Paolo Vitelli, Founder and President, Azimut|Benetti Group
Luminosity — 107.6m, 2020
If IJE represents Benetti at its most elegant, Luminosity represents the yard at its most technically ambitious. The 107.6-metre vessel is the largest Benetti ever built by gross tonnage — 5,844 GT, nearly double the volume of IJE's 3,367 GT — and features a propulsion system that was genuinely pioneering at the time of delivery.
Luminosity is a full diesel-electric hybrid. Six Caterpillar C32 generators, each producing one megawatt of power, are housed in soundproof enclosures. The electrical power is converted by EEI-produced converters and managed by an advanced power management system by Sistema. Supporting the generators is a battery pack supplied by Saft — 36 tonnes of lithium-ion cells comprising 780 modules — that provides energy for hotel loads and enables peak shaving to stabilise the diesel engines under sudden demand. The result is dramatically reduced noise and vibration compared to conventional direct-drive systems: guests on the upper decks can barely detect that the vessel is underway.
The exterior by Giorgio Cassetta and naval architecture by Azure Yacht Design created what the design team described as a "glass palace on the water." The numbers support the description: 800 square metres of windows across six decks, main-deck ceilings of three metres, and a design philosophy that treated the interior as a "villa on the water" where every space opens to the sea. Interior design by Zaniz Jakubowski Design reinforced this with light, open layouts and extensive use of natural stone and wood.
Luminosity accommodates 22 guests and carries a crew of 55 — a crew-to-guest ratio that reflects both the vessel's complexity and the service standard expected at this level. She features a helipad, multiple pools, and the full complement of amenities expected of a yacht in the global top 100 by size. Classification is to Lloyd's Register standards.
For context on how Luminosity's hybrid propulsion compares to other approaches in the market, see our guide to expedition superyachts, which covers the growing trend toward diesel-electric and hybrid systems across the large yacht fleet.
Kingdom 5KR (ex-Nabila) — 86m, 1980
The yacht that made Benetti famous — and the contract that nearly ended the company. To understand Benetti's trajectory, you must understand Nabila.
In the late 1970s, Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi — then reputed to be the richest man in the world — commissioned Benetti to build the largest private yacht ever constructed. The brief was staggering for its era: 86 metres of steel and aluminium, a helipad, a swimming pool, a cinema, a hospital with operating theatre, three elevators, and accommodation for 30 guests served by a crew of 52. The design was by Jon Bannenberg, the Australian-born designer who defined the modern superyacht aesthetic.
Nabila was a sensation. When she arrived in 1980 she was, without question, the most lavish private vessel afloat. In 1983, she appeared as the villain's yacht in the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, starring Sean Connery — cementing her place in popular culture. But the construction had been a disaster for Benetti. Khashoggi's demanding specification changes during the build drove costs far beyond the contract price, and the terms Benetti had agreed to left the yard absorbing the overruns. By 1984, Fratelli Benetti was bankrupt.
Nabila herself passed through a succession of famous owners. Khashoggi sold her to Donald Trump in 1988, who renamed her Trump Princess and used her as a floating statement of 1980s excess. Trump sold her in 1991 to Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, who renamed her Kingdom 5KR — the name she carries to this day. She remains operational and is occasionally seen in the Mediterranean, a living museum of the ambitions and excesses that defined the early superyacht era.
For the broader story of how Benetti recovered from the Nabila debacle — through Paolo Vitelli's acquisition and the creation of the Azimut|Benetti Group — see our Benetti shipyard overview. For guidance on the legal structures that modern yacht owners use to avoid the kind of contractual exposure that sank Benetti, see our legal guide to superyacht ownership.
Lana (Mar) — 107m, 2020
The third member of the Giga Season trio, Lana completed Benetti's unprecedented run of 100-metre-plus deliveries. At 107 metres and 3,900 GT, she is slightly more voluminous than IJE (3,367 GT) while being a metre shorter — a reflection of different design priorities between the two projects.
Both the exterior and interior were completed by Benetti's in-house team — making Lana the only one of the three gigayachts without an external design studio. The profile is defined by a plumb bow and a clean white finish, with 2.7-metre-high ceilings throughout the interior. Features include a helipad, a large swimming pool on the sun deck, a spa with massage room, and accommodation for 12 guests in eight rooms including a full-beam master suite with ocean-view balconies on both sides.
Lana was recognised at the World Yacht Trophies in 2019 with the "Best Yacht of the Year" award in the over-82-metre category — before she had even been delivered. She is now listed for sale under the name Mar at an asking price of €195 million, making her one of the most expensive yachts on the open brokerage market. For current pricing and broker contact details, see our Benetti for sale listings.
Spectre — 69m, 2018
Spectre holds a distinction that few yachts can claim: she won essentially every major award in the year of her delivery. Robb Report Best of the Best. World Superyacht Awards. Asia Boating Awards. The 69-metre custom Benetti, with exterior design by Giorgio Cassetta, was the consensus choice across judges in three continents.
The yacht was commissioned by American entrepreneur John Staluppi, who has a long-standing tradition of naming his vessels after James Bond films — Spectre being the 24th in the franchise. Staluppi is one of the most active serial yacht owners in the world: he has owned and commissioned 18 yachts across his career, including the recently sold 82-metre Project Bond from Turkish builder Bilgin, which traded at the Palm Beach International Boat Show in March 2026.
Spectre's success at award ceremonies reflected a genuine step forward in Benetti's design execution at the 60–70 metre scale — the size range where the yard competes most directly with builders like Heesen, Abeking & Rasmussen, and the Ferretti Group's CRN brand. The vessel demonstrated that Benetti could deliver not just volume, but genuine design distinction at this scale.
Alfa — 70m, 2019
Alfa arrived in the same year as IJE but tells a different story about where Benetti's custom programme is heading. At 70 metres, the yacht is large enough to offer every conceivable amenity but compact enough to access ports and anchorages that the gigayachts cannot reach — a sweet spot that many experienced owners gravitate toward after their first vessel.
The exterior by RWD — the same studio behind IJE — is distinctly modern: clean lines, sharp edges, and a profile that reads as contemporary rather than classic. The design philosophy centres on versatility. A swimming pool on the sun deck features an electric floor that converts the pool to a flat entertainment deck at the touch of a button. The full-beam beach club opens to the sea through folding balconies on both sides. A dedicated owner's deck provides privacy and separation from the guest accommodation. A cinema completes the amenity package.
Alfa accommodates 12 guests in 6 staterooms and carries a crew of 22. She represents the kind of custom Benetti that most prospective buyers will actually encounter when approaching the yard — a vessel where the ambition is in the detail and the design thinking, rather than in sheer scale.
For buyers considering a vessel in this size range, our superyacht cost guide provides pricing context, and our Benetti for sale section lists any available vessels from the 60–80 metre custom programme on the brokerage market.
Benetti's design partnerships
Unlike Lürssen, where a single designer — Espen Öino — dominates the fleet's exterior portfolio, Benetti works with a broader roster of studios that reflects the diversity of the model range.
RWD (formerly Redman Whiteley Dixon) has become Benetti's most prominent external collaborator in recent years, responsible for the exteriors of IJE, Alfa, and the entire B.Now family. The British studio brings a contemporary, automotive-influenced aesthetic that has become the signature look of the modern Benetti fleet.
Giorgio Cassetta designed the exterior of Luminosity and Spectre — two of the most decorated Benetti yachts in recent history. His work tends toward more muscular, assertive profiles compared to RWD's sleeker lines.
Stefano Natucci shaped the Benetti aesthetic through the 2000s and early 2010s, designing many of the steel-hulled custom yachts in the 50–70 metre range. Stefano Righini has been responsible for much of the composite model range, including the B.Yond 37M explorer.
Benetti also maintains a substantial in-house design capability — the Benetti Interior Style Department — which handled the interiors of IJE, Lana, and Lionheart among others. This dual approach — external studios for exterior design, in-house capability for interiors — gives clients flexibility in how they structure their design team.
For the full fleet listing across all designers and eras, see our complete Benetti fleet page. For buyers interested in a new Benetti commission, our new builds 2026 guide covers the current model range and ordering process.