THE SESSA FLY45 COMBINES SLICK STYLING DETAILWITHA MASSIVE FLYING BRIDGE BUILT FOR ENTERTAINING.

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BY KEVIN KOENIG

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rest ol lhe space. "For conviviÀl i tyl" lvl igl ìorìrì Ì neir l) 'chirped. l t icvident Scssa has gone to great pains lo'Anericanize" this boat, notonly rvith the main deck'.s Ial-out, hrt .ìlso \Ì'ith its Elegance Pickage, abundle of options - in cludi ug amenities like àn electricall),' aù u stable helm seat, l-ED spotlights, and underrvater lights-designed toease the burden oîcustunization foÌ the American bu,ver. \{hal'snlore, Sessa has taken to f ixing thc priccs of i ts boats in dol lars so thecompan,v takcs on the risk ofa flucluating ELLro. With all tlìls fòcuson ùe LlS. market then, itls no surprise that Sessa is also aggrcssivelyseeking out statesidc dcalers to distribute rts boàts.

Perhaps the compan)- is so hot to sell the ,15 becrllse it kno\r.s itì got.ì good thing going. Posìtioned in thc rrarkctplace as a conrpetitor tosilnilÀrl)' conceived builds from AziDut and Princess, the boiìt is ùr!cll dcsigncd, tìnctional, aùd gallleìy athletic cruiser that! dclìDitcl,vìruilt to part).. The ùain deck boasts în interior helm station to star-ìroard that has sufprisingì,v good 1ì es of sight. To be truthliL, I wasÌitcxpcctirlg n1uch. In n1y opinion, European boats ofteDtirncs tcnd lotrade sleek lLnes fòr a claustrophobìc ìot'er helnr lhet r!'ould sendnlost anl' capiain scrarnbling to the topsjde pilol seiìt in lll but the\\'orst conditìons. Not so on this boat. ̂ standîrd Rdvnrarine displa)-rids \vith narigation whilc the captain pilots the boat frorr a leathelaccented helIrl flanked b,v relieshingly largc windclrls lhît openel€ctrically to allow for a cross breeze.

Belolv, thc acconnodations car be conligured \!'ith eithcÌ t$o or

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th|ee cabìrs, thorLgh the three cabin la)-out on m,v test boat tèels like ano brainer to me. \lv reasoning here is nvofòld. Firsl, the two cabinmodcl allorvs for a second galle)', rr'hích secms like uasted space ona .15 tboter. And second, ifYodre only looking for h{o cabins, Sessîollers r similar ,10 footer wìth just sLlch a conlìguration that sellsfor about $215,000 less. Seems to lì]e that if ,vou Just reqùire the tlvocabins lou might as well get the smaìler nrodel and buy a couple ofPorsches or scnd a kitl to a prir-ate, fòur year college $'1th the leitovers.But I could be wrong.

'lhc highlight on thìs deck is doubtlessl,v the lbrepeàk master. fllecabin has a king-size berth Í'ith 1!'e1l laid out stcps and a full 6 feet7 inchcs ofheadloom. Snraììish portholes dont do nuch by $'ay oflilihting thc spacc, bul Sessà took care ofthat with a Iarge hìlch thatle|s il1 enough sLLnlight to heep the cabirì aìrr The en suitc head lò1lo$,s sL1ìt, pàrticuLarl) iD the shower compartment \lherc spaciousùeasLLrenents indicate this bodt is readl tbr the stereoq-pìci ly broàdsho[]ders ofthe Amerìcan cùstomer: I stepped into thc cornpartmentnyselfand had plentr of room, and suliìce il to say lh:ìt my shouldersw'ould split Nligliorinìls shirt seams. Abaft the nraster the 45 has thoset1r,o guesl cabins, pelhaps nìost Dotablc lin their Iarge rvalrut lockers,dcsigned to keep guests dresscd to kill at dockside soiees. (Leave it tothe ltalians to build lots ofcloset sprce on a boat.)

The,15 Fll'eDjo)'s all lhis inteÌior voÌ[r'ùe in pàrt due to Sessais pen-

chant lòr putting IPS clri\es oir its vessels, includLng all ofits niodels ovet

Sungh td renches thesaoon .AnopengaJey inv i t esArne r i cans t y l een tedan ing .The joys t i ck i swe l l p l aced fo rdock lng .

TEST CONùlTlO'\5: Airtemperature: 82oF; hum d ty 60%o;seas2- to 3-feet; load: 170 gal. fuel.0 gal. water, 5 persons, 0 lb. gear.Speeds are two-way averages measured W/ Raymarine GPS.GPH estirnates taken via Volvo Penta Web site Range is basedon 90o/o ofadvert sed fuelcapacity. Decibels measured at helm;65 dB(A) ls the evelofnormalconversation.

> The 45 has layoutswith eithertwo orthree cabins.

RPM KNOTS GPH* RANGE dB(A)100 i i 6 . ,4 21 1 .214 t ì91500 8.4 5.0 638 742aù iJ 141 i3 . i l 31 : ; '52500 17.3 20.0 329 7A3000 2,1 3 2a.a 3jl l 7tj3500 32.0 40.0 304 83'Estimaled írom Volvo Penta Web site.

SPECIFICATIONS:LOA:47'0'BEAM:14' 4"DRAFT:4'6'DISPL.: 31,967 lb. (dry)FUEL:336 gal.WATER:148 gal.TEST POWER: 2,/435 HP Volvo Penla lPS600sTRANSMISSION: Volvo gears w/ 1.82:1 ratioPROPULSION: Volvo Penta IPS pod drivesGENERATOR: 1,/L4ASE 11 kWBASE PRICET $775.000PRICE AS TESTED: $899,00

40 feet. In this case the 45 has twin Volvo Penta435-horsepower IPS600s in a clean and orde yengine room. Which is not to say that t}lespace is particùlarly roomy-headrcom is at apremium and when I crawled in between theengines my hips were flush to them-but thatt

not altogether uncommon on a boat ofthis size or gpe, and also serwesas a not-so-subde reminder to stick to youl diet.

Perfornance-wise however, those powerplants left little to desire.The boat impressed with a sporty 32-knot two-way average at wideopen throttle, and a 24-knot cruise near 3000 rpm. Meanwhiìe her hullhandled the 2 and 3 foot swells easily, providing a soft ride through-out as we glided over tlle glinting midwinter Atlantic. Hardover atcruise the boat came around in about four boat lengths so she's noclod by aùy stretch-but for me personally, Iil like to see those podsdialed in to make the turning a litde bit tighter so the boatt responsive-ness is more in line with her unmistakably sleek look and feel.

I ran the performance test fiom the boat's flying bridge helm, which isstill the optimal place to drive a sun-worshiping vessel like this, no mat-ter how good the sightlines are beÌow deck. The topside helm is pat ofa fllng bridge that-mark my words-will leave youl gìrests chattering,namely because ofits relatve enormity. A forward sunpad is certainly

apprecìated by the tanning masses but is not particulaÌly unexpected.What is noteworthy is the bridge's firll overhang above the coclgit, whichis the geùesis ofthis decl{s commanding sense ofspace.lhe aft portionof the bridge is rcserved for seating and entertaiÌtiùg since a tender iustshy of l0 feet in length can stow où the teak swim plaform. Wraparoundseating accon'ìmodates up to nine people while a foldout dining tablestands at the ready for service of wine and clostini. Overhead a biminitop that comes standard with the Elegance Package provides shade ifneeded while a standard grìI and bar unit wil help keep your guestsfueled up ro party Lhe night away.

Migliorini likes this part ofthe boat in particular, and couldbarely contain his excitement while showing olf the grill and aftseating. "lt's like thisi' he said, gesturing to the expanse ofthe deck."You come up here with friends, you maybe have a little bit of wine... ,vou stay up late ... and theù in the morning ..." he flipped hissunglasses down from his head, flopped down on the bench seat,and lay gdnning in the sun, totally motioùless, completely siÌent. Fora moment it seemed as ifhe had forgotten I was even there. Actually,in retrospect, maÉe I should have gone down to the galley andwhipped him up an espresso. D

Sessa Marine rnfo@s€ssamarine.com