Bluegame BGX70: definitely different
by Guy Nowell 1 Dec 2020 01:21 PST
Bluegame BGX70 © Simpson Marine / Wan Tse
Boat design is very much like playing a 3-D version of Tetris. The game is to drop some engines into the bottom of a slightly awkward perimeter shape – the hull – and then fit all the relevant blocks (cabins, en suites, heads, saloon, galley bar, helm station and so on) around them. It is an infinitely variable process, but generally comes out pretty much the same, give or take a movable table or two and the positioning of the sunpads. More often than not, the ‘design’ of a motoryacht is as much to do with the cushion covers and the quality of the finish as it is with the actual arrangement of the interior.
However, every now and again someone makes a concerted effort to do so, and the new Bluegame BGX70 is a sparkling example of something substantially different. Start with the cockpit, or is it a beach club? Either way, it is a well-protected deck space with high bulwarks, and with the starboard side actually being the tender crane. Sweet! From here you actually go down into the saloon, rather like stepping into a 1960s conversation pit.
Then keep going into the master suite, forward of the saloon. Imagine waking up in the morning, stepping out of bed, walking through the saloon into the cockpit and straight into the sea. It’s a genuinely new take on the indoor-outdoor flow idea. Remaining guest cabins – there are different configurations available - are accessed from a stair beside the helm.
Go up the companionway from the saloon to the upper deck, and you have the dining area, a sort of mezzanine deck, and the helm station. If you are really hankering for some height, there’s access to the flat roof above, but there’s also plenty of open lounging space on the foredeck, which also provides another seriously expansive seating area with fittings for a shade sail.
This really does come under the heading of ‘Definitely Different’, and it really does work. This is a boat that feels just right – there’s even an extra space in the master suite which is either an office/private lounge or can be converted into a third accommodation.
Bluegame is part of Sanlorenzo, so you know that the boat is properly built. When the BGX70 was presented at Cannes in 2019 it was awarded the title of “Most Avant Garde Yacht of the Year”, and (for a change) that’s not an overstatement.
Two Volvo Penta IPS 1200 D13 drives push this neat and stylish 70-footer along at 27 knots if you really must. That means 30 minutes from Shelter Cove to Tai Long Wan, 5 mins from One°15 to Lazarus, or 50 mins from the Manila Yacht Club to Corregidor. Really, how much of a hurry do you need to be in?
Simpson Marine are the dealers in Asia, but the first BGX70 to arrive in Hong Kong was sold in 72 hours. This boat moves fast in more ways than one. www.simpsonmarine.com