2023 Italia Yachts 12.98

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QUERENCIA is a brand new Italia 12.98, Fuoriserie model, Hull #5, delivered October, 2023, launched April/May 2024

Hull and deck built in sandwich using vinylester resins with unidirectional, biaxials fibers and differentiated density PVC cores

Structural hull frame laminated with unidirectional carbon reinforcement on female mould

“T” Race keel—steel fin, lead bulb encased in GRP shell

Rudder stock biconical made of anticorodal EN 608 alloy with reinforcement blades.The blade is in sandwich of GRP with high efficiency wing sections

Self-aligning rudder bearings on rollers x 1

Composite steering wheels painted white

Folding bathing platform including swimming ladder

120V  system, six 120 outlets, six 12V (USB) outlets divided among all cabins and Nav station

Cold box/refrigerator (160 L)

2nd refrigerator in galley

3 burner propane stove with oven, propane tank, shut off and CO detection systems

Adjustable table in main salon

Multiple LED interior lightening options

LED navigation lights

Interior illuminated switches with LED courtesy lights, red LEDS

3 cockpit lockers (one is dedicated to the life raft)

Hull windows (6), 3 each port and starboard

7 flush opening hatches; 6  including Ocean-Air blinds and flyscreen Ocean-Air

4 opening portlights on coach roof (1 each port and starboard), 1 each in aft cabins

2  head layout-2nd head in forward cabin; black water holding tank in each head

Hot/Cold shower in cockpit

Integrated anchor roller including stainless steel bobstay

6 lifting mooring cleats (bow, amidships, stern

Pad eyes in cockpit and deck to secure jack lines

Life line gates amidships and at stern

Solid teak (vacuum installed) on cockpit sole and seats

Blue LED courtesy lights in cockpit; white LED light aft end of boom

High-density foam cushions (upgrade from standard)

Chart table and tablet mount with dedicated power supply at Nav station

6x 12V fans in forward, main, and aft cabins

6-Winch Race layout: Harken Performa winches on cabin top (2), cockpit coaming (2), mainsheet (2)

Jib sheet controls include in-haulers, both led to cabin top, jib car leads to cockpit

All halyards, tack lines led to cabin top,  stoppers nd roller diverters for each on cabin top

Harken 6:1 traveler system; German mainsheet system

Outhaul led to mainsheet trimmer

Vang controls led to each cabin top

Race keel, 2.5 m draft, faired to designer templates

Bottom faired, bottom and keel burnished Baltoplate antifouling

Carbon-reinforced GRP bow sprit with Dyneema bobstay, 2 tack lines for spinnakers and code sail

Harken Switch Track System for mainsail; separate Harken Switch Track for trysail

Axxon carbon mast and boom, internal mast jack, adjustable mast base

Rod rigging with open body turnbuckles

Harken hydraulic system for backstay and jib Cunningham; multi-position controller at port helm

Hydraulic jib Cunningham

2 masthead spinnaker halyards

2 fractional jib halyards (1 locking halyard)

Halyard for J4/storm jib (locking halyard)

Halyard for Code sail (locking halyard)

Forespar flush seacocks

Blocks for asymmetric spinnaker sheets and twings

Composite transverse bulkheads (as opposed to marine plywood)

(All running rigging new in 2024)

Delta 16 Kg, 50m of 10 mm chain

Quick windlass

Masthead Tricolor LED, Windex/Anchor Light

Electronics (all B&G unless otherwise noted)

H5000 Hercules CPU and Base Pack, Network Expansion Port

H5000 Graphic Display (port helm pod)

H5000 Motion Sensor

Precision-9 Compass

ZG-100 High-Accuracy GPS receiver

H5000 Speed Sensor

DT800 Depth and Water Temp Sensor

WS720 Wind Pack, High Modulus Carbon Spar

Zeus 9 MFD chart plotters, C-MAP (2) (port and starboard helm pods)

Nemesis 9 mast displays, custom carbon mast pod mount

H5000 Autopilot/computer/controller, rudder feedback unit

V60 60B VHF/DSC/AIS, H60 VHF Wireless Handset

Halo20+ radar, custom stern mount carbon radar pole

Digital Yacht 4G XTream WiFi Extender, custom mount on radar pole

Sails (all North, all delivered in 2023 with first use in 2024 except where noted)

3Di Main (mini-square top, 2 full battens, 3 partial, 2 reefs, Cunningham)

3Di J1, J2, J3 jibs

3Di J4/heavy weather jib, furling (dedicated tack point and 2:1 tack line

A1,A1.5,A2, A3, A4 asymmetric spinnakers

Code Sail, furling (lock halyard, 2:1 tack line)

Spinnaker staysail

Genoa staysail  (furling)

Storm trysail (2018)

Storm jib (furling, 2018)

Norlam Dacron delivery mainsail (3 reefs)

Electrical (all 2024)

Victron Integrated 800 AH Lithium system, including:

Victron Cerbo Monitor/Display (at Nav station)

Victron Inverter/Charger 12V/3000W-120V

Victron System

Victron Lynx Smart Battery Monitor BMS 500

Victron Lithium LiFePO4 Smart Batteries, 12.8V200 AH (4)

Balmar 250A Small Case Alternator, Balmar Aternator Protection Device

Arco Zeus High Energy Alternator Regulator

Victron DC-DC Orion 12V/!2V 30 A

50 AH AGM Engine Start Battery

Victron Solar Regulator Solar Smart Controller

Victron Electrical Component Smart Battery Protect

Battery Switch

120V/30A shore power cable and connection, galvanic isolator

Heat/AC System (2024)

Forespar Pro Series Anti-Venturi Thru-Hull/Seacock

Mabru Self-Contained 12V./12000 BTU  Heating and Cooling (1 unit each in aft and forward cabin, air flow ducted to all cabins)

Mabru 12V/1250 GPH pump with strainer

Propulsion (first commissioned in 2024)

Volvo D2 50 (50 HP) ~160 hrs

Volvo Saildrive

Gori 2 blade folding race propeller

56 gallon plastic fuel (diesel) tank

Plumbing

Pressure hot/cold water

Water heater 16 L with heat exchanger from engine circuit

90 gal fresh water (split between 2 tanks)

Few new boat builders notch up a succession of race wins, including three ORC World Championship victories, as quickly as Italia Yachts has managed. What makes this even more impressive is that these are genuine dual-purpose yachts with fully fitted interiors and enough comfort to spend a few weeks on board in style. The vision for the 43ft Italia Yachts 12.98 was very clear from the outset: a single design with two distinctly different versions, the Fuoriserie race edition 

 Maurizio Cossutti designed narrow hull with a single rudder and minimal wetted surface area intended to give excellent performance, particularly close-hauled and in light airs.

The Italia Yachts 12.98’s hull shape has an all-round performance profile, without being optimised for power reaching in the manner of many twin rudder designs. So how would it respond to being pushed hard with a big kite and the apparent wind well forward?

Towards the end of my first sail the breeze notched up to 10 knots with the Quantum A2 spinnaker pulling us along at 8.5-9.5 knots, with the true wind 20° aft of the beam, but the apparent a long way forward and the huge 178m2 sail sheeted as tight as possible.

Form stability builds quickly with increasing heel angle. With the boat fully powered up, and loads building in the helm, the rudder never hinted at being close to stalling, even when trying to bear off with the sheets pinned. It’s a very different experience to older single rudder designs with wider waterline beam and less efficient rudders mounted further aft.

The Italia’s single rudder suits the long and slender hull shape, which has relatively low freeboard and plenty of flare above the waterline aft. It’s mounted well forward, away from the disturbed water at the stern, in the same manner as for TP52s and Fast 40s. The blade’s 1.95m depth, combined with a reasonably generous cord length, means it’s less easily stalled than the very high aspect ratio rudders on those boats.

Helm stations are well configured both for gentle sailing and when well heeled, whether standing behind the wheel or sitting on the side deck. Both locations offer a good view of the headsail luff and the substantial foot chocks are well placed.

Heading upwind the Italia Yachts 12.98 drops easily into the groove, with a positive feel to the helm, even in light airs of just 5.5-8.0 knots true. In these conditions boat speed ranged from 4 to 5.2 knots, with occasional faster bursts at a true wind angle around 40°. Bearing away with the A2, with the true wind 15° aft of the beam, we made speeds roughly equal to the wind speed of 7-7.5 knots, occasionally nudging up to 8 knots.

The Italia Yachts 12.98 Bellissima deck layout has a pair of winches on each coaming just ahead of the helm stations to handle all lines, including the German mainsheet, headsail sheets and reefing pennants. It’s a little cramped for more than one person to work here and there are no rope bins, but generally the arrangement works well and leaves space for a big unobstructed seating area further forward. Despite the relatively low freeboard, there’s a good feeling of security in the cockpit, especially on Bellissima models fitted with a large central table.

Room to race

Race versions add a cockpit mainsheet traveller, plus coachroof pit winches, inhaulers for headsail sheets and so on. Dedicated headsail sheet winches are also mounted further forward than the mainsheet winches, while cockpit benches are shorter, creating a more spacious feeling with extra room to move around during race manoeuvres.

My second sail was in less breeze, with only 2.5-6 knots at the start of the day. Upwind at a true wind angle of between 45-50° we made speeds equivalent to 80% of the wind speed, mostly hovering in a respectable 4.3-4.8 knot range. We made similar numbers after bearing away onto a broad reach and hoisting the A2, with the true wind angle varying between 105° and 115°, despite the reduced apparent breeze.

Even in such light conditions the helm still had a positive feel – a good test of any thoroughbred design as a lot of boats feel dead in these conditions. Had the test boat been equipped with a Code 0, we’d undoubtedly have been able to make even better speeds reaching at tighter wind angles.

Both versions of the Italia Yachts 12.98 have a similar sail plan, but the Fuoriserie model has a carbon rig as standard and a longer bowsprit (1.8m in place of 1.3m) that translates to 10% more spinnaker area. The race version also has an option for running backstays to enable use of a square top mainsail that adds 3.1m2 of area – which would have proved useful in the more gentle conditions encountered on our test.
On the basis that fully crewed race boats gain additional stability from people on the rail, the keel bulb of the race version is a little lighter. This, combined with a simpler interior and the carbon rig helps to reduce displacement to 8.9 tonnes, compared to almost 9.3 tonnes for the cruising boats.

Nevertheless Italia has achieved a civilised implementation of a three cabin, two head layout that offers a different style and philosophy to the mainstream.

Bright interior

Our test Italia Yachts 12.98 was hull number one, which is owned by the interior designer of renowned Italian studio Abore and Partners. The striking use of mirrored film on the settee fronts helps give an initial impression this is a brighter interior than most sleek performance yachts.

Another first for Italia is a washable linen-style finish for bulkheads, offset by black edging around the doors. The latter is intended to have a practical function as they can be identified at night without the need to use lighting that might disturb sleeping crewmembers. However, the look may not win universal approval and surfaces may quickly attract dirt on well-used boats.

The USA is an important market for Italia, so despite the boat’s performance origins, the galley is well appointed with both top loading and front loading fridges, good worktop space with deep fiddles and four eye-level lockers. There’s also an opening port above the three-burner cooker, but only a single sink.

In the forward cabin there’s a hanging and shelved locker to starboard by the entrance, plus a couple of easily accessed drawers at the aft end of the berth and further stowage volumes under the mattress. On the downside the forward end of the berth is sufficiently narrow that most couples will want to sleep feet forwards.

Galley is well appointed. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr

The en-suite on the cruising version is nicely appointed, although there’s not enough space for a separate shower stall. On the race version, this area is left empty to reduce weight in the ends of the boat. The larger aft head, which is identical on both versions, has a separate shower stall.

Both aft cabins are very similar, with the starboard one having marginally more floor space, although both are a bit on the small size for a boat of this length. The two are separated by a technical space, which helps to improve sound insulation.