While out to dinner with the Benetti Yachts team in South Beach, I was told, repeatedly, that I had to see Mr. Loui for myself. Mr. Loui, as it turns out, wasn’t a person; it was a yacht—specifically, Hull No. 2 of the Mediterraneo 116 series. It was built in Italy and delivered to her Mexican owner in 2017.
When I met her in person—all 116 feet 5 inches of her—she certainly felt as big as some of the other models in the Italian builder’s Classic displacement series. That series includes the, ahem, “compact” Delfino 95, as well as the Fast 125, Supreme 132 and Diamond 145 flagship, among others. Featuring a prominent bow, you could easily tell from a glance that Mr. Loui was all Benetti—in a word, bellissima—with striking exteriors courtesy of Italian designer Giorgio Maria Cassetta.
Until you stepped inside. There, it became evident that the boat’s DNA had been injected with an even higher dose of quality; that is, more so than Oli, or Hull No. 1, which had been purchased by the nephew of Mr. Loui’s owner. Of the 11 yachts bought by Mr. Loui’s owner, this was his first Benetti.
