You have to hand it to the brand managers and designers at Jeanneau for constantly thinking outside the box. If fact, it seems at times that they don’t know there is a box.
The Sea Loft 480 proves the point. And it is informative that in the description of the boat on the Jeanneau website and brochure the concept of “cooking’ is an oft repeated theme. Sure, we all cook when we cruise, but they seem to be inferring that what’s going on here is instead cruising while actually cooking.
And why not, the new design was created for families and friends to enjoy leisure time on the water while traveling minimal distances between coves and beaches. It’s the drive to get far from the madding crowd with your own clan around you.
And, like a beachfront villa, the 480 offers great outside lounging areas and easy access to the water. The interior spaces are really outdoor spaces with bulkheads that fold down to make balconies, windows that side away and a galley and dinning arrangement that is more patio than cruising boat.
Down below, Jeanneau has squeezed four double cabins, each with its own head, into a relative small space. So, up to eight can cruise and cook together and enjoy long afternoon lunches around the salon table, all while the breeze blows in off the water.
Part of the Sea Loft concept is to enjoy life while being as silent and eco-conscious as possible, The boat is equipped with a massive solar array on the cabin top that charges a bank of lithium batteries. This energy can be used to power electric propulsion motors for short distances and will run the boat’s hotel functions through the night so there is no need for a noisy generator.
But the 480 can also be run with twin 45-horsepower diesel engines for reliability and longer cruises.
The Sea Loft 480 certainly is a one-of-a kind-design and clearly out-of-the-box thinking. Time will tell if the concept find followers. It certainly looks like a boat that would be fun in the Med, the BVIs, the Bahamas and maybe the Seychelles.
