Christensen Shipyards Odessa

With its stunning black hull and silver superstructure, Christensen Shipyards’ 160-?foot Odessa immediately commands attention in marinas filled with large, white yachts. The July 2009 launch also stands out among Christensen boats, boasting sleeker lines than its sisters from the Vancouver, Wash.–based yard. Her striking exterior, however, was not the driving force behind Odessa’s design.

Odessa’s contemporary styling, in fact, owes largely to its owners’ love of minimalist Armani Casa products. Christensen’s designers devised for the yacht an inviting yet uncluttered interior with a range of Armani Casa furnishings—many in Macassar ebony wood with Zen-like brown and beige fabrics—paired with bare walnut flooring and bulkheads. An almost-full-beam fish tank adds movement and color to the interior and serves as a divider between the warm and welcoming main salon and the streamlined dining room. Three bronze screen-type doors close off the dining room from the main foyer, providing an intimate space for meals or meetings.

This sense of style extends to Odessa’s outdoor areas, where Christensen has replaced its standard sundeck layout with a more wide-open space featuring Giati Designs deck furnishings and a large, rectangular hot tub. For guests seeking shelter, the deck offers a shaded seating area, as well as a welcoming bar.

Odessa accommodates as many as 12 guests in six staterooms that have low platform beds and spacious bathrooms. Passengers who charter the yacht, which spends summers in the Mediterranean and winters in the Caribbean, are served by a crew of 10 and have full use of tenders and toys that include a 22-foot Chris-Craft runabout, a 16-foot Nautica inflatable boat, a 15-foot sailboat, two Sea-Doo personal watercraft, two SeaBobs, pull toys, and a Brownie’s dive compressor.