Bluegame BGM75 Power Catamaran Reviewed

A yacht is real estate on the water, and the BGM75 has sizable entertainment spaces across all decks. Courtesy Bluegame

Pioneering work is seldom easy. Bluegame knows this well as a Sanlorenzo yacht brand that leads instead of following trends. And it doesn’t always lead where boaters expect, as evidenced by its two recent power-catamaran projects.

The first project was to design and build a pair of chase boats for two America’s Cup syndicates. These full-foiling 33-footers had to include an all-new, zero-emissions electric propulsion system powered by hydrogen fuel cells, and needed a top speed of 50 knots. Bluegame’s BGH-HSVs were the only chase boats to fully meet that brief, which later had to be relaxed so the other syndicates could actually compete.

The high foredeck is sizable with a dominating sun pad and a deep well around the ground tackle. Courtesy Bluegame

Bluegame’s second project is the BGM75, a thoroughly modern power catamaran. Design credits are shared between Bluegame’s in-house team, led by brand founder Luca Santella, and several creative studios. Philippe Briand’s London studio, which also worked on the chase boats, handled the BGM75’s naval architecture, while Rome-based Zuccon International Project and Milan-based Lissoni Associati collaborated on the yacht’s interior and exterior elements. A key requirement was that the power cat’s profile needed to be as attractive as Sanlorenzo Group’s monohull yachts.

My opinion is that the team nailed it.

This is a beautifully proportioned design in a genre that has thus far been dominated by boxy shapes. Few other, if any, power cats work quite so well. Although the learning curve was steep and involved building a first boat that simply didn’t work well enough, this one has substantially more bridge-deck height, more freeboard, bigger engines and an all-new gyrostabilization installation.

The Bluegame BGM75’s broad beam creates immense volume inside and outside. Courtesy Bluegame

Exterior spaces include a swim platform that extends across the 26-foot-7-inch beam. Fold-down bulwarks on each side create an incredibly wide beach club for the vessel’s 74-foot-4-inch length overall. The BGM75’s wraparound transom has a decorative effect that makes it appear as one long run of dark glass. The cockpit on the deck above is probably twice the real estate footprint of the swim platform and a blank canvas for furniture. The high foredeck is also sizable with a dominating sun pad and a deep well around the ground tackle.

The amount of upper-deck space is also surprising. All of the usual flybridge accouterments are here: a bridge console with three seats and a centerline helm position, a wet bar, a dining table, a choice of sofas and loungers, as well as stairs to and from the cockpit. However, the available space allows that all these features can quite literally be walked around. And the hardtop protects about 80 percent of this deck from the elements.

The swim platform spans the yacht’s 26-foot-7-inch beam. Foldout sections increase it several more feet. Courtesy Bluegame

I am a big fan of this yacht’s companionways, which have stainless-steel rails and link the swim platform, cockpit and flybridge. Instead of being opaque molded-in affairs, they are open structures that reduce visual clutter, and they don’t detract from the yacht’s sculptural structure.

Bluegame offers choices for the decor. The best I’ve seen favor white with rich-grain, satin-varnish veneers. The BGM75 that I got aboard had stained oaks with a contemporary light-dark scheme.

The BGM75 also allows for a couple of interior layouts. Owners can choose three or four staterooms, and galley-up or galley-down. In the galley-down, three-stateroom setup, there’s a full-beam owner’s stateroom forward with two VIPs in the port hull. In the galley-up version, an extra stateroom with a double berth is forward in the starboard hull, with a shower room that doubles as a day head.

Freestanding settees enhance the visual size of the salon. Owners have a few decor options too. Courtesy Bluegame

In both layouts, the after end of the salon is a substantial lounge space, and the forward section has dining to port. Both layouts also include a lower standing helm position, with or without a wheel, and doors amidships to both side decks. The upper helm is intended to be the principal driving station.

The owner’s stateroom is accessed via a dogleg staircase beneath the windshield. It includes a seating area and vanity/desk to starboard, an aft-facing super-king berth, and en suite facilities to port. Those facilities can have basins—open to the sleeping area, but with separate shower and head stalls—or be fully enclosed with an opaque glass partition.

A cross-bunk cabin for two crew and a mess area are in the after end of the starboard hull.

Groundbreaking is not a word I throw around casually, and it is accurate in the case of the BGM75’s stabilization. This system includes two Smartgyro SG80s programmed to communicate and combat the power cat’s pitch and roll. These gyros don’t move in unison; the pattern of braking between the two quells most issues that cats have at slow speeds and at anchor, which are more about twitching accelerations than actual roll. This technology, right now, is a BGM75 selling point—Bluegame says Smartgyro agreed not to share the technology with any other builders for the next two years.

The BGM75 includes two Smartgyro SG80s programmed to communicate and combat the power cat’s pitch and roll. Courtesy Bluegame

The BGM75 that I got aboard performed beautifully, although conditions were far from challenging: around 10 knots of breeze and no more than 3-foot seas. This boat had twin 900 hp Volvo Penta D13-IPS1200s instead of the standard 800 hp D13-IPS1050s, and we had the Humphree Interceptors in auto-trim mode with the Smartgyros on. Our top speed was 22 knots at the maximum 2,370 rpm. Fuel burn was just north of 91 gallons per hour.

At a less-stressful 2,100 rpm and a fast cruise speed of 17 knots, fuel burn dropped to around 65 gph, translating to an ultimate range of 410 to 420 nautical miles. Alternatively, an 8.5-knot slow cruise at 1,000 rpm burns 8.5 gph or so, providing a range of around 1,500 nm.

The yard captain on board had delivered the boat a few days earlier to the Cannes Yachting Festival in France, across from Sanlorenzo’s shipyard in Italy. He said the boat maintained at least 17 knots in mostly 6-foot seas, on a voyage of around eight hours. That equates to a 19-knot average speed.

Based on everything I’ve seen, the BGM75 is not just another power cat. It’s a true Bluegame build, and those are really special.  

The Bluegame BGM75 comes with a three- or four-stateroom layout. Courtesy Bluegame THE CREATIVES Luca Santella 

Bluegame’s founder is the driving force behind every new model. He combines design and architectural experience with a lifelong passion for all things nautical. In his early years, he sailed competitively, won many championships and competed in two Olympic Games: Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992.

Piero Lissoni

Piero Lissoni founded the Milan-based design studio that bears his name along with partner Nicoletta Canesi in 1986. They have a New York office for their work with interior design brands such as Alpi, B&B Italia and Kartell. For some brands, including Sanlorenzo, Lissoni also serves as art director.

Zuccon

Zuccon International Project is a family-owned studio based in Rome. For many years, it was the go-to design house for Ferretti and Custom Line. In recent years, it has developed a deep relationship with Sanlorenzo, entrusted with the design of all models across the Yachts, Superyachts and Bluegame divisions.

Philippe Briand

This yacht designer and naval architect is French, but has been based in London for many years. His early experience was mostly with sailing yachts, and he has worked with Groupe Beneteau extensively. More recently, his studio has developed custom superyacht projects with Vitruvius Yachts, which he co-owns with his wife, Veerle Battiau.

Even Keel

Smartgyro has been in business since 2014. In 2018, Yanmar acquired a majority ownership stake, adding the Smartgyro brand to its catalog that includes Vetus, Maxwell and Flexofold. Smartgyros are increasingly popular because of their relative ease of installation. They also can usually be serviced and repaired on board. The company has a competitive pricing strategy. 

Quiet Ride

At 17 knots, the BGM75 is surprisingly quiet. At the lower helm with the doors shut, I recorded just 62 decibels. In the VIP stateroom aft, it was 63 decibels. In the VIP forward, I recorded 61 decibels, with the owner’s stateroom at a remarkably low 57. For reference, 65 decibels is the level of normal conversation.

Coming Soon

Bluegame has a BGM65 power cat in development, with the launch probably two years away. It is expected to include conventional and hybrid hydrogen IPS installations. Coming sooner is the Bluegame BGF45, a foil-assisted open dayboat and weekender model based loosely on the 33-foot, 50-knot, fully foiling BGH-HSV chase boats built for America’s Cup syndicates. The first BGF45 should debut this summer or autumn.

Take the next step: bluegame.it

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