Next Yacht Group put two very different yachts in the water on the same day in Viareggio: the third AB 130, the 39.65-metre "Casa Bri Mare", and the second hull of the Maiora 36 Exuma. Both go to their owners this summer.
It is a deliberate statement. One boat is a 41-knot carbon-composite sport flagship; the other is a shallow-draft explorer built to anchor where bigger yachts can't. Running them in parallel, without either project slipping, is the point the Viareggio yard wanted to make.
One group, two characters
Next Yacht Group is the Viareggio holding that operates three historic Italian brands under one roof. AB Yachts is the high-performance line — lightweight composite hulls, waterjet drives, top speeds north of 40 knots. Maiora covers semi-displacement and planing motoryachts, and now the new shallow-draft Exuma explorer concept. CBI Navi is the group's third heritage marque, rooted in larger custom displacement builds.
The two launches sit at opposite ends of that range, which is exactly why they were staged together.
Fabio Giangrasso, COO, Next Yacht Group:“We achieved our objectives on schedule, prioritizing product quality and unit performance with meticulous attention to onboard details.
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AB 130 "Casa Bri Mare" — the flagship
"Casa Bri Mare" is the third AB 130 (AB130/03), the flagship of the AB Yachts range, sold while still under construction in 2025. The model's calling card is speed treated as a form of contemporary luxury: an elongated, taut silhouette and a 41-knot top end.
That speed comes from how little the boat weighs. The hull and superstructure are advanced composites — GRP combined with carbon fibre — over a planing hull, and three MTU 16V 2000 M96L engines feed three MJP waterjets (two steerable plus a central booster). Roughly 7,800 horsepower pushing a 40-metre hull past 40 knots is only possible because the structure is so light. Gyroscopic stabilization keeps her steady at anchor and underway.
The exterior and interior are both the work of Acube Design Studio under Alessandro Merciadri. On deck, a multifunctional stern with fold-down side wings extends the beach platform to just above the waterline, paired with an on-demand sea-view pool and a float-in tender garage. Enlarged saloon glazing, a large sun pad, an open-air cinema and a forward lounge round out the layout. She accommodates up to 10 guests in five cabins, with five crew.
Maiora 36 Exuma — the shallow-water explorer
The second Maiora 36 Exuma takes the opposite approach. At 36.9 metres she draws just 1.45 metres, a shallow-draft figure that opens up gunkholing the Bahamas and other low-water bays where larger yachts simply run out of room. The "Exuma" name is the concept: get owners closer to the places they actually want to be.
She runs three MAN V12 engines on three waterjets, again two steerable plus a central booster, for a top speed in the 33–35 knot band and a 20-knot cruise. Maiora puts the range at up to 650 nautical miles at cruise. Displacement is around 180 tonnes, light for the class, across four decks of GRP construction with teak.
A retractable "infinity door" creates a visual passage from bow to stern and opens up roughly 1,300 square feet of living space. There are fold-out wings at the beach club, an upper-deck alfresco lounge billed as the "Nest", and a foredeck pool with its own lounge. Two garages handle the tender and water toys, Jet-Ski included. The exterior is by Quartostile; the interior, again, by Acube Design. She sleeps up to 12 guests across five suites, two of them VIPs, with five crew.
How they line up
For all their differences, the two yachts share the same drivetrain philosophy — a triple-waterjet layout and gyroscopic stabilization at rest and underway. Where they split is purpose: outright pace versus reach into shallow water.
| Feature | AB 130 | Maiora 36 Exuma | |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOA | 39.65 m | 36.9 m | |
| Draft | 1.30 m | 1.45 m | |
| Top speed | 41 knots | ~33–35 knots | |
| Engines | 3 × MTU | 3 × MAN V12 | |
| Construction | GRP + carbon | GRP, 4 decks | |
| Brief | speed flagship | shallow-draft explorer |
The strategy behind the timing
Launching the two together is a clear pitch for the 30–50-metre segment, which Next Yacht Group sees as the most dynamic part of the market right now. The argument is simple: a yard that can deliver a 41-knot carbon flagship and a shallow-draft explorer in the same window, on schedule and without cutting corners on either, is a yard that can hold that space. Both "Casa Bri Mare" and the second 36 Exuma reach their owners over the course of summer 2026.
Photo: AB Yachts / Next Yacht Group press. Source: Port and Shipping, June 2026.
