Make: Italia Yachts
Model: 12.98
Year: 2023
Length: 43' 0"
Class: Cruiser/Racer
Category: Sail
Hull Material: Composite
Co-Op Type: Available for Co-Brokerage
Listing Type: Central/Exclusive
Bright interior
Our test, Italia Yachts 12.98, was hull number one, which is owned by the interior designer of the renowned Italian studio Abore and Partners. The striking use of mirrored film on the settee fronts helps give an initial impression this is a brighter interior than most sleek performance yachts.
Another first for Italia is a washable linen-style finish for bulkheads, offset by black edging around the doors. The latter is intended to have a practical function as they can be identified at night without using lighting that might disturb sleeping crewmembers. However, the look may not win universal approval, and surfaces may quickly attract dirt on well-used boats.
The USA is an essential market for Italia, so despite the boat’s performance origins, the galley is well-appointed with top-loading and front-loading fridges, good worktop space with deep fiddles, and four eye-level lockers. There’s also an opening port above the three-burner cooker, but only a single sink.
The forward cabin has a hanging and shelved locker to starboard by the entrance, plus a couple of easily accessed drawers at the aft end of the berth and further stowage volumes under the mattress. On the downside, the forward end of the berth is sufficiently narrow that most couples will want to sleep feet forward.
Galley is well-appointed. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr
The en-suite on the cruising version is nicely appointed, although there’s not enough space for a separate shower stall. In the race version, this area is left empty to reduce the weight at the ends of the boat. The larger aft head, identical to both versions, has a separate shower stall.
Both aft cabins are very similar, with the starboard one having marginally more floor space. However, both are a bit small for a boat of this length. The two are separated by a technical space, which helps to improve sound insulation.
Country: United States
State/Province: Maryland
City: Annapolis
Zip/Postal: 21403
Thoroughbred Yacht Sales offers the details of this 2023 Italia Yachts 12.98 in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the vessel's condition. A buyer should instruct his agents or surveyors to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.
The QUERENCIA ITALIA 12.98 RACER/CRUISER is now for sale.
She is a brand new and in perfect condition Italia 12.98 ( Fuoriserie model) delivered to the states in late 2023 and first launched in the spring of 2024
Built to be able to race under ORC or any handicap rule or spend days cruising to your heart's content.
There is a three-cabin layout, two heads, air conditioning, autopilot, radar, two fridges, and a hot water heater—everything one needs to spend quality family time onboard.
Suppose performance racing is on your bucket list. In that case, she comes with a whole set of brand new North sails and a complete B/G 5000 wind system, all connected to displays on the mast, cockpits, and steering stations, and an Axxon carbon rig and boom.
Her bottom has been fully and professionally faired to exact specs and is perfect.
So, she is the ultimate platform for performance cruising or racing, a true wolf in sheep's clothing.
See her attached and very extensive inventory
Call us to schedule an appointment for a viewing.
(more pictures are forthcoming of her beautiful interior)
Few new boat builders notch up a succession of race wins, including three ORC World Championship victories, as quickly as Italia Yachts has managed. What makes this even more impressive is that these are genuine dual-purpose yachts with fully fitted interiors and enough comfort to spend a few weeks on board in style. The vision for the 43ft Italia Yachts 12.98 was clear from the outset: a single design with two distinctly different versions, the Fuoriserie race edition.
Maurizio Cossutti designed a narrow hull with a single rudder and minimal wetted surface area to perform well, particularly close-hauled and in light air.
The Italia Yachts 12.98’s hull shape has an all-round performance profile without being optimized for power reaching like many twin rudder designs. So how would it respond to being pushed hard with a big kite and the apparent wind well forward?
Towards the end of my first sail, the breeze notched up to 10 knots, with the Quantum A2 spinnaker pulling us along at 8.5-9.5 knots. The true wind was 20° aft of the beam, but the apparent a long way forward, and the huge 178m2 sail sheeted as tight as possible.
Form stability builds quickly with increasing heel angle. With the boat fully powered up and loads building in the helm, the rudder never hinted at being close to stalling, even when trying to bear off with the sheets pinned. It’s a very different experience from older single-rudder designs with wider waterline beams and less efficient rudders mounted further aft.
The Italia’s single rudder suits the long, slender hull shape, with a relatively low freeboard and plenty of flare above the aft waterline. It’s mounted well forward, away from the disturbed water at the stern, like for TP52s and Fast 40s. The blade’s 1.95m depth, combined with a reasonably generous cord length, is less quickly stalled than the high aspect ratio rudders on those boats.
Helm stations are well configured for gentle sailing and when well-heeled, whether standing behind the wheel or sitting on the side deck. Both locations offer a good view of the headsail luff, and the substantial foot chocks are well placed.
Heading upwind, the Italia Yachts 12.98 drops quickly into the groove, with a positive feel to the helm, even in light airs of just 5.5-8.0 knots true. In these conditions, boat speed ranged from 4 to 5.2 knots, with occasional faster bursts at an actual wind angle of around 40°. Bearing away with the A2, with the true wind 15° aft of the beam, we made speeds roughly equal to the wind speed of 7-7.5 knots, occasionally nudging up to 8 knots.
The Italia Yachts 12.98 Bellissima deck layout has a pair of winches on each coaming just ahead of the helm stations to handle all lines, including the German mainsheet, headsail sheets, and reefing pennants. It’s a little cramped for more than one person to work here, and there are no rope bins, but generally, the arrangement works well and leaves space for a big, unobstructed seating area further forward. Despite the relatively low freeboard, the cockpit has a good feeling of security, especially on Bellissima models fitted with a large central table.
Room to race
Race versions add a cockpit mainsheet traveler, coachroof pit winches, inhaulers for headsail sheets, and so on. Dedicated headsail sheet winches are also mounted further forward than the mainsheet winches. At the same time, cockpit benches are shorter, creating a more spacious feeling with extra room to move around during race maneuvers.
My second sail was in less breeze, with only 2.5-6 knots at the start of the day. Upwind at an actual wind angle of 45-50°, we made speeds equivalent to 80% of the wind speed, mostly hovering in a respectable 4.3-4.8 knot range. After bearing away onto a broad reach and hoisting the A2, we made similar numbers, with the actual wind angle varying between 105° and 115° despite the reduced apparent breeze.
Even in such light conditions, the helm still had a positive feel—a good test of any thoroughbred design, as many boats feel dead in these conditions. Had the test boat been equipped with a Code 0, we’d undoubtedly have been able to make even better speeds and reach tighter wind angles.
Both versions of the Italia Yachts 12.98 have a similar sail plan. Still, the Fuoriserie model has a carbon rig as standard and a longer bowsprit (1.8m in place of 1.3m) that translates to 10% more spinnaker area. The race version also has an option for running backstays to enable the use of a square top mainsail that adds 3.1m2 of area—which would have proved useful in the more gentle conditions encountered on our test.
Because fully crewed race boats gain additional stability from people on the rail, the keel bulb of the race version is a little lighter. This, combined with a simpler interior and the carbon rig, helps to reduce displacement to 8.9 tonnes, compared to almost 9.3 tonnes for cruising boats.
Nevertheless, Italia has achieved a civilized implementation of a three-cabin, two-head layout that offers a different style and philosophy from the mainstream.
