ELA is Heesen’s argument for restraint at scale. Delivered in 2021 as the second of the yard’s sub-500GT Nova Plus class, she pairs a lightweight aluminium fast-displacement hull with an Omega Architects exterior that reads as quiet rather than aggressive, no single feature shouts, and the whole holds together because of it. Cristiano Gatto’s interior carries that same instinct indoors: warm walnut panelling, deep sofas and a palette that shifts from cool blues to soft purples room by room rather than repeating one idea six times over.
The main salon runs the full beam in white and timber, opening aft to a formal dining room where a glass-topped table seats the whole party without crowding the sideboard. A separate foyer, marked by a circular ELA medallion set into the marble floor, connects the stairwell down to a sky lounge that changes character by the hour, a breakfast table and dinette by day, a low-lit lounge with a dedicated bar once the sun goes down.
Outside, the sundeck is built for a full day without moving far: a jacuzzi sits forward under the radar arch, loungers run its full length, and a shaded bar handles everything from morning coffee to evening cocktails. Aft, the bridge deck holds a second dining table under a sail-shaded canopy, purple-cushioned seating gathered around it for a slower, later kind of meal. The swim platform lowers to reveal jet skis and a full water-toy inventory, and in the Bahamas and Caribbean a 47-foot Frauscher Demon Air tender travels alongside her for guests who want more range than the platform toys allow.
Six staterooms sleep twelve without any of them reading as an afterthought. The primary suite runs cool blues against city-bright windows, with its own sitting nook set with two chairs by a café table, a private corner for a coffee before the rest of the boat wakes up. A guest stateroom in teal and grey picks up a calmer register, while twin cabins finished in burgundy and pale wood give friends or a second family travelling together a room that feels chosen rather than default. Every cabin keeps its own marble-finished bathroom, several with a walk-in shower and separate soaking tub.
Below, a fully equipped gym and a cedar-lined sauna round out ELA’s wellness offering, both looking out through full-height windows rather than being tucked away belowdecks. A wheelhouse fitted with the latest navigation electronics and zero-speed stabilisers keeps the ride steady regardless of what the sundeck jacuzzi is doing at the time, and Starlink-backed connectivity throughout means the sky lounge’s smart TVs and the guest cabins’ entertainment systems stay properly current rather than dating with the rest of the fleet.
A crew of ten runs ELA’s programme through the Western Mediterranean in summer, with the option to reposition further afield when the itinerary calls for it. For a charter party that wants a fast-displacement hull’s efficiency without sacrificing the room count of a heavier yacht her size, ELA is a genuinely current answer, delivered in 2021 and still reading like it.
