Aboard the Bellini Astor 36: A mediterranean dream in Dorset

Finding a craft that truly matches your boating aspirations can be a complex affair. Furthermore, the stakes are high. Considering the size of investment involved, the last thing you want is an expensive mistake. With a plethora of choices to throw into the mix, including such things as your preferred choice of deck layout, type of weather protection, interior accommodation, hull design, and engine choice, it certainly is worth taking the time to patiently consider all your options. But throughout the decision-making process, the key question to remember is actually a straightforward one: “What do I actually intend to use the boat for?” This is the same principle we adopt when, as journalists, we seek to identify a boat’s merits in line with its design purpose and intended market.

When the Bellini Astor 36 first came to my attention on the occasion of the 2025 British Motoryacht Show at Swanwick Marina, I confess, it stood out as being different to every other craft on display. With its striking colourway, high topsides, folding balconies and modernistic styling, this substantial, twin diesel-powered Italian beauty, was a ‘head turner’. She ‘oozed’ everything you’d associate with a lifestyle of sophisticated social boating in the sun. Moreover, upon learning that her price tag was almost 100K less than several British-built open RIBs of lesser waterline length, it was clear the Bellini Astor 36 was a vessel deserving of our full attention.

A day was duly chosen and all diaries aligned. The coastal weather forecast gave every indication of delivering on its promise to resemble a balmy, mid-summer day, synonymous with the type of temperatures normally associated 1500 miles south of our position on the Mediterranean coast. But here we were, in Dorset, Mudeford, near Christchurch to be precise, with a little gang of family and friends, our cameraman, and Oliver Lanza, the owner/skipper of the vessel, to experience this sport boat in the style and manner for which she was intended – as a day boat ‘par excellence’.

The plan was to enjoy a full day on the water. So, upon loading ourselves and all our kit aboard and having successfully negotiated the seemingly impossible confines of the Avon Marina, we idled downstream past the reeded water meadows and the New Forest ponies drinking at the water’s edge. The tide was still just on the flood at this point, but even so, we diligently followed the buoyed channel, leaving to starboard the colourful beach huts adorning the Avon sand spit. Then, on through the tidal narrows to run out through the fairway markers, before opening her up for the first time to steam westward, out across Bournemouth Bay.

With a gentle southerly swell beneath our hull and the reassuring purr of the Volvo Penta D4s mixing with the oncoming breeze, the vivid brilliance of our wake cut a perfect swathe through the sparkling azure. At 25 knots and with the legs trimmed out just enough to lighten her nose, we had clearly alighted on this 9-tonne projectile’s optimum cruising pace, and she was liking it!

I found the driving position an absolute pleasure, with everything falling nicely to hand, no visibility issues and a very secure and comfortable seating set-up. The Bellini Astor is marketed as a ‘sports craft’, and though our test boat’s engine choice means she couldn’t accurately be described as ‘high-performance’, nonetheless, the overall driving experience and her responsiveness play their part in upholding Bellini’s sporting claim. Furthermore, if instead of the D4s you decided on a brace of big-block petrol engines, then I don’t doubt the hull would handle such power without a hitch.

With the Simrad MFD displaying our course and related data with unerring clarity, we ran as ‘true as a die’ out across Bournemouth Bay toward our fast-approaching, drag-and-drop waypoint, a little south of the Sandbanks Peninsular. None of our happy party needed any convincing whatsoever, that this was summer passage-making at its best and we were aboard a boat allowing us to enjoy such pleasures to the full.

The tide was still running in our favour as we slid through the busy narrows and into the ‘inland sea’ of Poole Harbour. Having given the famous Sandbanks ferry a dutiful wide berth, the scene before was as colourful as any children’s picture story book, epitomising everything one would associate with Kenneth Graham’s famous words, “there is absolutely nothing half so much worth doing as messing about in boats…”

The nature reserve of Brownsea Island was our aim and in particular, the sandy-bottomed shallows around its northern side. As we glided along at displacement speed through the still green waters with the midday sun playing down our decks, the Bellini Astor proved as responsive to the helm as she had out at sea. Upon rounding up into the lee of Brownsea just a ‘stone’s throw’ from the island’s pine-fringed sandy shore, we drew the boat to a halt and ran the anchor chain out in style courtesy of her electric windlass. Moments later we were gently lying at rest in what I can only describe as, ‘waterborne paradise’. With the gunwale balconies deployed to provide a monster deck span of 6.5 metres and the Timage rope guard lines fixed into position, we were all set to sample the Astor’s every social offering.

This boat truly is every inch the consummate entertaining platform. Whether you choose to settle yourself fore or aft, either way, her loungers, sunbeds, and sumptuous seating areas, by my reckoning, would allow at least ten people the opportunity to relax and socialise in comfort with generous servings of space to spare. When sat at ease with drink in hand musing your surroundings, it might be then in particular, that the detail and quality of the Astor’s interior are evidenced all the more. But such should come as no surprise, when you consider she’s the result of an extraordinary partnership between two industry titans: Namely, Norberto Ferretti, founder of the Ferretti Group and renowned leader in luxury yacht design, and Brunello Acampora, the internationally acclaimed boat designer and founder of Victory Design Italia, whose stylistic input has shaped this vessel’s form and every feature.

We had a wonderful afternoon enjoying a lazy, al-fresco lunch sat around the galley table. The super-sized swim platform was an absolute boon for those who wanted to swim or try their hand at paddle boarding. Personally speaking, I enjoyed simply soaking up the natural beauty of our surroundings. It was as if this ‘magic carpet’ of a boat had miraculously transported us to some foreign idyll, which, lo and behold, we were now unashamedly experiencing in 5-star luxury!

Time aboard was interspersed by the occasional visit ‘below decks’ to change in or out of swim gear. Whilst enjoying this element of the boat’s well-thought-out anatomy, it occurred to me how over the course of a long summer weekend, you’d feel completely at home overnighting aboard the Astor’s two, well-appointed, double-berth cabins – with their separate bathroom and shower facilities providing that additional touch of luxury and refinement. I will add that the access from the cockpit down into the cabin via the companionway steps is easy to negotiate and benefits from a good handrail. In fact, there are plenty of grab points around the boat generally, which coupled to her high gunwales, helps the boat score highly as regards on-deck security.

Among the Bellini Astor 36’s many merits is the manner by which she so ably convinces one that she’s a good deal bigger than she really is. At 11.30 metres overall and with a beam of 3.93 metres, she achieves her spacious attributes by cleverly maximising every available space without compromising either comfort or style. The same valuable commodity of space is seen too in the design of the engine bay accessed via an electrically operated hatch located on the aft deck. Even with a pair of big diesel engines installed, the engine bay offers a generous amount of working room, with everything logically laid out to enable uncomplicated maintenance and servicing.

Regretfully, our sojourn here overlooked by Brownsea’s wondrous red squirrel pinewoods and away in the distance, the Purbeck Hills’ timeless sweep of heathland wilderness, was all but over. The tide was impatiently calling; time to weigh anchor and head for home from whence we came – back to the quaint riverbank surroundings of Mudeford and the Avon marina.

We enjoyed every minute of our return journey, with some of the crew choosing to experience an exhilarating 32knot ride up on the foredeck lounger, whilst others opted for the comforts of the aft deck seating and the chance to admire the boat’s gleaming wake in the late afternoon sunshine. But the day was not over, because the Bellini Astor had one more trick up her sleeve…

Having crept back up the tidal waterway upon the ever-falling tide, with what at times appeared to be a mere few centimetres beneath our 0.7 draft, we edged tentatively around the dogleg turn and on down to our allotted section of the tiny marina before negotiating the near impossible, which involved spinning the boat on her axis in an acute right-angled turn – all within a space barely longer than the boat itself! Using the bow thruster and dual throttle controls, Tom to his credit, showed what the nimble Bellini Astor was capable of and duly berthed her squarely between the two pontoon fingers without the slightest rub.

Indeed, it was a victorious end to a splendid day aboard a most special craft. A sumptuous sports cruiser, born of Italian design flair and traditional craftsmanship which we had the pleasure of experiencing in both the circumstances and conditions for which she was intended. What’s more, we didn’t even have to travel to the Med to do it!

Starting price: from £368,000 [2 x Volvo Penta V8 350hp petrol stern drive]

Price [2 x Volvo Penta V8 380hp petrol stern drives] from £378,000

Price [2 x Volvo Penta D4 300hp DPI diesel stern drives] as on test boat – from £430,000

Outboard version – [2 x Mercury 400S Petrol (including joystick)] £395,000

Prices are ex Tax, ex-works. Contact Sebino Yachts for extras list and options.