The maxi-open idea has always been more than a profile. It is a way of using the Mediterranean that privileges daylight, proximity and pace. Mangusta defined that aesthetic across the 2000s and 2010s with long, low lines and open decks that feel like a private beach club under way. BLACK LEGEND sits at the peak of that evolution. Delivered in 2017 as the penultimate 165E, it carries the confidence of a mature platform without the compromises of a first run. The sensation is visual before anything else: dark glazing, a lean shear, and wide teak that gleams when it catches late-afternoon sun.
The numbers still carry weight. Latest-generation MTU engines, under warranty, push to a stated 35 knots with an easy 25-knot cruise. On the move, that difference between 18 and 25 knots is not academic. It compresses coasts and dinner plans, and it turns the leg from Cap d’Antibes to Saint-Tropez into an hour with the wind warm on the face and spray feathering low along the hull. Zero-speed and underway gyro stabilizers keep the motion civilized when the anchorage is rolling or the sea is up. The American Bureau of Shipping five-year special survey was completed in 2022, which takes a near-term maintenance milestone off the table.
Deck life is the point. BLACK LEGEND is laid out around the largest aft deck found on any 50 meter, which in practice means a proper bar, a barbecue, alfresco dining and broad lounge seating that can handle a crowd without stacking furniture. You can picture the scene at anchor: the hiss from the grill, glasses set down on cool stone, and the shade line drifting across the table as the sun moves. Forward there is a Jacuzzi and sunbeds for privacy at berth, a quiet pocket that turns golden at sunset. Up top the sundeck turns the volume up with expansive sunpads, another bar and a DJ booth. That is not a gimmick. If your summer rotates from lunch to late afternoon sets, from Mykonos to the Lérins, a built-in booth keeps the energy contained and the wires hidden while the breeze softens the beat.
Inside, accommodation is for up to 10 in four cabins, anchored by a full-beam owner’s suite with a private study and a dressing room. The separation of spaces is the luxury here. There is a dedicated gym for those who keep the ritual, and a cinema room that can convert to sleeping space as needed. The atmosphere shifts convincingly from social to secluded: the hush of a closed study door, the dim calm of a cinema, the simplicity of a corridor when the party is still going outside.
The trading context matters. A €4,050,000 reduction to €19,900,000 with EU VAT paid places BLACK LEGEND in sharper focus for Europe-based buyers who care about both headline price and ongoing friction. EU VAT paid removes a layer of cost and complexity in the Med. Single ownership with light private use and comprehensive servicing suggests the yacht has avoided the hard life of heavy charter rotation. Add the completed ABS survey and you have fewer immediate headaches, which is not romantic but is decisive.
There is a broader cultural note here. The conversation in yachting has tilted toward explorers and hybrid talk, toward longer ranges, bigger beams and loft-like interiors. That reflects genuine shifts in taste and technology. Yet in the Med, where distances are short and harbors are crowded, the maxi-open remains a highly functional choice. If you value open-air square footage over additional cabins, if your calendar is built around day-to-night hosting rather than ocean crossings, this architecture delivers. BLACK LEGEND states that case plainly with the best kind of proof: usable deck and real speed.
None of that makes it universal. If your ambition is transoceanic autonomy, you will look elsewhere. But for the gentleman whose weekends start with first light on warm teak and end with friends on wide cushions under a slow sky, a 35-knot Mangusta still reads as freedom. With Northrop & Johnson now offering BLACK LEGEND at a recalibrated figure, the equation becomes less about compromise and more about fit.
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