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Alba cruising on a wide English river at golden hour, three-quarter side view from astern, with a church tower, houses and trees on the bank and the sun low on the left. A gloss deep navy-teal hull with a sand-gold line along the sheer and a second gold line low on the hull, a crease rising towards the stern, and two long dark window slots in the hull side. A pale cream superstructure with a dark window band runs aft into a slim hardtop over the aft deck, where a wooden deco wheel stands at the helm and sand leather seating wraps a teak table. A red ensign flies at the stern and ALBA is lettered in gold on the transom above a teak platform. Off brief: the stern is an upright, squared transom carrying the name rather than a rounded sculpted tail, the superstructure starts behind a long flat foredeck and a raked windscreen rather than low with a softly rounded nose, and a radar dome sits on the roof.

← the floorif / 067·Real things·rendered

Alba

A 40 ft retro-modern cabin cruiser and sister to Notte Blu, built for UK rivers first and able to cross the Channel at around 20 knots, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a saloon and a galley.

drawing067made ofdrawing sheetplates5sheets9drawn19 Oct 2026boatunbuiltplanscosts

The sheet

the card's own material, at page scale

drawing 067 / Real things

Alba

statusrendered
drawing067
sheets14
revA
issued19 Oct 2026
updates0

The brief

rendered · rev A

Alba (Italian for dawn) is a 40 ft (approx.) cabin cruiser and sister ship to the speedboat Notte Blu. It is built for UK rivers first, with the seaworthiness to cross the Channel to France at around 20 knots.

It shares Notte Blu's deep ocean hull, sand-gold sheer line, sculpted crease and tail. Unlike Notte Blu, the superstructure is visible: a pale saloon with a softly rounded nose that rises aft along a gently curved roof into a hardtop over the aft deck helm. Inside it has two double bedrooms, two bathrooms, a saloon and a galley. All figures are concept estimates.

key specifications

Figures are approximate concept values.

Item Specification
Length 40 ft (12.2 m) approx.
Beam 13 ft (4.0 m)
Hull type Semi-displacement, moderate V aft, fine entry forward
Draft About 0.9 to 1.0 m including props
Air draft (hardtop) About 2.6 m above the waterline
Displacement About 9,900 kg (diesel) or 10,500 kg (hybrid), loaded
Speed About 18 knots cruise, 21 to 25 knots top; quiet low-speed running on rivers
Engines Twin Volvo Penta D4-300 diesels with V-drives, optional parallel hybrid
Fuel / water 800 L / 300 L
Sleeping 2 double bedrooms, plus saloon convertible to a guest bed
Bathrooms 2: ensuite to the main bedroom, plus a shared bathroom
Headroom 6 ft 3 in in the saloon, main bedroom and bathrooms; lower in the second bedroom
Construction Marine ply, epoxy coated, glass sheathed

river limits, checked against the Thames

The beam fits the smallest main Thames locks (Buscot, 4.47 m wide). Below Oxford, the lowest bridge, Folly Bridge, has 3.12 m headroom and depth allows about 1.2 m draft, so Alba fits. Above Oxford, Osney Bridge (2.28 m) and shallower water (0.9 m) rule it out unless the hardtop folds. Source: River Thames distances and measurements for boaters. Levels vary, so always check before going.

the parts

Each part has its own page.

  1. Exterior design.
  2. Layout.
  3. Engines: twin diesel or hybrid.
  4. Cross sections.
  5. How to build it.
  6. Render prompts.

the renders

Five images from the five ChatGPT prompts. The boat comes across as Notte Blu's bigger sister, and the two interiors are close to the brief. A few things drift.

  • The tail. Every view from behind ends in an upright, squared transom with the name across it, where the brief has a rounded, sculpted tail. Notte Blu's renders drift the same way.
  • The nose. On the river, the superstructure starts behind a long flat foredeck and a raked windscreen, rather than low with a softly rounded nose.
  • The roof. A radar dome sits on the roof, which the brief doesn't mention.

open decisions

  • Hybrid or twin diesel (hybrid recommended for river-first use)
  • Folding hardtop, to clear Osney Bridge and reach the upper Thames
  • Second helm inside the saloon for cold or wet crossings, or outside only
  • Interior palette: match Notte Blu's pale oak and sand leather, or a variation
  • Supplier quotes for engines and hybrid system
  • Naval architect for full plans and stability

The plates

5 · lift any one out
Alba cruising on a wide English river at golden hour, three-quarter side view from astern, with a church tower, houses and trees on the bank and the sun low on the left. A gloss deep navy-teal hull with a sand-gold line along the sheer and a second gold line low on the hull, a crease rising towards the stern, and two long dark window slots in the hull side. A pale cream superstructure with a dark window band runs aft into a slim hardtop over the aft deck, where a wooden deco wheel stands at the helm and sand leather seating wraps a teak table. A red ensign flies at the stern and ALBA is lettered in gold on the transom above a teak platform. Off brief: the stern is an upright, squared transom carrying the name rather than a rounded sculpted tail, the superstructure starts behind a long flat foredeck and a raked windscreen rather than low with a softly rounded nose, and a radar dome sits on the roof.
01 · Alba cruising on a wide English river at golden hour
Alba running at speed across a lively blue sea under a bright sky with scattered cloud, white chalk cliffs and a lighthouse in the distance. Spray and a white wake stream off the navy-teal hull with its two sand-gold lines and long dark window slots. Two people sit at the helm under the hardtop, behind the long dark window band, with sand leather seating and a teak table on the aft deck, and a red ensign at the stern. Close to the brief. Off brief: the stern is an upright, squared transom with ALBA in gold rather than a rounded sculpted tail, and the bow sits level rather than slightly raised.
02 · Alba running at speed across a lively blue sea under a bright sky with scattered cloud
Alba and Notte Blu moored side by side in a French harbour at dusk, seen from astern, with café tables, lit awnings, plane trees and a hillside town with a bell tower behind. Both hulls are gloss deep navy with sand-gold lines and blue underwater lights glowing beneath them. Alba, on the left, has a pale hardtop over a cockpit of sand leather seating around a lit table, with a red ensign and ALBA in gold on the stern. Notte Blu, smaller and lower, has a split windscreen, a wooden wheel and a large sand sunpad, with NOTTE BLU on the stern and an Italian flag. A brass bollard and mooring line in the foreground. Off brief: both sterns are upright, squared transoms carrying the names rather than sculpted tails.
03 · Alba and Notte Blu moored side by side in a French harbour at dusk
Alba's saloon in warm late afternoon light, looking aft. A cream leather sofa with navy and patterned cushions wraps an oak dining table on a brass pedestal, under a long window that curves up with the roof and looks out over a river with trees and a church spire. Pale oak panelling, an oak floor with a woven runner and an oak sideboard with a brass lamp on the right. Aft, the galley with an oven, hob and oak cupboards opens through a wide doorway onto the aft deck seating and the river beyond. Close to the brief.
04 · Alba's saloon in warm late afternoon light
Alba's main bedroom in soft morning light. A double bed in cream and navy linen stands as an island on an upholstered sand leather plinth with oak drawers beneath and a strip of warm light under it, with carpeted walkways either side. A sand leather headboard with brass reading lights, oak bedside tables, a large skylight overhead and a thin horizontal hull window on the left looking over the water. On the right, an open door shows the ensuite with a marble basin. A cream leather chair in the foreground. Close to the brief.
05 · Alba's main bedroom in soft morning light

The model

drag to turn it · built from the drawings
Screenshot of the 3D model from the bow quarter, untextured, on flat water. Notte Blu's navy hull and sand-gold line scaled up, with two dark bedroom window slots along the side, the teak deck, and the pale stone saloon whose softly rounded nose rises aft along its dark window band into the slim hardtop over the helm on the aft deck, with the swim platform at the tail.

the model loads as you reach it

The drawings

9 sheets
Side profile, bow on the left, on the waterline. A deep navy-teal hull with a near-vertical bow, a sand-gold line along the sheer and a crease along the hull side. Two thin dark window slots in the hull, one for each bedroom. A pale stone superstructure with a rounded nose and a long dark window band rises aft along a curved roof into a hardtop on slim pillars over the aft deck, with the wooden wheel and sand seating under it. The swim platform at the tail.
01 · Side profile
Front and rear views on the waterline. Front: the vertical stem, the sand-gold sheer line, the crease, and the pale saloon above with its dark front glass. Rear: the hardtop on slim pillars over the back of the saloon, a dark galley door between two seats, the rounded tail with a large platform across it, and two props and rudders below the water.
02 · Front and rear views on the waterline
Side cutaway, bow on the left. Below, from the bow: the main bedroom, the ensuite, steps up to the saloon, the second bedroom under the saloon floor, and the shared bathroom. Above: the saloon with its convertible sofa and table, then the galley. A bulkhead closes off the engine room aft, where the twin diesels sit under the aft deck with V-drives turning the shafts back. The helm and seating sit on the aft deck under the hardtop, with the platform at the stern.
03 · Side cutaway
Deck plans, bow on the left. Main deck: a skylight in the foredeck, then the saloon with a sofa, table and steps down, the galley with a hob and a sink either side at its aft end, and the aft deck with the helm and seating under a dashed hardtop outline, and the platform beyond. Lower deck: the main bedroom forward with the ensuite beside it, the steps, the second bedroom and the shared bathroom amidships, and the engine room aft with the two engines side by side.
04 · Deck plans
Two cross sections at the waterline. A, through the saloon and second bedroom: the saloon above the deck, with the sofa, the table and the dark window band, 6 ft 3 in headroom marked, and the second bedroom bed low in the hull below, in a moderate V with a double ply bottom. B, through the main bedroom: a finer V forward, a skylight in the deck, and the raised island double with 6 ft 3 in marked beside it.
05 · Two cross sections at the waterline
The aft deck helm drawn front-on, under the hardtop on its slim pillars. A navy cowl and a pale oak dash with round speed, fuel and revs gauges in sand-gold bezels, a navigation screen in the middle and two throttles on the right. Below is the deco wooden wheel with a sand-gold hub and spokes. The dash is drawn to match Notte Blu's; the concept doc only fixes the wooden deco wheel and the place under the hardtop.
06 · The aft deck helm drawn front-on
Three interior elevations in pale oak. The saloon looking to port: a long window band curving up with the roof, a sand leather sofa with an oak base and a table in front, which together convert to a double. The galley wall: lockers above with the microwave in one, a two-ring hob and a sink on the worktop, and an oven, a cupboard and a fridge below. The main bedroom looking forward: a skylight in the ceiling, a thin hull window, the raised island double with room either side, and the ensuite door.
07 · Three interior elevations in pale oak
Framing layout in side elevation and plan from below, bow on the left. Ply frames along the length, bulkheads between the cabins and in front of the engine room, stringers running fore and aft, a laminated keel and chines, and a pair of engine bearers under each engine aft.
08 · Framing layout in side elevation and plan from below
The build in four stages. 1, frames upside down on the strongback, steps 1 to 3. 2, keel, chines, stringers and engine bearers fitted, steps 4 and 5. 3, planked, glassed, faired and primed, steps 6 to 9. 4, rolled over, decked, with the pale superstructure and hardtop on, and painted in navy with the sand-gold line, steps 10 to 18.
09 · The build in four stages

The parts

6 · each has a page of its own