industry profiles

Sporting a preppy pink button-down shirt and khakis, Charlie Dana zips into Newport Shipyard on his signature scooter. His distinguished silver hair blows back revealing a high patrician forehead, a devilish twinkle in his eyes and a bemused smile. He gives a friendly wave to various and sundry and stops to chat with a few individuals vying for his attention.

Two old friends join to establish a beachhead on US shores for the Italian builder.

This February, Dodich joined Massimo Perotti at the helm of multifaceted Italian yachtbuilder Sanlorenzo.

We did a little snooping around a few shipyards to find out what they’re hiding. What we found were extraordinary designers and amazing craftsmen laboring in the shadows of the big yachts. We have the inside scoop.

At the Yacht & Brokerage Show in Miami, Italian yachtbuilder Sanlorenzo announced the arrival of a new CEO, Fulvio Dodich. We sat down with Dodich, a former high-level Ferretti executive, to discuss his new role, alongside a former competitor, Sanlorenzo founder and majority shareholder Massimo Perroti.

A boat lover from a young age, this superstar and prolific designer usually lives on a boat or near the water where he can easily hop onto one of seven craft of all persuasions that he owns. Surprisingly, though the ocean is central to his life, he has only designed a handful of boats and yachts to date.

The 262-foot CRN 80M marks a milestone for Zuccon International Project as the studio’s biggest yacht so far. The studio designed the yacht’s internal layout and defined its outer profile, and focused maintaining ties with the shipyard’s long history and tradition.

Chairman Paolo Vitelli on the future of Azimut-Benetti, the marketplace and trends.

The first AIM Marine Group Editor’s Choice Lifetime Achievement Award went to Annette Bénéteau-Roux, an elegant, petite woman who has steered the Beneteau Group through thick and thin since 1964. Roux came to Fort Lauderdale to accept her Lifetime Achievement Award.

Benetti Yachts asked nearly 20 international design firms, including established designers and a few new to the industry, to develop superyacht projects in the 50- to 90-plus-meter range and explore the idea of the yacht of the future. Below are the designs contributed by Horacio Bozzo of Axis Group Yacht Design.

Ocean Alexander, with the launch of its OA 120, opens a new chapter in its 34-year history. The alluring new flagship was developed over a period of five years—from the first conversation with designer Evan K. Marshall—and debuts at the 2012 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in October.

The new Vicem 46, the shipyard’s first 151-foot tri-deck motoryacht and the largest vessel in its Vulcan Line, seen here during sea trials, combines tradition and modern yachtbuilding techniques. The Turkish yard asked Art-Line Interiors to create a décor that would reflect its heritage and woodworking expertise.

At the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, Westport will display examples of one of its successful series, the Westport 112. What makes it so successful? We invite you to take a closer look.

Fort Lauderdale became a little quiet as far as big yachts are concerned this summer, so we got on the road and called on a few American shipyards. One of them was Trinity Yachts, which we found busy with new yachts deliveries plus significant commercial and military work.

Mario Pedol is a soft-spoken man not normally given to exclamations of flash and wow. But the recent news that Nauta Yachts was the designer of the 590-foot (180-meter) yacht Azzam, currently under construction at Lürssen, generated quite a buzz. Azzam, a long-time secret project, is believed to be 57 feet 4 inches (17.5 meters) longer than Eclipse, currently the world’s largest yacht.

Nautor’s Swan CEO Enrico Chieffi, a former competitive sailor who met Ferragamo sailing, and long-time designer Germán Frers Jr., who penned the new Swan, hosted a press conference in the glorious model room of the New York Yacht Club a few months ago, to introduce the Swan 105, a perfect opportunity to get some insight into this iconic brand.

When Roberto Zambrini was named CEO at the beginning of 2012, the yard’s owners and new management decided to step into the future with a few projects that should represent a turning point in the shipyard’s tradition.

There appears to be a general trend for sailing yacht builders to break out of a small circle of sailing fans to appeal with yachts that offer creatures comfort and are easier to handle. Without breaking with tradition, the new Nautor’s Swan 105 seems to embrace this trend.

The SL94, first, has elegance. Francesco Paszkowski Design—also responsible for the edgier Sanlorenzo Alloy series—penned this tasteful flybridge yacht in the Sanlorenzo tradition, built in composite in Ameglia, Italy. No matter what interior style owners may decide to go for, this envelope offers a great canvas on which to express one’s creativity.

At the 2012 Monaco Yacht Show, the International SeaKeepers Society bestowed its Seakeeper Award on Agnès Troublé, better known to the world as “agnès b,” designer and successful entrepreneur.

A recent visit to New Bern, NC, home of Pepsi and Hatteras, allowed us to catch up on the construction of its new flagship: the Hatteras 100 RPH.

The family-owned Spanish shipyard, founded by Jesus Astondoa in 1916, stayed true to what has been a winning formula over the past decades. Astondoa, which has a diverse production, offers its clients a high level of customization, regardless of boat size.

We recently paid a visit to Astondoa, a Spanish shipyard renowned for its extensive range of what we’d like to call “production/custom” yachts in the 40- to more than 120-foot range.