Benetti Celebrate 140th Anniversary

Lorenzo Benetti

Benetti is one of the oldest builders of luxury motor yachts in the world. Established by Lorenzo Benetti in 1873, the company began life building wooden boats used for local and international trade. After the death of Lorenzo, his two sons Gino and Emilio took over the management of the shipyard. They changed its name to Fratelli Benetti and quickly built up a reputation that extended far beyond the Mediterranean.

After the second world war, with the disappearance of commercial sailing vessels built from wood, Benetti changed direction and began producing pleasure craft made from steel. Then in the early 1960s the boatyard produced its first luxury megayachts. Since 1980 the fleet has included big megayachts in the 30m to 60m range and beyond, including the famous 86m "Nabila".

In 1985 the shipyard was acquired by the celebrated Turin based boat builder Azimut Yacht, which brought in new management and transformed Benetti into the modern, technologically advanced shipyard we know today.

Benetti has a time honored tradition in yacht building and after abandoning wood, they were one of the first to realise the potential of composite materials for the production of megayachts, as early as the 1960s they made the transition from metal boats to the steel and aluminium.

 
Today Benetti use these materials, alone or combined, to design and build fully custom displacement and semi-displacement megayachts from lengths of 93ft to 90m plus. These yachts capture the owner's idea of what a yacht should be, while retaining the Benetti family feeling that is a natural expression of the finest Italian style and elegance. This is what has made Benetti a world leader and an Italian luxury yacht icon.

Over the years the shipyard has grown and changed. Once the Fratelli Benetti shipyard was famous for building three masted wooden schooners for commercial use. Today Benetti's megayachts turn heads at the world's most famous and exclusive marinas.

"This year will not only be the 140th anniversary of Benetti, it will be also the 10th anniversary of the acquisition of the Livorno Shipyard bought from the Orlando family. We plan a dense calendar of events culminating next June in Portofino with a very exclusive weekend together with our clients from all over the world. Owners don't come to us to buy a ready made yacht, but to construct one together with us in order to fully express their personality and live a genuine rapport with the sea. Clients who approach us with ideas and expectations that are a challenge and a continuous stimulus and when we meet their brief and make every detail perfect with no concessions to compromise, their success becomes ours. This level of quality and passion are the only route to our next 140 years of success". comments Ing Vincenzo Poerio, Benetti’s CEO.

140 years of history, close to 300 boats built, over 300,000 sqm of production facilities at six shipyards in Italy (Viareggio, Livorno and Fano) and 34 megayachts currently under construction at present including a 90m show they are truly a world leader in the superyacht industry.