Viva Italia!

In The Era Of The Seriously Stylish Fast Cruiser, Toby Hodges Looks At How Italy Is Dominating The Market And Fashioning Today’s Yachts

Stroll along the main sailing yacht pontoons at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September and you’ll be stopped in your tracks by an armada of the latest monohulls, their sizes ranging from 50-80ft. The majority of these lovely yachts will be Italian or have had an Italian hand in their design.

Notable are the sexy, sleek, lightweight performance cruisers from yards such as Mylius, Grand Soleil, Advanced Yachts, Solaris, Eleva and Ice Yachts. Their seductive lines come from the boards of Nauta, Cossutti, Lostuzzi, Felci, Argento… designers whose very names sound arty and musical.

Yet just ten years ago Italian yachts were still largely cruiser-racers, designs trying to meet the demands of two very different types of sailing. And they were typically 40-45ft. Nowadays they are predominantly 50ft-plus fast cruisers, the majority of which are used for pleasure sailing in warm waters. Style is everything: long waterlines, clean decks, low cockpits, blister coachroofs, minimal hardware and contemporary, light and minimalist interiors – the antithesis of a traditional cruising yacht.

But why are there so many, why are they so popular and why are the Italians so good at producing them? And what’s behind this resurgence of Italian design and the proliferation of large, fast cruisers?

In short, the way people want to use their yachts and like to spend their time afloat is changing and designs are reflecting this, particularly on the Mediterranean coastline. The Italian yards and designers have been able to translate this desire in the most effective way.

We spoke to many of these yards and designers, and it’s clear they are passionate about finding the best design solutions (usually aesthetics-led), and that style seems to be in their blood.

Designer DNA