Benetti: 150 Years of History
Benetti’s journey began in 1873, and this year the shipyard celebrated its 150th Anniversary with three days of celebration at the Viareggio and Livorno shipyards with owners, employees, and officials.
1873: The year the Benetti journey began when Lorenzo Benetti (1844-1914) purchases the Cantiere Darsena Lucca and founds the Benetti Shipyard. Almost 40 years later, his sons Gino and Emilio take over the family business.
1890: The era of the best Barque sailing ships. In over 30 years Lorenzo Benetti launches more than 30 vessels, including: 5 schooners, 3 tartanes, 13 brigantine-schooners, 8 “navicelli” boats and 3 cutters.
1921: The Mediterranean’s largest vessel with a length of 51 meters, the St. George is the largest sailing ship to date. In 1952 she is transformed into a training ship for Navy helmsman students. Today she can be seen on display at the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan.
1941: A steel-hulled diesel vessel pioneer was constructed by the sons of Emilio Benetti, Maurizio and Bertani, Maria is a ground-breaking steel vessel equipped with diesel engines used for the very first time in history.
1962: Delfino 18M, a charming beauty was the first real motor yacht on the market. This legendary “Navette” represents a new boating genre and an unprecedented leisure yachting lifestyle.
1966: Welcome Gabbiano 22M, which will captivate and gain the attention of personalities such as Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly.
1967: Mediterraneo 33M was the first large yacht built by Benetti. It showcased a rounded stern and a repositioned wheelhouse, amplifying the living space and comfort on board.
1977: The noteworthy M/Y El Caran was chosen by rockstar David Bowie. El Caran is a 39-meter-long classic beauty with a steel hull and aluminium superstructure distinguished by a canoe stern design.
1979: The launch of the extra-luxurious M/Y Nabila, with a length of 86 meters for Saudi businessman Adnan Khashoggi. Nabila is the first and largest gigayacht ever built at the time.
1983: A memorable cinematic moment when Nabila appears in the James Bond film starring Sean Connery, “Never Say Never Again”.
1985: The Azimut | Benetti Group is born. The founder of Azimut Yachts, Paolo Vitelli, acquires Benetti, an event that marks the beginning of a new era for the prestigious Italian shipyard. The Azimut | Benetti Group will go on to become the world’s most extensive yacht and megayacht network.
1989: The song “Khashoggi’s Ship” by Queen. Inspired by the legendary parties he attended on board Nabila, Freddie Mercury writes a song that contributes to making her famous worldwide: “And then we took a holiday on Khashoggi’s ship – well, we really had a good good time they was all so sexy, we was bad, we was blitzed, all in all it was a pretty good trip”.
1995: Golden Bay Series: iconic 50M yachts. The Golden Bay Series lead Benetti to the creation of a series comprising six more yachts with identical hulls, volumes, and systems, then subsequently customized to meet owner requests.
1998: Classic 115 and an iconic beauty: Stella Fiera was a truly innovative 35M composite yacht with three decks. The beauty of the yacht stole the scene at boat shows giving its name to one of the units produced, Stella Fiera.
2000: Everything extraordinary: M/Y Reverie 70M. The second largest megayacht built by Benetti. Through her, the company crystallizes its status as one of the few shipbuilders capable of accomplishing highly complex commissions.
2002: Vision 45M Series. The largest fiberglass yacht in the world, with a remarkable commercial success. As the flagship of the composite fleet, she is conceived with five double cabins.
2003: Amplifying production, empowering the group. Benetti expands its production facilities by acquiring the renowned “Fratelli Orlando Shipyard” in Livorno. Founded in 1866, during its years of activity it supervised the launches of hundreds of warships, commercial ships, and ferries. The House of Yachting is born.
2004: 52M of sophisticated beauty: M/Y Sai Ram. A combination of class and elegance. She is designed by Stefano Natucci, then furnished and decorated with an oriental-inspired style by Lazzarini and Pickering to create sophisticated and relaxed atmospheres.
2006: A high-tech piece of art: M/Y Ambrosia III 65M. A project that initiates Benetti’s interest in developing an eco-yachting philosophy. She is the first yacht in the world to be equipped with a Caterpillar/ABB diesel-electric propulsion system combining two 1,864 kW / 2,500 HP Azipods.
2011: The first of Many: M/Y Nataly 65M. She is the megayacht that marks the first collaboration between the shipyard and RWD, and the first Benetti with a straight bow. An intuition which serves to create extra space on board and more contained spaces for the garage and the technical areas.
2016: The third piece of art for a recurring Owner. Benetti stuns the world again by building its largest yacht to date. Lionheart is also the third Benetti to be commissioned by a recurring owner and marks the beginning of a new phase for the company, leading to the development of the gigayacht hub.
2016: A hub for the production of gigayachts. The creation of a building hub dedicated to the construction of gigayachts over 80 meters is a bold initiative for Benetti. A real turning point in its history and an important milestone for its future.
2019: M/Y Metis 63M. The spaces on board explore an entirely new angle. They appear rotated by 30° and offer an unprecedented perspective that optimizes the views of the external landscape. Metis is the first of five megayachts – and still counting – of the B.Century line born from Benetti’s collaboration with Cassetta Yacht Designers.
2019: The Benetti Giga-Season: With three Gigayacht launched in a span of just 100 days, Benetti celebrates the success of an engineering and managerial challenge. Built simultaneously, M/Y Luminosity 107.6M, M/Y IJE 108M and M/Y Lana 107M, are the three largest motoryachts in Benetti’s history, equipped with cutting-edge technologies and characterised by unique design.
2020: Oasis Deck™, a sea-immersive experience. A true lifestyle concept to be at one with the ocean, the Oasis Deck™ featured on the Oasis 40M is an unprecedented nautical design concept developed by Benetti with RWD. It is a huge success and an iconic element that will define the future of its shipbuilding through yachts such as the Oasis 34M and the B.Now family.
2021: Motopanfilo 37M. A fiberglass vessel designed as a modern reinterpretation of the iconic navette built by Benetti in the past, Motopanfilo 37M is a yacht suspended in time, an example of classicism projected into the future. Its elegant design evokes memories of the best nautical traditions.
2022: B.Yond 37M, the first semi-custom hybrid yacht of this size. A boat with a revolutionary design: four decks in only 37 meters are certainly its distinctive feature. The use of steel is typical of Voyagers, but also a romantic reference to Benetti's iconic boats of the 1960s. B.Yond was recognized as the most sustainable boat in its segment, thanks to its hybrid propulsion system, another peculiarity in its length segment.
2023: B.Now 50M Oasis Deck™. FB605 is the fourth B.Now 50 unit launched by Benetti (the first, FB602 Iryna, was launched in 2021), but it is the first to feature the iconic Oasis Deck™ solution, the brilliant proposal to superyacht owners who dream for long stays onboard in authentic contact with the sea.
2023: 150 Years of “The House of Yachting”
Benetti yachts continue to be icons of tradition, reliability, and excellence. “The House of Yachting” is an emblem of enduring beauty and superior craftsmanship and its journey, that began in 1873, is destined to last.