The World Superyacht Awards 2018 sponsors and partners

Benetti was established in 1873, making it the oldest Italian builder of motor yachts and an icon of timeless Italian styling and construction excellence. Each yacht is unique and built around the owner’s needs and desires. Benetti designs, builds and markets three product lines: “Class” composite yachts from 30 to 42 metres, “Custom” steel and aluminium yachts from 45 to 90 metres, and “Giga” for yachts over 90 metres in length. Benetti employs about 1,000 highly skilled specialists at its two production sites, Livorno and the headquarter in Viareggio. Benetti also has offices in Fort Lauderdale, Dubai, Hong Kong and London. Benetti is part of Azimut | Benetti Group, the world’s largest luxury nautical group with privately held capital. Benetti entered into the Asian market in 2010 with its primary office in Hong Kong.

Darsena Italia is the site of Benetti’s historical headquarter in Viareggio (in the Italian region of Tuscany), where four yachts can be built concurrently in a production area covering a total of 77,707 square metres and provided with warehouses, offices, services, a technical area and a heliport. Also in Viareggio is Darsena Lucca, the new area opened in 2011 that also includes warehouses and offices, where three yachts up to 50 metres in length can be built at the same time. Benetti can also use the Comparini Area (11,300 square metres) for final preparations of several Class models. Benetti builds its biggest boats in the huge operating unit in Livorno, which has production areas totalling 219,440 square metres, as well as a heliport and an area devoted exclusively to servicing and refitting work (equipped with a 300 tonnes travel-lift and a 2,400 tonnes ship-lift), and where up to 12 mega and three giga yachts can be built at the same time.

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A world leader in the steel and aluminum displacement yacht market, Cantiere delle Marche was founded in 2010 by Ennio Cecchini, CEO, Vasco Buonpensiere, Director of Sales & Marketing, and Gabriele Virgili, one of the foremost entrepreneurs in the territory of Ancona and President of CdM. In just a few short years, the Ancona-based shipyard has distinguished itself in the international yachting sector, providing shipowners in the world over with 80- to 130-foot Explorer Yachts. These explorer yachts have unique features that allow them to handle even the most challenging navigation in the most extreme latitudes, with the utmost safety and reliability.

Over the last years, Cantiere delle Marche has demonstrated outstanding achievement for having delivered ten Darwin Class yachts (86’, 102’, 107’) and four Nauta Air yachts (86’, 90’, 108’, 111’) and for having signed contracts every two to three months to build yachts over 100 feet and deliveries planned until 2019/2020.

Cantiere delle Marche also benefits from its collaboration with acclaimed design professionals like Mario Pedol and Massimo Gino of Nauta Yachts who designed the biggest yacht in the world – Azzam. Thanks to the contribution made by Nauta Yachts and to its own vision in this very special market, Cantiere delle Marche has, for the first time, created a synthesis of the style of the superyacht, with its light and contemporary aesthetic language, and the Explorer Yacht, with its solid substance: CdM Nauta Air. Darwin Class range has been designed by Hydrotec.

The quality of CdM boats is backed by the experience of a consolidated network of well-established specialised companies, in sectors such as metal carpentry, machine rooms and interior furnishing, all of which, together with the CdM staff, have worked together for decades to build boats and yachts that are appreciated all over the world.

It is a small shipyard that builds small yachts of enormous quality and above all, capable of guaranteeing huge navigation experiences to those who, like the founders of the shipyard, love to explore huge horizons.

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CRN is a shipbuilder and historical Italian brand, part of the Ferretti Group, specializing in the construction of fully-custom steel and aluminum pleasure vessels between 40 and 100 meters in length. It is one of the largest manufacturing companies in the luxury marine sector in Europe.

Over the years, CRN has established itself as an icon of Italian excellence and the creator of unique masterpieces, which represent the true essence of the shipyard’s core mission: taking the wishes of its increasingly aware and demanding clients and giving them a tangible shape, without any limits or constraints. The shipyard is considered as a synonym of innovative craftsmanship. Just like in a real atelier, where customers come to get a bespoke suit, CRN builds fully-custom yachts taking the same approach as a master tailor. Each customer has their own specific measurements and needs, and no “suit” should ever be the same as another, even if they are made by the same hands. The superyachts built by CRN reflect the vision of their owners, matching their personal taste and style while fulfilling specific desires.

Each yacht is a unique work of art, the result of the enlightened vision of the Owner, and recognizable firstly as the yacht of the Owners and then as a yacht part of the CRN fleet. The concept of ‘bespoke mega yachts’ takes on a new meaning, opening up to an Owner that dreams, designs, and imagines, as is the case in any truly creative process. CRN grants this expressive freedom, turning Owners from mere ‘possessors’ into real authors. The CRN shipyard’s design expertise blends with the Client’s talent and vision, to create a unique style, capable of reflecting the Owner’s personality to the fullest.

Innovation is an essential feature of CRN: it is, in fact, the trademark of the shipyard. CRN is focused on the future, anticipating trends and market demands, and studying in advance new concepts and designs. This is possible thanks to an extraordinary R&D team, who works day after day on new challenges and projects. The continuous search for unique design solutions is indeed one of the main features of CRN; some adventurous challenges taken up by the shipyard during the past few years have now been undertaken by the whole industry.

CRN is a member of Sybass (Superyacht Builder Association).

crn-yacht.com

Founded in 1820, the house of Puiforcat is a silversmith to the finest tables. Besides its virtuoso skill in silverwork, it enjoys a reputation for a consummate sense of design and elegance. This is due in part to the tremendous contributions made by Jean Puiforcat, a member of the fourth generation of the family, who headed up the company from the 1920s onwards. As a personification of the Art Déco movement and a member of the Union des Artistes Modernes, he elaborated a unique style characterised by architectural shapes, clean lines, meaningful simplicity and the absence of embellishment. His spare style provides the foundation for fine contemporary silverwork. Combining harmony and the pursuit of beauty in functional objects, it remains the guideline of the house to this day.

Since coming under the wing of the Hermès Group, Puiforcat has used its truly exceptional savoir-faire to both reproduce the finest pieces of its heritage and to imagine tomorrow’s classics alongside great contemporary designers. The Champagne beaker, a unique tasting vessel, the line of wine glasses Puiforcat Orfèvre-Sommelier developed with sommelier Enrico Bernardo, as well as Bureau d’Architecte, a line of desk accessories by French architect Joseph Dirand, all illustrate this approach.

puiforcat.com