Perini Navi was established at the beginning of the 1980’s thanks to the brilliant intuition of its founder Fabio Perini, an entrepreneur, who up until then, had concentrated his activities in the fields of technology and machinery for paper industries. His great passion for the sea gave him the idea of creating a new product in the sailing yacht sector, to build it industrially and launch it on the market.

 

From the second world war in fact, the sector of large sailing boats had practically disappeared in favour of motor yachts. There were many cases of decline of the large sailing boat market but one of the most important was the fact that a large crew of expert sailors was always required to use them.

 

Fabio Perini dreamed of, and subsequently designed, a sailing boat with a new conception where the main features were:

 

Completely new styling

Automation of sails

Swinging keel

Ample space on deck

Habitability and comfort

Quality

Safety

 

These features are till today at the basis of the company philosophy.

 

In 1983 Perini Navi launched their first sailing yacht, Felicita, which with its length of 40 meters, radically exceeded the normal length of sailing yachts of that time. This first Perini Navi model also had a flybridge which significantly increased the habitability of the vessel and which together with the aft cockpit allowed a more comfortable and ample use of the open spaces. All this in combination with a new concept of internal habitability and comfort which had never been seen before in sailing yachts.

But the revolution was represented by the completely automatic control system of the sail plan which allowed a single person to handle, in complete safety, the imposing surface of the sails. This was realized by applying various solutions to the manoeuvre system of the sailplan which derived from the machinery use for winding tissue paper, a sector in which the company of the owner, Mr. Perini, was a world leader. In particular a new type  of automatic winch was designed for the control of sailplans created and developed by Perini Navi represents a state of the art sailing technology, to which also the other boat builders were obliged to adapt to.

After the first vessel built in 1983, Perini Navi built boats of 43 meters to then proceed with a series of boats of 46 m, 48 m, 50 m, 52 m, and 58 m until reaching today’s models which are 56 m, 64 m, 74 m and the most recent 88 m. They are characterized by the use of a constantly changing technology, and extremely sophisticated styling which make them so unique.

 

Today the Perini Navi fleet includes 38 sailing yachts in navigation, plus the 7 yachts presently under construction.

 

 

The impact of Perini Navi on the nautical sector has brought about the rebirth of large sailing yachts. A niche market which is extremely selective but which is constantly increasing. Sailing boats as a whole represent a minimum part of the nautical sector which is dominated  by motor yachts, but the market niche consisting in large scale sailing yachts is certainly developing. If in 1997 in the whole world there were only 5 yachts being built over 150 foot, in 2006 the number of projects for yachts of this length jumped to 12, showing a net increase in the size of yachts recently launched. It is important to point out that , of the 12 projects carried out world-wide, 8 of these were Perini Navi yachts of different sizes, from 38 to 88 metres. In 2006 the market share of Peerini Navi for sailing yachts over 150 foot long reached 61%. The remaining market shares are divided between nine other boat builders whose total percentage is extremely low, and often relates to a single construction.

 

The experience gained by Perini Navi in designing and realizing large sized sailing yachts is therefore unique in the nautical field.

 

 

Consequently also the company turnover has increased from the 20 million Euro in 1996 to 70 million Euro in 2005.

 

From a human resources point of view, from 1996 to 2006 Perini Navi increased its personnel by 19% with an employment strategy aimed at increasing even further the level  of quality of its personnel so as to maintain within the company the main parts of the production process, that is the design and the different phases relative to the realization of the sailplan, delegating other parts of the work to third parties.

 

The companies to whom we delegate this work have developed a long-standing partnership with Perini Navi and have collaborated with our company since the very beginning. They are craftsman companies who have been supplied with the Perini Navi quality standards. They are companies in the district of Viareggio and La Spezia which feel so strongly the nautical and boat building tradition.

 

 

Further to the synergic relations with the local craftsmen, Perini Navi has also followed an acquisition plan intended to increase the production capacity of the company. At the beginning of the 1990’s a shipyard in Via reggio, Picchiotti, was acquired, whilst a few years before, in 1987-1988, a new shipyard called Yildiz was opened in Tuzla, Turkey one of the industrial areas of Istanbul. The investment in Turkey was made to be able to gain more production space, in view of the structural and tragic s lack of pace in Italy, and in order to increase production and productivity whilst keeping costs relatively low. Today in Turkey activities are carried out relating to the realization of the hull and the superstructure, that is the processing in steel and aluminium that represents around 20 % of production activities.

 

In the United States Rerini Navi has opened a sales organization dedicated to brokerage activities and the handling of the charter activities of its own vessels.

 

The latest acquisition, in order of date, is that of Cantieri Navali Beconcini in La Spezia where mass restructuring of the spaces and equipment is under way in order to provide sufficient assistance and repairs services to the 38 yachts of the Perini Navi fleet.

 

New strategies and New projects.

 

As far as future investments, the company continues to employ most of its resources in the research and technologic innovation activities.

Particular effort has been made in relation to the continuous investment in the product features: increase in size, increase in sails performance, reliability and safety.

 

All these experiences and activities have been combined in the edsign and construction of the 88 metre Maltese Falcon.

 

Once this project has been completed it will be an important new stage in the development of the company which, after 22 years from the introduction of the captive reel winch, is looking again to revolutionize the technology of sailing yachts.