2000. What will the boat of the future look like?

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2000. The boat style of the future

From Boats to Motor 2000. no.7 September, pp. 94-9

What will the boat of tomorrow look like? Seven designers tell how Italian boating will change.

Planners, architects and interior designers: they are the ones who create and decide how, from year to year, the style and lines of Italian boat production should change. To get a preview of what trends and innovations will characterize the most interesting boats of the coming season, we interviewed the seven most famous Italian “pencils” in the industry. In general, they all agree on a return to more rational and less extreme boat lines and a massive use of new technologies that guarantee an optimization of products, with a significant improvement in quality and a reduction in processing times. Finally, a more widespread ecological sensitivity involves the search for materials with a low impact on the environment. But here’s what the experts say.

Massimo Gregori, of the design firm Yankee Delta sees it this way: “There is a return to more traditional forms that enhance the functionality of the medium. Extremely rounded shapes, such as eye-shaped windows and other extreme and merely formal manifestations of design are disappearing in favor of much more classic and sensible lines. Even in the automotive industry, after all, especially in the design of new dream cars, straight lines and angles are returning, and it is known that car-design always precedes yacht-design and marks its future. I think this is a positive development, which will lead to more classic, functional and ultimately long-lasting shapes.”. The type of boats also remains the one dear to the Italian yachtsman, but sizes are growing.

Architect Tommaso Spadolini confirms, “The Italian market is inclined to offer motoryacht and open type boats of increasing size, above 50 feet. There are shipyards that are developing cruiser-type boats, but in this sector the market is firmly in the hands of the Americans. We are currently working on four projects: three are above 50 feet and are the Otam 55 express cruiser, the Elegance 62 motoryacht and another 23-meter wooden unit built by the Castagnola shipyard-Construzioni Nautiche Tigullio; only one, a sporty model by Aprea Mare capable of sailing at 30 knots, is 11 meters long.” But trends in the industry are also greatly influenced by new technologies, which allow for product optimization hitherto completely unimaginable.

“The nautical sector – explains us Federico Giuliano of Zagato Studio-is introducing a high degree of engineering and shape development with the help of three-dimensional CAD, as has long been in use in the automotive sector.” From the above, it seems clear that the automotive market is increasingly influencing the nautical market.

Indeed, Julian continues: “A natural consequence of this more technological approach is the creation of Master models no longer created manually, but made with numerically controlled milling machines that guarantee qualitatively superior results and reduced time frames. Several advantages are thus obtained: total symmetry between the right and left sides; the guarantee of correct fits (hull, deck, accessories) even on medium to large boats; the possibility of working simultaneously on several parts and thus better supplier management (typical Platform organization in the automotive sector).” Zagato has put its eighty years of experience in the automotive industry at the service of the nautical sector. “We collaborate with major Italian and foreign shipyards such as Ilver, Azimut, Riva and Rivolta Marine, to whom we offer our expertise in styling, CAD modeling, engineering, aesthetic models and functional masters. All of this is, in my opinion, testimony to the new trend of learning and adapting the ever-evolving production technologies of the automotive industry to the nautical industry.”

Fully in agreement is designer Alessandro Vismara, which with its innovative MAS 28 has materialized this trend both in terms of aesthetics and technological solutions: “For the MAS 28 we tried to apply new concepts, taking cues from what designers are doing in the automotive industry. In fact, the MAS design was born as a real ‘sea spider’: some cues, such as the stern lines, come from Porsche, others, such as the engine hood, from BMW Z3, and still others from Audi TT and Smart.” The spread of increasingly improved accessories and technical solutions are influencing boat design: stern cowls, retractable electro-hydraulic gangways, retractable stern platforms or sliding canopies allow for cleaner lines and at the same time increase comfort on board.

“The new technological solutions. – comments Tommaso Spadolini – are not much exploited for now because the production numbers are low and the design and implementation costs are therefore very high. The electrohydraulic accessories currently installed are well made, but handcrafted and therefore very expensive. I am convinced that we will come to develop serial production technologies in the next 4 to 5 years.”

Manuela Maggi, an architect with Victory Design Studio, compares the act of designing the interior of a boat to that of a writer in front of a white paper: “The boat can represent something one has always dreamed of and offer the comforts of a seaside apartment, or a floating hangout for sporty day trips, or even the means by which to practice hobbies such as sport fishing. Finally, for larger units it can combine with a representative function. It is therefore crucial to find a design idea that ideally unites all the environments and characterize the object in its entirety, without neglecting a continuity between the exterior style and the formal appearance of the interior.”

According to Milanese architect Gianni De Camio, “We need to move toward more natural solutions, in line with the latest furniture-housing trends, such as those that follow the rules of Eastern Fengh Shui. As far as lighting is concerned, I try to make the most of the theory of Shifting Shadows.” Although in the field of materials we are still far behind, some are already looking to the future.

Architect Antonella Selvetti, of the Besozzi – Selvetti firm argues: “To adapt to the new environmentally virtuous culture, companies and designers will have to show greater ecological sensitivity by using materials and technologies that have a low impact on nature. Environmental quality can be an index of competitive comparison and an additional opportunity for growth and development in terms of production cycle optimization, image improvement, greater social acceptability and market return. Hence, there is a need for a re-design of the existing according to the new forms of eco-design: design for upgrading to make products that are easy to maintain; design for disassembling and recycling to create simple and recyclable products; design for durability to devise products that can last over time and maintain the original quality characteristics unchanged; and design from recycling to obtain objects obtained by recycling waste. In conclusion, it is hoped that in boating the environment will be considered as an opportunity and not a constraint, and that environmental protection will be a primary factor in guiding the strategies of boat design and production in this new millennium.”

By Andrea Cusmano

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