Give or treat yourself to a subscription to Boats in Motion print + digital and for only 39 euros a year you get the magazine at home plus read it on your PC, smartphone and tablet. With a sea of advantages.
Boating is not just a race for new. What a sight some old hulls are. Sonny Levi hulls, the glorious Bagliettos, the very famous Riva or the legendary Boston Whaler, just to name four. The list is potentially very long. Yes, but how much? We decided to collect and tell you about the milestones of boating, the real “Classic Boats,” those boats over 25 (25+ years old) that have made boating history and, consequently, have a different value, an added value. However, you have to start somewhere, and we decided to do it with her, a great local boat, top of the Made in Italy.
It was 1958 and a newly designed cruiser was launched in Varazze, Liguria. Success was immediate. The first Italian production motoryacht, the Baglietto Elba, had been born. A historic date and a memorable boat, to be followed by a history of great success.
Designed in the late 1950s, the Elba is the first recreational boat model in which solutions of both interior habitability and open spaces are studied, adopting formulas that are still identifiable today. It is in fact on the Elba that, for the first time, a forward owner’s cabin, separated from the dinette by a door, is designed and conceived. Also here, for the first time, the dinette table turns out to be convertible, allowing the space to turn into a double berth, a solution still present on most boats today.
Shifting the focus to hull and water lines, another step forward is made on this very Baglietto. Bolstered by the wartime experience of the conflict, the hull recovers military solutions, soaring long and narrow to maintain considerable gaits even in heavy seas, without having to vary the revs and thus keeping the set speed constant.
Thus, not only is the Elba a combination of innovations, it is also the first production motoryacht in the Belpaese, if not Europe. But how is it born? Actually, on commission from a specific client, as custom. The boat, however, named Elba, immediately aroused vast interest, so much so that it was immediately converted to mass production. A successful production that would go on until 1963, when the last of 42 examples was launched, again in Ligurian waters.
Starting from the stern, in accordance with the strict standards of the time, we find the sailor’s quarters—a rather narrow and cramped cabin. Forward of the helm station, however, lies the guest area, which accommodates passenger berths: two in the forward cabin, which is the owner’s cabin; two bunk beds are created from the sofa with a fold-down backrest in the salon; and a final single berth is created in the dinette by lowering the table, which uses the sofa backrests as a mattress.
Coming from the cockpit, down the ladder present in the salon are the toilet facilities on the left, and the kitchenette on the right, consisting of two burners and an icebox, possibly replaced by a refrigerator.
In terms of deck life, on the other hand, the boat features neither pulpits and candlesticks nor handrails, instead sporting an extremely sleek look with obvious U.S. influences. The only note at the far bow is a sapling to show off the yard’s guidon, while a sundeck is located in the deckhouse. In the cockpit, however, there is a sofa, while the command area houses two fold-down seats.
| Baglietto – Elba | 1958–1963 (42 units) |
| Overall Length (LOA) | 11.30 m |
| Maximum Span (Bmax) | 3.10 m |
| Maximum Depth | 1.00 m |
| Empty Displacement | 6.5 metric tons |
| Full-Load Displacement | 8.00 metric tons |
| Maximum Power | 2x GM 471T, 197 CV each |
| Maximum Speed at 2,300 rpm | 26 kn |
| Speed at 2,000 RPM | 20.8 kn |
| Range at 2,000 RPM | 14 hours |
| Tank Capacity | 835 L |
| Hull | Single-curved hull – Laminated wood |
| Foredeck Stringer & Ribs | Laminated Mahogany |
| Hull Bottom | Curved Mahogany Plywood |
| Hull Sides | Double Mahogany Planking |
| Deck Planking | Mahogany Plywood with Canvas |
| Bunk Beds | 5 |
| Restrooms | 1 |
| Balgietto Construction Sites | www.baglietto.com |
NAVIGATE INFORMED!
To stay up-to-date on all the boating news, selected by our editorial staff, sign up for the Motor Boats newsletter! Just click the link below, accept the Privacy Policy, and click the “Subscribe Me” button. You will then receive the best powerboat news on your email, twice a week! It’s free and you can unsubscribe at any time, no obligation! CLICK HERE.
Sign up for our Newsletter
Powerboats, its stories, from small open to motoryachts. Sign up now for our free newsletter and receive the best news selected by the editorial staff each week. Enter your email below, agree to the Privacy Policy and click the “sign me up” button.
The Icona 70 is the first model from the new brand “Icona inspired by Mangusta, ” unveiled at the 2026 Cannes Yachting Festival by Effebi New Project, a company founded by the Balducci family and Stefano Arlunno. The yacht is built to Overmarine Group standards, and the goal is to offer a yacht that is
Not a Cap Camarat, not a Merry Fisher, but the dawn of a new era. Today we’re taking you aboard the brand-new Jeanneau EX 34, the flagship of the shipyard’s new line, which aims to strike the perfect balance between the explorer spirit of Finnish nautical tradition and the desire to experience the sea in
Nautica Bertelli, a dealer operating on Lake Iseo and in the Gulf of Tigullio, has become the official dealer for the Sealine shipyard. Cutting-edge design, luxurious comfort, top performance, and German engineering precision: these are the hallmarks of Sealine yachts. Founded in 1972 and part of HanseYachts AG since 2013, the Sealine brand, with its
Welcome to the special Classic Boat Archive section, where Boats by Motor opens for you its paper archive where hundreds and hundreds of boats we have tested, presented and reviewed in the magazine’s more than 35-year history are kept. Technical data, original boat data sheets, including engines and performance. In short, a database (constantly being
