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.
It is not always the yards or designers who set the trends. Or rather, sometimes it takes a spark to light the fuse of genius, some chance encounter that sets ideas in motion. Let’s start with an anecdote. Do you know who it was that provided the impetus for the birth of cult boats like the Wallytender, from which the chase boat or shadow boat phenomenon was born? No, we are not talking about Luca Bassani, but about the one who somehow inspired him: Gianni Agnelli (1921-2003). Watch the full video here.
“The first Wallytender was born from a master – recounted Luca Bassani, founder of Wally, – especially master of how they enjoyed boats in the Mediterranean. Lawyer Agnelli. He saw ahead. The intuition to make Wallytenders came to me when Agnelli bought himself the tender of Kookaburra, the 12-meter America’s Cup International Stazza after a world championship in Porto Cervo. Seeing how he used this fast powerboat as a support between his boats, sail and power, I got the idea and from there I created the Wallytender. With these boats and with the help of some marketing, a new market was created. We can say that the chaseboat as we know it today was born there.”
In addition to the Avvocato’s strong passion for sailing, there was also plenty of room in his career as a shipowner for large motor yachts and fast speedboats. The first came in 1950 when, as a 29-year-old, Agnelli bought Kum, an American speedboat. In ’52 from the Baglietto shipyard in Varazze, Agnelli bought the Gim, an open with a sporty hull, a sleek bow, and a slide stern that had been built in 1940 for Fascist party secretary Ettore Muti. The Avvocato had some updating work done and put her back in the water with a new name: Covenant.
The 10 boats of Gianni Agnelli – Click here
And in the late 1950s that a far more ambitious project was born: the GA 30. Powered by three diesel engines this 90-footer reached 30 knots, impressive numbers for the time. That the Avvocato liked speed was no mystery, and it was again thanks to Baglietto that Agnelli met someone who knew a lot about performance at the limit: Renato “Sonny” Levi. The boat that was born was Ultima Dea, an evolution of A Speranziella, a hull that had taken part in the very first Cowes-Torquay in 1961. ”
I took off like a rocket and stayed in the lead for long stretches,” Levi recounted, “and from the planes they took memorable pictures that ended up on the pages of all the newspapers while the sea was at force five and seemed to be boiling. I finished seventh because of a breakdown and everyone remembered me and forgot about the winner.”
“I need a fast commuter,” said the Advocate, “that is comfortable in rough seas and makes at least knots. You know, I’d like to get to the finish line of an offshore race-before the winner.”
It was from the Delta shipyard that the “perfect boat” according to Gianni Agnelli came out, the G. Fifty. In 1967 Agnelli went to Renato Sonny Levi. By the end she was making 55 knots, propelled by four BPM Vulcanoes for a total of 1,280 horsepower . Watch the full video 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.
Pictures of legendary motor racing driver Tazio Nuvolari (1892/1953) as a motor racer are extremely rare, unobtainable. The one we offer above was made in Gardone Riviera in 1935 just before a competition. Tazio is seated on a splendid hull
A tribute to the companies and people who have made Barche a Motore great over these 35 years allowing it to be born, grow, and become great up to this historic anniversary. In these articles the great excellences of boating
We have reached the last issue of a very special year. Yes, because in 2025 Boats by Motor celebrated its first 35 years. You know this and we have told you about it many times, but we can also tell
An entirely Italian “green” sea jewel is ready to ply the waves: the TYKUN H1, the first hydrogen-powered day tender. An innovative project that promises high performance, silent operation and respect for the environment. The boating world is preparing to
