The year 2023 marks an important milestone for Cantiere del Pardo. The shipyard, in fact, has recently celebrated its first 50th anniversary. Half a century of Italian naval tradition aimed at always offering the best to its owners, without losing the verve of its beginnings, but on the contrary, gaining fame and respect, decade after decade, until becoming a true international reference in the sector.
The first
steps were taken in the sailing world in 1973 when Giuseppe Giuliani Ricci founded Grand Soleil Yachts, a successful Italian company that immediately became a leader in the sailboat market. With an eye on the future, the company has deep and firm roots, and has always managed to combine innovation and tradition over the decades.
“The history of Cantiere del Pardo is rich and complex – says Fabio Planamente, CEO of the company – It is easier to identify some ‘milestones’ that coincide with the phases in which the company demonstrated its ability to adapt to changes, leading it to become what it is universally considered today: a flagship of the Italian shipbuilding industry. These ‘milestones’ can be identified as three moments: first, the passing of the baton – or perhaps it would be better to say ‘of the helm’ – from Giuseppe Giuliani Ricci to a series of funds; then, the 2014 restart, after the darkest period of boating, and, finally, the phase we hold most dear, the 2015-2017 three-year period. This coincides with the launch of the Long Cruise sailing range and, shortly after, with the birth of the Pardo Yachts brand, which led us into the motor world, giving us the boost to look forward with confidence and grow more and more.”
Today Cantiere del Pardo is steered by Fabio Planamente and Gigi Servidati. In 2016, the shipyard decided to write another chapter in its long history, opening up to the motor yacht segment.
“The thought of building a motorboat had been around for some time, because our nautical passion has always been 360° – explains Gigi Servidati, Chairman of Cantiere del Pardo – So, when it was time for the shipyard to expand, Fabio and I thought we’d do it with some important innovations.”
Cantiere del Pardo: the origins
The first steps in the sailing world for Grand Soleil Yachts were immediately premonitory: a great success for every new model launched, some reaching such a peak that almost 300 units were built, as in the case of the GS 34, the first sailing yacht designed by Jean-Marie Finot between 1973 and 1983, which immediately marked one of the major yachting milestones. The iconic yacht built in both racing and cruising versions, distinguished by its characteristic circular porthole aft, instantly positioned Cantiere del Pardo in the medium-high end of the market.
A similar fate came to the GS 39 and 35 models designed by Alain Jézéquel, as well as the GS 53, GS 45 and GS 42 resulting from the collaboration with German Frers in the late 1980s.
The secret, perhaps, of this incredible, all-Italian success lies in the deliberate choice of creating, era after era, a fresh, innovative and design-oriented product, choosing these designers who could bring the idea of Cantiere del Pardo to the water, surprising the public and professionals alike.
Many of these boats, in fact, were witnesses to and protagonists of the different solutions of the time, also anticipating many ideas later adopted by the market, further highlighting Cantiere del Pardo’s winning strategy of entrusting famous designers with each model, characterising each historical period.
Cantiere del Pardo: the new motor chapter
For a few years now, Pardo Yachts, the Cantiere del Pardo’s motor boat brand, has managed to establish itself on the yachting scene, immediately reaching important levels, both in the Italian and foreign markets.
The first, and most famous boat that marked the debut of Cantiere del Pardo in the motorboat segment was the Pardo 43, an irreverent 13m walkaround with negative-V bow and hull optimised for IPS propulsion. At its début in Cannes, thirty units were sold, which became 270 in just six years.
What many considered a risky choice turned out to be a resounding success, which encouraged Pardo Yachts to increase the range with the Pardo 50 and Pardo 38 models and diversify it to meet the ever-growing requests from owners. This is how the Endurance and GT lines were born.
The Endurance line aimed to fill a gap in the trawler market, where there was a lack of cruising boats with an optimized hull to efficiently travel at twenty and more knots, and at the same time without the annoying rolling effect to improve performance, comfort and liveability aboard.
The first exciting model, the Endurance 60, was the result of the joint work of Cantiere del Pardo, naval architect Davide Leone and Nauta Design, the design firm behind the interiors.
“The result –
Gigi Servidati says – has stylistic features that are very reminiscent of Pardo Yachts and has excellent characteristics both in terms of speed performance and fuel consumption. It is also a very comfortable boat, and for this reason too I think it is an excellent product for a sailor who wants to switch to a motorboat.”
The previously announced Endurance 72 will follow in 2024, which has already been dubbed by Davide Leone himself as “his best project”.
Launched in 2022 with the GT 52, the GT line, on the other hand, can be considered a middle ground between the previous vessels, because the line offers an enclosed version of the Pardo models with the exceptional shipyard’s family feeling, larger and more comfortable interior by Nauta Design and three comfortable cabins.
In 2020, Servidati and Planamente decided to acquire the Dutch brand VanDutch, which, shaped by the Mulder Design studio, created instantly recognizable yachts with great charm. While respecting the original lines, the boats produced by Cantiere del Pardo now feature optimized hulls and improved habitability.
The VanDutch Yachts models produced so far by Cantiere del Pardo are the VD 32, the VD40, the VD 48 and the VD56, which will be followed by a 75-foot model.
As in the sailing segment, the “motor road” Cantiere del Pardo has started down is already decorated with important awards, including the recent renewal of the partnership with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, as the team’s official supplier for the 37th America’s Cup
Celebrations
On the last week of June 2023 the celebrations for the shipyard’s 50th anniversary took place in Portopiccolo, Trieste, gathering designers, dealers, owners and prominent nautical personalities from all over the world in a picturesque location.
First with the Gala Dinner, and then with the two days of regattas for the Grand Soleil Cup, now in its 21st edition, the celebrations continued with moments of sharing, cheerfulness and healthy competition also in the Vintage category, and for the first time ever the Pardo Water Rally was also staged.
The new horizon of Cantiere del Pardo
The new era of designers welcomed Massimo Paperini, who penned the Grand Soleil 40, bringing a breath of fresh air to the shipyard, and proposed a stylistically revolutionary model that would change its destiny forever. The almost vertical bow and the tapering strip of the deckhouse changed the taste of sailing yachts, and the GS 40 was a resounding success.
Grand Soleil 56 was then designed by Philippe Briand and the Judel/Vrolijk studio, but since 2011, Cantiere del Pardo has decided to work with Italian designers only. After Paperini and Luca Brenta, it was the turn of Claudio Maletto, who designed the naval architecture of two boats, the iconic GS 39 with torpedo bulb, and the Grand Soleil 43, the first boat to have a fixed bowsprit.
In 2013 Marco Lostuzzi presented Grand Soleil 46 Long Cruise, a performance boat alongside a cruising boat, something never seen before. Since 2020 Matteo Polli has signed three projects: GS 44, GS 40 and GS 72, in Performance or Long Cruise version (recently launched) and GS 65 which will be launched in the coming months.
The history of the
shipyard is very long but the future is still to be written, treasuring the know-how and values that have made this company great. Cantiere del Pardo is always looking for new solutions, new design ideas to revolutionize, model after model, our seas, taking the excellence of Made in Italy ever higher.
“Becoming the owner of such a prestigious shipyard, and moreover an Italian one, and now having the possibility of continuing to carry out its activities personally, is a great privilege: the proverbial dream come true”, says Fabio Planamente. “We enter the new fifty years keeping the rudder straight, committing ourselves to ensuring that Cantiere del Pardo continues to be a point of reference for the world nautical stage, as well as a source of pride for Romagna and for the country”, Gigi Servidati concludes.
