MASTER RUBBER BOATS, THE EXCELLENCE OF HANDICRAFT

Sixty models, from 7 to 10 metres, a production volume of 200 pieces a year, a widespread presence all around the world with the Master brand. These are the numbers of an entirely Italian success. But behind numbers there a e people.

First of all the founder, Pietro Gargiulo, who started the activity with his wife first in Milan in 1983 and later in his native Palermo. And then, of course, all the people who work there, such as the woman who represents the mind and the operative arm of the business.

We are talking about Annalisa Gargiulo who has been breathing passion for sea and neoprene since she was child to the point that she has become the reference point of the Italian excellence, known all around the world.

” But the soul of this reality – she explains – is always my father, his talent and his excellent manual skills. And my mother. Without her, this business wouldn’t have been the same”.

38 years old, three children and a job which makes her travel continuously, Annalise tells the experience of a handicraft reality which is pure, able to absorb the most modern analysis and management instruments in order to face international markets.

“We’re one of the few Italian realities – she explains – which are able to produce a production chain internally, from planning to the production of all the parts of a boat. We are pure artisans but we must confront the international markets which are very different one from the other and the national market”.

But, have you suffered crisis like all the Italian boating?

” Of course, but we were able to use the right strategies to face it. We have reduced costs and we have created some new models. This capacity to react and invent something new while all the others tended to not go beyond what was already done and known, has made the difference. And then, of course, there are our history and our customers’ trust.

Does planning, like production, happen within Master?

” Absolutely, as our handmade vocation wants. We start to plan from an idea and then we transform this idea into a wooden, tape or paper scale model. This is the starting point of each project, from our hands; only after, we use computers and calculations”

Does this approach give a great customization possibility to your boats?

“Yes, we can satisfy all tastes, by starting from a structural basis of ours which must respect marinity and robustness criteria. This possibility is available on both the amusement boats and working models.

Who is your typical customer?

We can identify two different categories. Foreign customers, wherever they come from, focus on the structural qualities of our production, our excellent materials and technical finishings. Italian customers, on the contrary, generally focus on design. Our talent consists in combining both the two aspects.

Have you ever had any problem in being a woman in a male environment?

” Not particularly, but, it’s true, people are often skeptical. It’ s the first step but then, when the relationship moves to a professional level, what is important are skills. Once, in China, I was obliged to invent a male pseudonym because customers didn’t want to negotiate with a woman. When we met and they realized I was a woman, they were obliged to surrender in front of my skills. And then, being a woman gives me an additional key towards a man: the ability to convince his wife”