The Venetian Arsenal used to launch one ship a day at the peak of its industrial prowess in the 16th century, allowing the city’s merchants to dominate trade in the Mediterranean for centuries. It’s a different kind of domination that focuses the minds of today’s Italian boatbuilders. The country tops the leaderboard for the number of superyachts it splashes — no one else even comes close. While the basic timber-framed vessels of the Venetian heyday are a world away from the finely detailed yachts hitting the water almost every day across Italy, the thread is strong: Italy loves boats.
One of those newly launched superyachts was unveiled for the first time at the recent Venice Boat Show: the Custom Line Navetta 38, built by the Ferretti Group a short cruise away in Ancona. The Ferretti Group is a power player of Italian yacht building, responsible for everything from mahogany Rivas that ooze old-school cool to giants like the 85m Project 144, which will become the group’s biggest delivery when it hits the water in 2026. The new Custom Line Navetta 38 sits in the middle of the company’s offering, a supremely comfortable cruising boat arranged over four decks and featuring a fold-out beach club at the waterline to maximise access to the water.
It’s the sky, however, that is the theme of this visit to Venice. Sitting in the bright Patricia Viel interior of the Custom Line Navetta 38 is Kenn Ricci, chairman of the private jet company Flexjet, which operates a fractional ownership model, seeking to give its clients all the privileges of private jet ownership without the expense or hassle of owning your own jet outright. Looking comfortable with one arm draped along the custom sofa in the main saloon, Ricci is fresh from inking a deal with the Ferretti Group CEO Alberto Galassi that the two companies say “connects the pinnacle of luxury from sea to sky”.
In practice, this means those customers paying €20-odd million for a superyacht like the Custom Line Navetta 38 will be able to access Flexjet’s fleet of more than 300 private aircraft and helicopters, including the long-range Gulfstream G650 — meaning no fuel stops when US buyers are flying across the Pond to check on their boat in build. Ferretti Group customers will also be able to use Flexjet’s fleet of private aircraft terminals. The benefit for Flexjet clients includes VIP access to global boat shows and private tours of Ferretti Group shipyards.
However, the coolest collaboration arising from this new partnership is that one of Flexjet’s G650s will be tricked out in iconic Riva style, all aquamarines and richly oiled teak, making the aesthetic step from superyacht to private jet as seamless as it’s possible to be. “People who love cruising on Ferretti Group yachts expect standards of absolute excellence when they fly too, which is why I’m so pleased to associate our name with Flexjet, a partner that shares our passion and desire to offer customers an increasingly rewarding experience,” Galassi says.
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For Ricci the Riva connection was a no-brainer. He owns one of the Ferretti Group’s special-edition Riva Anniversario models, one of only 18 produced, which he keeps on — where else? — Lake Como. His parents moved to the US from Sicily in the first half of the 20th century and he has recently reclaimed his birthright, both by becoming an Italian citizen and, like millions of other Italians in this yacht-obsessed nation, going back to the sea.
