Part one here.
This convergence of expertise brings together the designers who have shaped the brand’s stylistic evolution, each with their own distinctive sensibility. Studio Zuccon International Project defined the design language of the early generations, consolidating Custom Line’s distinctive features throughout the most significant phases of its growth. Between 2016 and 2025, the planing line expanded under Francesco Paszkowski Design, the creator of highly successful models such as the , the latter featuring interiors developed in collaboration with architect Margherita Casprini: a sporty design language that reinterprets the codes of automotive design and contemporary architecture.
For the Navetta range and the aluminium superyachts, a new chapter began in 2019, entrusted to architect Filippo Salvetti for the exteriors and to the studio ACPV ARCHITECTS Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel for the interiors.
A design partnership that Salvetti describes as ‘a genuine shared evolution’: ‘Right from the start, there was a very strong chemistry with ACPV ARCHITECTS. We recognised a consistent approach between exteriors and interiors, based on balance, proportion, design essence and the pursuit of timeless elegance’. This coherence has, project after project, given rise to the Navetta 30, 38 and 35, and the Custom Line 50.
When it comes to interiors, ACPV ARCHITECTS’ philosophy is guided by a single principle: “Interiors are never isolated spaces, but part of a system that is consistent with the boat’s architecture. Every space is designed in relation to the hull’s geometry, natural light and the sea,” explains Patricia Viel. Natural and durable materials, bespoke freestanding furniture designed by Antonio Citterio, fine cabinetry and bespoke details create sophisticated and timeless atmospheres. “We design with a focus on how people actually experience these spaces,” she continues.
Finally, from 2025, a new generation is taking shape with SY Design, the studio run by Matteo Sassone and Veronica Yien, who are responsible for the exteriors of the new Custom Line Saetta 128’.
But whilst the designers interpret its identity, it is the owner who completes the story: through their own choices and lifestyle, they transform every yacht into a reflection of their personality, supported every step of the way by the Custom Line Atelier team.
Alongside design lies a pursuit of innovation that is part of the brand’s DNA. Custom Line was the first Ferretti Group brand to introduce Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ ARG gyroscopic stabilisation system — successfully tested on the Navetta 30 “Ziacanaia” —, derived from aerospace technologies and capable of reducing roll by up to 50 per cent, both whilst underway and at anchor. The Dual Mode Transom (DMT) patent, now in force in 18 countries, combines a floodable garage, a diving platform and a beach club — unprecedented for yachts of this size — into a single system, allowing the tender to be launched without the need for davits.
The optimisation of the hulls, the result of a joint effort with Advanced Yacht Technology, guarantees efficiency, range and comfort that exceed the category benchmarks. Great attention has been paid to acoustic comfort, with Lariphon-Laricross composite panels, floating floors, elastic joints and electro-hydraulic stabiliser fins featuring Underway and Zero Speed functions. The Navetta 28, launched in 2014, introduced large, mullion-free hull windows and ‘invisible’ portholes bonded directly to the glass, whilst infrared filters on the bridge reduce the effects of solar radiation by over 60 per cent.
Rounding off the picture is the VOTIS system, which brings together control of on-board devices via smartphone and tablet into a single interface; provision for SCR systems to meet IMO Tier III certification on all models from 2022; and an electronically controlled electro-hydraulic steering system for consistently precise and safe manoeuvring.
All this comes to life in a single location: the Ferretti Group Superyacht Yard in Ancona, the Group’s state-of-the-art multi-brand shipyard and one of Europe’s most advanced and strategically important production facilities, where the steel superyachts of CRN, the Riva Superyachts Division and the Pershing 140, as well as the entire made-to-measure Custom Line range, are built. The private marina, stretching 250 metres along the Adriatic coast and offering strategic access to Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, can accommodate the fitting-out of 27 superyachts simultaneously. The shipyard is equipped with a 670-metric-tonne travel lift for launching steel and composite hulls up to 50 metres in length, as well as nine modern, fully-equipped high-tech hangars. People are one of Custom Line’s fundamental pillars and, together with design and manufacturing excellence, constitute one of the shipyard’s distinctive values.
Every day, around 1,000 professionals – including technicians, engineers, architects, designers, specialists in administration, sales and marketing, teams dedicated to after-sales services, as well as highly skilled craftspeople – contribute their expertise, experience and dedication to enhancing Custom Line’s value, innovation and competitiveness. This team is supported by a network of highly qualified suppliers, an integral part of the production chain and selected according to the highest quality standards, whose contribution is essential to ensuring excellence, precision and continuity at every stage of the project. It is within this context that the two projects set to define the brand’s future are situated.
The Custom Line Saetta 128’ Project, scheduled to debut by the end of 2026, is the new made-to-measure trideck that embodies the evolution of the planing line. Measuring 39.80 metres in length, 7.69 metres in beam and featuring a planing hull under 300 GT, it combines a sporty, sleek profile with maximum liveability of the spaces. Born out of a joint effort between the Strategic Product Department and the Engineering Department, with exteriors designed by SY Design, interiors by ACPV ARCHITECTS and consultancy from the Custom Line Atelier, it is already under construction in Ancona. A distinctive feature is the upper deck, conceived as an immersive space where the sky lounge flows seamlessly into the aft terrace, expanding the perception of space and the connection with the sea. It can accommodate up to ten guests in five cabins, with an owner’s suite on the main deck.
But it is at the Cannes Yachting Festival that the brand is unveiling its new world premiere: the Custom Line Navetta 35, the bespoke displacement yacht that expands the Navetta range, taking its values of comfort, liveability and refinement to the extreme. Measuring 34.5 metres in length, 7.7 metres in beam and with over 300 square metres spread across three decks, the Navetta 35 places the sea at the heart of the experience thanks to an almost transparent naval architecture: floor-to-ceiling windows, reflective surfaces and a continuous dialogue between interior and exterior blur the boundaries with the landscape, to the point where natural light becomes the true material of the design.
The major innovation, however, lies in the very way the spaces are experienced. The innovative staircase has been redesigned to ensure maximum privacy and free up the deck: access to the upper deck no longer passes through the cockpit but is via side passages, so that the aft area of the main deck remains completely unobstructed. The cockpit, now free of stairs, becomes the hub of social life on board, an open and continuous space overlooking the sea. Designed with exteriors by Filippo Salvetti, interior architecture by ACPV ARCHITECTS Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel and strategic consultancy from Custom Line Atelier, the Navetta 35 accommodates up to ten guests in five cabins, with the owner’s suite on the main deck, custom-made freestanding furnishings by Antonio Citterio, soft, flowing lines and a 58-square-metre sun deck dedicated to relaxation.
It thus consolidates the brand’s positioning in the displacement superyacht segment below 270 GT and, above all, conveys a broader message: that after thirty years, Custom Line continues to build not merely destinations, but places to live in, emotions to experience, and stories to tell. And, looking at them, a distinct desire arises: to step on board and never leave.
Giuliana fratnik
