To quote a common adage, life begins at forty. It takes forty years to grow, study, train, prepare, all to live the next forty years to the fullest. Overmarine, home of the Mangusta, Oceano and GranSport, is turning forty this year.
It all started with Giuseppe Balducci. Born in 1937 in Limite sull’Arno, Tuscany, he began his career in the world of yachting at the age of 16, moving to Viareggio to work as an electrician at Picchiotti until it closed in 1971.
He then founded his own business Elettromare, a company for the construction of naval electrical systems that collaborated from the start with major Italian shipyards. He began travelling widely, across Italy and abroad. In 1981, he opened a moulding company, introducing the concept of fibreglass construction to Viareggio.
Soon afterwards, he began working with Picchiotti’s Tecnomarine, which was sold, however, in 1985, undergoing a major transformation. At that point Giuseppe shifted his attention to producing boats independently. Thus came the first Mangustas: 65-foot models, in both open and cruiser versions.
The name is a challenge aimed at Tecnomarine’s famous Cobra, the most successful open boat. What animal can stand up to the mighty Cobra? The mongoose, of course! And was the challenge successful? The answer became apparent in the years following the Lehman crisis (2008 – 2013): when many owners were selling their boats, Overmarine found that their potential buyers already owned a Mangusta.
The best entrepreneurial stories are based on intuition, successful ideas and a heavy dose of courage. And it is that very courage that has, since its beginnings, animated the Overmarine group. Now in the hands of its second generation, Maurizio and Katia, sights are already set on the company’s next forty years. Since 2021, the third generation has also joined the team.
The key to success? “Innovation,” replies Maurizio Balducci, CEO of the Group, “an innovation embedded in our DNA. Over the years we have studied the most suitable high-performance propulsion systems dedicated to fast yachts, eventually opting for MTU engines combined with KaMeWa waterjets, which proved to be the best solution in terms of comfort and efficiency”. The Mangusta 80 marked the birth of the Maxi Open concept, a yacht with a dynamic silhouette, a top speed of over 40 knots and generous living spaces below deck.
The success of this model, born from the pencil of Stefano Righini, yacht designer, artist and poet, is underlined by the realisation of no fewer than 75 units. Over the years, the Mangusta open yachts became increasingly Maxi: 108’ seemed large at first until the 130’ came along, soon surpassed by the 165’, a genuine ship, designed for comfort, liveability and stable speeds, travelling at up to 30 knots, with the power of a cruiser.
“Many aspects have changed, however, in the meantime,” Maurizio Balducci points out, “At the same speed today, consumption has been reduced compared to ten years ago. We also installed gyroscopic stabilisers that provide incredible flexibility. This is how an Open can now be used in such a wide range of modes, whether cruising comfortably at 10 knots, or at speeds in excess of 30 knots”.
In 2016 came the new Mangusta Oceano line: displacement yachts with greater autonomy. “When we develop a new product, the aim is to create a yacht that is innovative in both design and technical content,” explains Maurizio Balducci. “So, we collaborated with a young professional from the automotive world, Alberto Mancini, who designed the Mangusta Oceano 42, a yacht that in terms of design and content breaks away from everything built up to that point.”
A different yacht, one that retained Overmarine’s essential values, reinterpreted in an innovative manner. Alberto Mancini’s first project for the yard was also his first boat of over 40 metres. “Alberto showed us an open design,” Maurizio Balducci recalls, “to which we asked: do you feel up designing a three-deck displacement yacht, one unlike any other? He accepted the challenge and the Oceano 42 was born”. The close collaboration with the technical department and the yard’s significant experience in building large units allow for exceptional results.
The fresh perspective that Mancini brought to the table from outside the yachting world gave the project a unique originality. The brief? To design a 42-metre yacht with the characteristics of a megayacht and to maintain Mangusta’s philosophy in terms of the relationship between external and internal areas.
The collaboration with Alberto Mancini continues to this day and over the years a further four models have been built in the Mangusta Oceano series and the Mangusta GranSport line of semi-displacement yachts. A key challenge was to renew the Open yacht range. The aim was to introduce an innovative line that also maintained a connection to that designed by Stefano Righini.
The objective was achieved thanks to Igor Lobanov, another designer from the automotive world, who reinterpreted the classic lines of the Mangusta open boats with a contemporary look, reminiscent of the lines that made the Mangusta boats recognisable at first sight.
Thus two models were born into the new Maxi Open generation: the 104 Rev and the 165 Rev, both with large, luminous windows. The Mangusta 165 Rev is a 50-metre yacht equipped with four engines and four waterjets. The owner’s cabin measures 92 square metres.
Today, Overmarine, with its three yacht lines, inspires owners to experience the sea in different ways. To customers looking for a compromise between the two previous lines, Maxi Open and Oceano, the Overmarine Group offers the Mangusta GranSport range, with cruising speeds of 20/25 knots and top speeds between 25 and 30, combined with an autonomy that on the largest models in the series allows for ocean crossings.
Three models of 34, 45 and 54 metres make up this line. And who are the Mangusta owners? “We have a vast variety of owners,” Maurizio Balducci comments, “all of whom are experts, they know the yard and choose us for the Made in Italy quality.
At the end of the day we are high-level craftsmen and our philosophy is not to achieve numbers, but to limit ourselves to building between eight and ten yachts a year. We don’t want to expand beyond that. Satisfied owners are our best publicity. We aim to create unique yachts. Mangusta yachts are, in fact, semi-custom.”
Between Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia and the Americas, where do Mangusta yachts end up? The majority are split between greater Europe, in which all nationalities are represented, and the US, but a fair number also go to Mexican clients, managed by the Miami office, which deals with contacts but is also equally focused on after-sales services.
Sustainability defines the starting point for all projects over the past ten years. Hulls have been optimised, propulsion systems revised, and new materials applied to reduce weight and fuel consumption by 25-30% while cruising, losing only a few knots in top speed. In anticipation of new propulsion systems, all installed engines are already prepared to be fuelled with HVO renewable fuel, which drastically reduces the emissions.
The Overmarine Group’s production sites are all located in Tuscany, between Viareggio, Pisa, Massa and Massarosa, occupying over 220,000 square metres; since 2024 the Pisa yard has doubled its capacity. Fibreglass and carbon fibre yachts are laminated in Massa and Massarosa and set up in the two factories in Viareggio. In addition to the yacht division, the group also operates a military division that produces units from 8 to 50 metres under the Effebi brand.
The Overmarine Group employs close to 200 employees and 600 external collaborators. Globally, the Overmarine Group ranks sixth in Boat International’s 2025 Global Order Book. Overmarine has made dreams come true for forty years. And for the next forty, its philosophy continues to be: “Never approve a new yacht design if its exterior line is not breath-taking”.
Roberto Franzoni
