Giovanni Costantino: “the most exciting part? Seeing Perini Navi take to sea again. And I love its clean, essential and stylistically coherent design”. (Here all our posts about The Italian Sea Group)
The Italian Sea Group: new life for Perini Navi
Giovanni Costantino, founder and CEO of The Italian Sea Group, expresses deep satisfaction when talking about Art Explorer, the mega catamaran built by Perini Navi. It is the yard’s first launch after Giovanni Costantino brought the yard into his group in February 2022.
That yacht is designed by France’s Axel del Beaufort, with the collaboration of Guillaume Verdier, the wizard behind the America’s Cup foil catamarans. “She has a clean, not minimal yet essential shape with a sophisticated aesthetic equilibrium”, says Costantino. Art Explorer is not only the first new Perini Navi build but also the world’s largest catamaran at 46.5 metres in length and with a 17.30-metre beam. Another notable feature is its 55-metre high carbon fibre mast.
“The Art Explorer is particularly significant for us”, says Costantino, “Because little more than a year after the acquisition of the yard there’s a new Perini Navi – and not just any Perini Navi, this yacht is something new for the yard, shaped by market demand and owners’ requirements.
Yachts are more than ever being experienced as a floating home, and in the motor and sail yacht world this is leading to a demand for catamarans, which offer huge volumes compared with single hull yachts of the same length. At the same time there’s a growing emphasis on environmental issues”.
Art Explorer: the future is now
This awareness is also embodied by Perini Navi’s new mega-cat. “The owner introduced the idea of sustainability in his initial brief and our technicians worked on this, leading to the installation of 65 square metres of solar panels on the roof. They can produce 200 kW a day”.
This system is linked to a bank of lithium batteries that enables full-electric sailing for six hours. The emphasis on sustainability is also reflected by the latest generation catalytic filters on the two auxiliary diesels, reducing NOx emissions and particulates.
“But Art Explorer is first of all a Perini Navi build, so it’s a sail yacht” says Costantino. “The wind provides the basic propulsive energy and the sail plan enables the yacht to sail at 10 knots with no problem, even in light winds. In typical Perini Navi style the sail plan is totally automated. One person can manage all the rigging with just a few buttons.”
A sailing yacht that is an art gallery
What’s more, Art Explorer has a special mission. Its owner, Frédéric Jousset, a member of the board of the Louvre and creator of the Art Explora foundation, will use Art Explorer as a sailing art gallery that will allow people all around the world to enjoy the art on show.
The first event on the programme for Art Explorer has been organised in collaboration with the Louvre. It’s called “Présentes” and is an examination of the role and representations of the female form in the Mediterranean. The yacht is equipped with latest-generation technology that will enable 2,000 a day to enjoy a stunning multi-sensory experience.
The exhibition is the first in a series that will see the Art Explorer sail the world for the next two years before joining the charter circuit. It took place in Marseilles immediately after the presentation at the Monaco Yacht Show.
The Italian Sea Group swept the Monaco Yacht Show
“We’ll have a comprehensive presence at the Monaco fair”, says Giovanni Costantino, “with all our brands present to give everyone the opportunity to witness the group’s rapid growth. We’ve achieved quality levels that are almost unprecedented within the industry”.
Many objections were raised when I made this choice. I stuck to my guns, though, and now everyone says that this choice was the key element in our move forward, a process of qualitative growth in the context of design, aesthetics and production. We’ve shown all this with the new Perini Navi”.
Emilio Martinelli
