- Founded
- 1873
- Headquarters
- Viareggio, Italy
- Shipyard location
- Viareggio and Livorno, Italy
- Official website
- https://benettiyachts.com/
Brand Overview
Italian superyacht builder founded in Viareggio in 1873 and part of the Azimut|Benetti Group since 1985, producing composite and steel motor yachts from 36 to 72 metres plus custom gigayachts.
Overview written frombenettiyachts.itread 9/13/2026
YachtCodex Analysis
AI-generatedAn independent reading of this builder written by AI. Unlike the specifications and descriptions elsewhere on this page, it is interpretation rather than a sourced fact — treat it as a starting point, not a citation.
What this builder is
Benetti was founded in 1873 when Lorenzo Benetti bought the Cantiere Darsena Lucca in Viareggio; the yard moved from wooden sailing ships to its first steel luxury motor yacht in 1961, launched the 86-metre Nabila in 1979 and has belonged to the Azimut|Benetti Group since Paolo Vitelli acquired it in 1985, later adding the former Fratelli Orlando yard in Livorno. Its site lists seven series families — Class 44M, Oasis 36M and 42M, Motopanfilo 37M and 45M, B.Yond 40M and 57M, B.Now 52M/60M/67M/72M Oasis Deck, B.Loft 58M and 65M and B.Neos 40M — alongside fully custom yachts, and states over 420 yachts built since 1985. Each family page publishes a technical specification with length, beam, draft, displacement, tankage, engines, speed and range.
Who sails them
Benetti clients are ultra-high-net-worth owners and family offices who want a crewed Italian superyacht with a 150-year heritage, in-house design and a global charter and service network; the 36–45 metre Oasis, Motopanfilo and B.Neos models bring first-time superyacht owners into the brand while the B.Now and B.Loft steel series serve long-range, full-displacement cruising.
Signature models
The Oasis 42M with its open beach-club stern and the retro-styled Motopanfilo 37M define the composite range; the B.Yond 40M/57M explorer line, the B.Now steel series (52 to 72 metres, Oasis Deck variants) and the B.Loft 58M/65M cover the larger displacement yachts, and the Class 44M continues the yard's classic line.
Strengths
Benetti is one of the oldest operating yards in Italy, builds both composite and steel yachts under one group with in-house design and engineering, and its large delivered fleet (over 420 yachts since 1985) sustains a deep charter, refit and brokerage market.
Considerations
Family figures are quoted for specific engine options and often at half load, ranges are given at a stated cruising speed, the B.Loft 65M page states no draft and the B.Loft 58M range is misprinted, and custom yachts fall outside any published specification.
Analysis generated 9/13/2026
Part of
Azimut|Benetti Group↗ · since 1985
Also in the catalogue
Where they build
The building sites this yard publishes, in its own order.
Viareggio
Viareggio, Italy
Livorno
Livorno, Italy
Fleet at a Glance
Calculated from the models in the YachtCodex catalog, not from the builder's claims.
- Models in catalog
- 14
- Length range
- 35.6–72 m
- Hull forms
- Motor Monohull 14
- Cabins
- 5–8
Models by this brand
14 models
Motopanfilo2
B.Now4
History
Lorenzo Benetti bought the Cantiere Darsena Lucca in 1873 and founded the Benetti shipyard, and almost forty years later his sons Gino and Emilio took over the family business; from the 1890s, the era of the sailing barques, Lorenzo launched more than thirty vessels in over thirty years, and in 1921 the yard built the 51-metre St. George, the largest sailing ship in the Mediterranean, later a Navy training ship and now displayed in Milan's Museum of Science and Technology. A steel-hulled diesel vessel in 1941 pointed the way, the shift from wood to steel came in 1961, the Gabbiano 22M arrived in 1966, and the 1970s brought M/Y El Caran and, in 1979, the extra-luxurious M/Y Nabila. In 1985 the Azimut | Benetti Group was born. Production grew in 2003 with the acquisition of the Fratelli Orlando shipyard in Livorno, founded in 1866, where the House of Yachting was established; a hub for gigayachts followed in 2016, the 'Giga Season' in 2019 and the Oasis Deck in 2020. In 2023 Benetti marked 150 years of shipbuilding with a boat show of its own at the Livorno yard.
History written frombenettiyachts.com/heritage/· Since 1873read 9/22/2026