Benetti: World Boating Day 2026
Benetti opens its Livorno shipyard to yacht design students selected from Italy’s top academies and launches the “Connecting Excellences” project with a contest to imagine the future of life on board.
On the occasion of World Boating Day 2026, Benetti presents “Connecting Excellences”, a project that brings together three complementary areas: Benetti’s design culture, the vision of international designers partnering with the brand, and the talent emerging from Italy’s top academies.
The initiative forms part of the training and talent development programme run by the Group’s People & Organization area, involving some of the leading Italian institutions that have active relations with the company, including Politecnico di Milano, IED Torino and University of Genoa – La Spezia, with a total of about 100 students selected. The aim of this project is to showcase the shipyard not only as a centre of production excellence but also as a place of thought a culture and design hub where contemporary yachting professionals can engage directly with the new generation of designers.
The project will kick off on May 15, 2026, with a day dedicated to students at Benetti’s Livorno shipyard, designed to give them a first-hand insight into the real processes found in the yachting industry.
Guests will be welcomed by Benetti Marketing Director Camilla Calza, followed by a panel discussion, moderated by journalist Matteo Zaccagnino, featuring Sebastiano Vida (Head of Product at Benetti), Charlie Baker (RWD Client & Project Director), and Giorgio Cassetta (CEO and Founder of Cassetta Yacht Designers). The participating designers will act as mentors, sharing not only their completed projects but also the design processes, constraints and creative choices, offering students real-world insight into the profession.
The discussion will focus on the design of Benetti’s decks, which will be presented to students as innovative solutions that capture a cultural shift towards a new way of experiencing life on the water.
The case studies guiding the design process represent three distinct interpretations of the Benetti style. The Oasis Deck®, developed jointly with RWD, redefines the social experience on board by expanding the convivial spaces and creating a direct connection with the water. The Veranda Deck®, also designed by RWD, establishes a new sense of continuity between the interiors and exteriors, transforming the main deck into a spectacular veranda living space open on three sides. The Cabana Deck®, by Cassetta Yacht Designers, reinvents the beach club through a residential lens, creating a shaded, versatile and immersive space aft, “pieds dans l’eau”, covering a total of 120 square metres.
Together, these three projects represent the evolution of Benetti, which is now more than ever able to interpret the new needs of owners in terms of space, quality of life on board and the relationship with the water.
The presentation of the Decks, and the Q&A sessions between designers and participants, will lead up to the official launch of the “DESIGNING THE FUTURE DECK” contest, which will invite students to imagine and design the deck of the future, one that embraces evolving on-board lifestyles, owners’ new attitudes and needs, and the relationship with the water, as well as engaging with the themes of sustainability and technological integration.
Participants will be asked to develop design concepts, renderings and a narrative vision for their project. The contest will run for a period of 10 months, with the final selection planned for March 2027.
The panel of judges, coordinated by Sebastiano Vida, will be made up of designers, industry professionals and journalists invited by Benetti. The selected projects will be presented at a special event in spring 2027, offering the top students the opportunity to take part in training and professional experiences organised by Benetti and the designers involved.
With “Connecting Excellences”, Benetti celebrates World Boating Day 2026 by reaffirming its commitment to an ongoing conversation with the next generations, helping to define the future of yachting by offering a vision and a real-world training path that connects the industry with the talents of tomorrow.
