We talked to Giovanna Vitelli, president of the Azimut Benetti Group, top manufacturer in the world building megayachts, for the 16th episode of the Giro di Boa Podcast, Daily Nautica’s first podcast dedicated to the personalities of the boating and nautical industry. We spoke about sustainability and beauty, a childhood in the boating industry and the wisdom of her father, Paolo Vitelli, founder of Azimut in 1969, and CEO of the Azimut Benetti Group until 2023.

GIOVANNA VITELLI: “BOATIING IS IN THE FAMILY DNA”

Giovanna Vitelli’s love of the sea comes from her roots, from living a childhood filled with the elegant and dynamic design of vessels.

“My life – she says – has always been intertwined with that of this company. When my dad founded it in 1969, I wasn’t there yet but I arrived a couple years later. The growth of his company went hand in hand with my growth. Our vacations were testing prototypes, our trips were to open new dealerships around the world. Boats and the sea from the beginning, I remember them as an integral part of our lives. It was also a great privilege because boating has, since the very first days of my life, been a part of our family.”

“I WANTED TO BE A LAWYER, BUT THEN THE SEA CALLED ME”

Before stepping into the family business, the president of the Group, which also this year has topped the Global Order Book, was working in a very different career: law. Until the call of the sea and of boating became stronger.

“It was the beginning of the 2000s – notes Vitelli – boating was having a boom, as was the finance industry. There was a lot of interest in the Group by possible buyers and my dad thought my life was taking another direction, that I would have been a lawyer, so he decided to sell. That was the trigger that made me step forward. A step, if you can call it that, because this company has been an integral part of our family always. But I consider that moment when I realised that was what I wanted to do.”

Giovanna Vitelli learned many things from her father. “He – reveals the president of Azimut Benetti – was my biggest mentor and one of the founding fathers of the boating industry.”

GIOVANNA VITELLI: “WHAT DOES BEING SUSTAINABLE MEAN? IT MEANS PROVIDING CONCRETE ANSWERS NOT DREAMS”

One of the topics that Giovanna Vitelli feels close to for her business is environmental sustainability. And when we asked her what “being sustainable” means for her, she surprised us with her reply.

“This means being serious – she notes – it means providing concrete answers to this problem, this challenge. It is easy to talk about dreams and make promises. In order to give answers, today, about sustainability, we have to truly have invested deeply in research for at least a decade. And this is how we approached this topic. Now, I can proudly say, that our Group, from the point of view of results we can obtain ‘right now,’ is in the lead in reducing emissions. This is work we have done in 10 years on different aspects, propulsion, using lighter building materials, hull shape, hybrids, electric diesels, all of this has led us to having products that consume up to 25% less than comparable vessels from the competition.”

“What’s more – concludes Vitelli – with all of this chatter about possible solutions, there is one that we have today, that is actually possible, and that is alternative fuels compatible with existing technology. We are the only Group that has signed a contract with Eni, for large scale, so for all our uses, HVO, a bio-diesel from plant origin. This might seem to be a trivial solution, but, the truth is, if we all did it it would lead us to reducing 80% of atmospheric emissions compared to regular petrol.”

Giovanna Vitelli spoke of this, and more during the 16th episode of the podcast. Listen to the full episode.

The “Giro di Boa” podcast is broadcast with the support of Pantaneius, a leading European yacht insurance company.