Croatian boatbuilders at the Venice Boat Show

The fourth edition of the Salone Nautico Venezia (Venice Boat Show), which lasted from May 31 to June 4, was expanded compared to previous editions with 220 exhibitors and 300 vessels, of which 250 were located on the water. Organised by Vela Spa, on behalf of the Municipality of Venice, the fair was held in the historic area of ​​the Arsenale, which consists of 55,000 m² of water basins that host 1,100m of installed piers, combined with 30,000 m² of external exhibition spaces.

This year's Venice Boat Show showed impressive progress in the number of boats on display. Last year, a great progress was recorded in the luxury sector, which remained stable this year, while the largest jump was recorded in the sailing sector, with 36 sailboats in the water, compared to seven last year. Also, exhibits of motor vessels up to 15 m in water showed noticeable progress. Of the 220 exhibitors, 180 were Italian, and the rest came from UK, Slovenia, Poland, Spain, Germany, France, Austria, Monaco, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Croatia, which was represented at the fair by four Croatian shipyards.

Monachus Yachts -  The company directly exhibited its Moachus 70 Fly, which made its world debut at the show last year, as well as its new Monachus Isa 45 Fly, which debuted at last years Biograd Boat Show.  We spoke with the owner Hari Tabak, and he stated that the Italian boating public has shown a strong interest in its vessels because of the combination of classic styling and leading edge technology.

Opus Boats is a new Croatian Shipyard that exhibited the new Opus 12 day cruiser, which was first shown at the Biograd Boat Show last autumn.  This vessel was designed to be a tender for super yachts, and has been adapted to a luxury day cruiser version, which was displayed at the show.  We spoke with shipyard’s director and majority owner Saša Lapčić, and he proudly declared that this premium, luxury vessel was brought to the Biograd boat show in less than 11 months from the day they signed the contract with the designer.  He also mentioned that their priority is the European market, and that have struck a deal with a renowned dealer in the US, which will purchase all available excess production capacity.

In the sailing section we found that More Yachts were presenting their More 55 sailboat.  We spoke with the Director Silvio Santini, who stated that they have just finished their long awaited new More 50, which they confirmed will make its debut at the Biograd Boats Show.  As for Kufner Yachts,  the Kufner 54 was exhibited by a local Italian dealer.