Benetti Yachts Celebrates 150 Years With A Surrealist Dinner In Livorno

Benetti, the legendary yachtmaker, turned 150 this year. This was cause for celebration, and the house did it in style: on June 17, over 300 people, mostly yacht owners and their families from all over the world, were invited to Benetti’s shipyard in Livorno, Italy, for an unforgettable evening.

Newly-minted Azimut-Benetti chair Giovanna Vitelli, chicly attired in an elegant navy blue sequined off-the shoulder column dress, greeted guests coming from town, and from the breathtaking display of Benetti yachts docked at the shipyard for the occasion. Older yachts outfitted in deep mahogany were anchored side-by-side with bright, airy contemporary models; among them was the El Caran, a 128-foot superyacht once owned by David Bowie.

“Benetti is luxury, timeless elegance, coupled with true, yet discreet, innovation,” said Giovanna Vitelli. “Our owners know our boats are modern today, and will remain appealing in twenty, thirty and forty year’s time, both in design and in technical achievement.”

The dress code was black tie, and the owners did not disappoint; several opened their boats for viewings. The vista was breathtaking from both the dock and the decks, as guest’s long dresses flowed in the slight June breeze, a sight to behold. In the background, Mohammed Al-Fayed’s boat was being refurbished for a new owner, a complex process that requires a complete overhaul.

“The average age of the Benetti customer has changed in the past 10 years,” said Vitelli. “A decade ago, most of the owners’ wealth would be coming from an industrial company – you get that kind of wealth when you are 60 to 65. Today it’s a totally different type of wealth, for instance, younger customers who already built and sold several businesses. This customer is in his fifties, very well informed, and has studied the product. He understands that we use the best materials and are on the cutting edge of technology and sustainability. He is family-oriented: a boat is a wonderful place to gather one’s family and make memories together.”

Guests were called to dinner in an enormous hangar, where a superyacht was in the process of being built. Models of Benetti boats through the ages were on display as guests entered, including the Nabila, Adnan Khashoggi’s boat named for his wife, at the time the largest superyacht ever built, immortalized in Queen’s song, Khashoggi’s Ship.

Two long tables topped with sea-blue cloths and minimalist decor were striking for their sheer size, a feat in the cavernous, dimly-lit space. Each course was served by an army of waiters through a carefully choreographed performance, whether it be under a sea-themed topper, a bowler hat, a construction helmet or a candle-clad peaked cap. Surprises abounded: guests playfully filled in drawings of each famous Benetti yacht with magic markers, shells with headphones were offered in tandem with videos of boats projected from the waiters’ hats, and opera singer Belgian soprano Louise Foor sang an aria from the opera Rusalka by Dvořák while being hoisted above the crowd under yards of sea-blue fabric as her boyfriend, pianist Pierre Risopoulos, accompanied her on a platform suspended from the ceiling.

“We made sure all the waiters were the same height, and had a nice, kind look,” said event planner Charles Kaisin, the creative force behind Benetti’s Surrealist Dinner. “We rehearsed for three days to get it right. We wanted to do something out of the ordinary, something that had never been seen before.”

Guests were duly impressed – no small feat among a group who has surely seen its share of extraordinary evenings. A fireworks display followed, the exquisite Benetti yachts lit up for the evening. A DJ played well into the night, with the last guests leaving at 3 AM. Now that’s a celebration.