BENETTI FB291: CUSTOM 80-METRE YACHT ADVANCES TO OUTFITTING IN LIVORNO

Benetti’s FB291 Custom 80M has entered a new phase of construction following the arrival of its completed main structures at the company’s Livorno shipyard. The project will now move into outfitting, with the site’s specialist teams responsible for transforming the substantial steel structure into a fully finished superyacht ahead of its scheduled launch in 2028.

The arrival marks a significant point in the development of one of Benetti’s strategically important custom projects. Unlike a production yacht built around an established series platform, FB291 has been conceived as a full-custom vessel, with its design and configuration developed specifically around the requirements of its owner.

Both the exterior and interior design were entrusted to Cassetta Yacht Designers, whose work encompasses the yacht as a complete architectural project. The result is a six-deck vessel developed around an individual brief, demonstrating the degree of flexibility possible within Benetti’s Custom division.

At 80 metres, the yacht occupies the upper end of Benetti’s portfolio and requires an industrial process capable of coordinating substantial structural work with increasingly detailed stages of interior and exterior completion. The transition to outfitting therefore represents more than a change in location or construction sequence. It marks the point at which the yacht’s underlying engineering begins to give way to the physical expression of its bespoke design.

Livorno plays a central role in that process. The shipyard is part of the wider Azimut|Benetti Group industrial network and serves as a principal centre for the construction and outfitting of the Group’s large steel yachts. Its facilities and specialist workforce are equipped to manage projects in which scale, engineering complexity and customisation must be addressed simultaneously.

The construction of FB291 also illustrates the way Benetti distributes different stages of yacht production across its industrial network. Rather than treating each shipyard as an isolated operation, the Group combines the capabilities of its various facilities, allowing projects to move between locations according to the requirements of each stage.

For a yacht of this scale, that coordination is particularly important. The completion of the hull provides the structural foundation, but outfitting encompasses a far broader range of disciplines, from technical installations and systems integration to the development of living spaces, finishes and exterior areas. Each element must ultimately work within the constraints of a single vessel.

The six-deck configuration provides the framework for this complexity. With the yacht designed entirely around the owner’s requirements, the arrangement of spaces is not simply a variation on a standard Benetti layout. Instead, the architecture can be developed in response to the intended experience on board, while remaining subject to the engineering and operational demands of an 80-metre yacht.

This relationship between individuality and engineering is central to Benetti’s approach to custom yacht building. The ability to accommodate highly specific requests depends not only on design freedom, but also on the shipyard’s capacity to translate those ideas into technically viable naval architecture and construction.

FB291 has therefore been developed as a collaboration between design and engineering from the outset. Cassetta Yacht Designers’ involvement across both the interiors and exteriors creates a consistent design language throughout the vessel, while Benetti’s construction teams provide the infrastructure required to realise it.

The project also reflects the continuing importance of full-custom yachts within the superyacht sector. At this end of the market, owners are increasingly able to commission vessels that depart significantly from established production models, allowing the yacht’s proportions, interior arrangements, materials and onboard environments to be shaped around individual priorities.

Benetti has been building yachts in Italy for more than 150 years. The company was founded by Lorenzo Benetti in 1873 in Viareggio, Tuscany, initially as a wooden-boat builder. His sons later continued the business, and the shipyard gradually expanded from traditional wooden vessels into increasingly sophisticated motor yachts. Benetti became part of the Azimut|Benetti Group in 1985, bringing its long shipbuilding heritage into one of the world’s largest yacht-building groups. Today, the brand’s portfolio spans yachts from smaller composite models to large custom-built steel and aluminium vessels. 

The Livorno shipyard has become particularly significant to the Group’s large-yacht ambitions. Its role is closely associated with the construction of substantial steel vessels and the later stages of complex outfitting. Projects such as FB291 demonstrate how the industrial capabilities of the facility complement Benetti’s long-established design and shipbuilding expertise.

The yacht’s arrival in Livorno also signals the beginning of a more visibly detailed stage of its development. During outfitting, the structural shell becomes progressively populated with the systems and spaces that will ultimately define life on board. Technical infrastructure, interior architecture and finishing work must be coordinated with the yacht’s underlying structure, while exterior areas are developed alongside the vessel’s operational requirements.

For a full-custom project, this phase carries particular importance because the final result depends on the precision with which the original brief is translated into physical form. Every decision, from the arrangement of rooms to the treatment of surfaces and circulation between decks, has to coexist with the practical realities of naval engineering.

Benetti’s current portfolio reflects this spectrum of yacht building, ranging from series such as Oasis, B.Now and Class to highly individual Custom projects. The company’s official network provides access to Benetti representatives and dealers in key markets, while its shipyards in Italy remain central to the design and construction of its yachts. (Benetti official network)

FB291 sits firmly within the latter category. Its significance is not defined simply by its 80-metre length, but by the degree of individualisation incorporated into the project. As a full-custom yacht, it provides an opportunity for the owner’s requirements to influence the vessel from its earliest design decisions through to the final details of the finished interior.

The scheduled 2028 launch leaves considerable time for this transformation to take place. The outfitting phase will progressively introduce the materials, systems and architectural elements that distinguish the yacht from the steel structure now taking shape at Livorno.

For Benetti, FB291 represents a meeting of two capabilities that have long been central to the shipyard: the craftsmanship associated with Italian yacht building and the industrial expertise required to construct increasingly large and complex vessels. At 80 metres and across six decks, the project demonstrates how a yacht can be conceived as an individual architectural environment while still relying on the discipline of large-scale naval construction.

As the hull moves deeper into outfitting, its identity will become increasingly apparent. What now exists primarily as an engineered structure will gradually acquire the character envisioned by its owner and designers. For a custom yacht, that evolution is perhaps the most compelling part of the process: the passage from naval architecture to a private world shaped around a very particular idea of life at sea.

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