200TH ANNIVERSARY CODECASA SHIPYARDS

With the beginning of the year 2025, Codecasa Shipyards are celebrating their 200 years of activity, always and only managed by the Codecasa Family. This is an important goal, to be very proud of.

Codecasa Shipyards were founded in 1825 by the shipwright Giovanni Battista Codecasa in the town of Viareggio, the centuries-old cradle of the Italian shipbuilding. In 1902 Giovanni Battista Codecasa, named Tistino, succeeded, managing the Yard over the hard times of the Second World War and showing a remarkable showing a remarkable capacity for adaptation which will prove to be a winning factor for the company. Tistino was then succeeded by his sons, Ugo and Sandro, who operated in the Viareggio of the 60’s, the temple of the Italian seafaring at that time. At the beginning, the Company focused on the building of sail boats, reaching a production of over 50 ships in addition to fishing boats, pontoons, light boats and vessels of all types in the year 1946.

When Ugo passed away in 1973, the baton passed onto his son, Fulvio Codecasa, the key actor in the Yard life. Fulvio adopted a winning strategy, pushed by a desire of diversification, which brought Codecasa to the centre of the international scene, combining the production of work boats with that of luxury motoryachts.

In 1985 Fulvio’s daughter, Fulvia, joined her father and subsequently also her younger sister, Elena. At a later stage, their husbands, Ennio Buonomo and Fabio Lofrese, also entered in the management of the Company, continuing the family tradition steadily. During the 2000s, this well-planned route was followed by Fulvia and Ennio’s sons, Matteo and Niccolò, and recently by their daughter Chiara.

From 1973 until the end of the 90’s, the Yard has been launching Yachts very different from each other. Just to mention some of them, the motoryachts Entrepreneur and Casabella, cruising in the American waters. In 1975, the 27 meters Yacht Fair Play, which introduced Codecasa’s own style. Then, it was the turn of the 62 meters Luisella, the largest Yacht Codecasa has built so far and the first one intended for the charter use. In 1994 the Blue Velvet followed and in 1996 Charly Coppers which opened the series of the 48/51 meters and many other successful projects.

Simultaneously with the building innovation, Codecasa Shipyards also expanded in the Viareggio area: in addition to the Ugo Codecasa Shipyard founded in 1977, in 1982 also the CodecasaDue Shipyard was opened, established on the old site of the Yard in the Darsena Toscana. Then, in 1987, the Codecasa Tre Shipyard, located in the Nuova Darsena, was added. Starting from 2011, a new premise located in the Navicelli area in Pisa was integrated, a large building made of four sheds, more suitable for the building of large vessels.

Early in the 2000’s, Codecasa revealed a new surprise, entering the field of the aluminum fast Yachts of large size, having what it took for a sure shot. The first model, launched in 2004, was built for an experienced Yacht Owner, Fulvio Codecasa himself. That Yacht was named after his beautiful wife, Maria Carla.

The Owners of the Yachts that Codecasa has built over the years are the Yard best ambassadors: in Italy, there is Giorgio Armani, who waived his Mariù built in 2003 to replace her with the Main in 2008; Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce with their first Regina d’Italia built in 2006 and followed by another Regina d’Italia built in 2019. The Cavaliere Leonardo del Vecchio used to cruise on his second Codecasa Yacht named Moneikos; the Magari owned by Mr Paolo Bulgari built in 2011 and the Dragoluna of Piersilvio Berlusconi built in 2019. The Clients’ portfolio in the world is long and such trust is not fortuitous but it is the result of the Yard excellence and reliability.

Carrying on, generation by generation, this amazing story in the nautical field involves many responsibilities on one hand, and on the other hand it allows to recall and taste the past moments as a result of suitable and balanced choices, a lot of courage and strong determination.

Since a long time, Fulvio has been following a well-defined line, which made him become one of the key actors in the luxury pleasure Yacht field and build an independent family system, overlooking the Harbour of Viareggio like a lighthouse which controls and illuminates the town.

Codecasa is not a traditional Shipyard, it benefits of an unparalleled building quality and product recognizability, all its work is centred on the loyalty: loyalty from its clients, who have chosen and go on choosing this brand; loyalty established with its co-operators and loyalty toward its style – generally speaking, a Codecasa Yacht follows the lines of the previous ones, improving its nuances. This is why the word evolution is preferred to the word revolution.

These 200 years of activity are also the result of many people’s work and passion. Today Codecasa Shipyards are in all respects a large family that proudly and affectionately carries forward the value traced and impressed by their founders.