Another innovative design was launched in 1979 – an 18-metre Akhir with true designer appeal. This made an immediate impact among experts, who described it as a highly developed design with slender, sweeping lines – a departure from traditionally simple craft. Harmonious, compact and lean, the Akhir 18 exuded an implicit dynamism and it soon became the new standard for high-end yachting. Its balance and its lines suggested movement and the perception of speed along with sportiness and originality, but without any trace of exhibitionism. Its interior finishes were of particularly high quality – even when examined with a modern critical eye, their painstaking manufacture and attention to detail remain quite remarkable. Propulsion of this gem was entrusted to two 675 horsepower GM 12V71 engines which provided a 28 knot top speed – astonishing for its day.

Cantieri di Pisa’s star continued to shine brightly in the yachting galaxy throughout the 70s. Following the success of the Akhir 19 and 20, the Akhir 30 – a 30-metre yacht that made its debut in 1977 – was the craft that confirmed Pierluigi Spadolini’s mastery of design dynamics and created yet another reference point for the world of yacht design. As with the earlier Akhirs, the pilot house took on a special role: located with symbolic pre-eminence at the centre of the accommodation which, in turn, was sloped gently forward towards the bow. Spadolini not only unified the superstructure with its clear line of tinted glass windows, but he also absorbed the hull’s portholes with a continuous dark line that almost made them invisible. With this ploy he achieved a dense but streamlined form, accentuated by the pair of dark lines whose counterpoint was the radar arch positioned well aft on the superstructure.The history of Cantieri di Pisa began in Limite sull’Arno, where a great shipbuilding tradition was born on the banks of Tuscany’s main river. Later, this area was completely devastated during the German retreat during the Second World War, a time when many shipwrights employed in the building of civilian and military craft from wood were forced to move to Viareggio or Donoratico so that they could continue working. But Gino Bini and Antonio Sostegni chose a different path.

These two men decided to stay on and in 1945 they reopened an existing yard. It was a gamble that paid off a few years later in the early 1950s when the yard came to the fore with the production of a range of craft for the Guardia di Finanza (Italian financial police).

The success of the Akhir 16 prompted the development of the larger Akhir 18 and the Akhir 20 in 1976, similar in their looks but with a more roomy interior layout and their radar arches positioned further aft. As time passed, the Akhir range – acknowledged from the outset to be a milestone of yacht design – was gradually updated in both its style and structure, in which wood was replaced with fibreglass. The brilliant original concept and the design of the exterior lines, however, remained unchanged within the DNA of a boat which, even in its most modern incarnation, remains loyal to its roots.

In 1972 the name of Cantiere Navale Italiano in Porta a Mare was changed to its present name of Cantieri di Pisa, and the first Akhir, a 16-metre cabin cruiser with severe, essential lines, was born into this new family. The Akhir, entirely designed by Spadolini, was distinguished by an even more powerful stylistic image in which the strong black line made up of the windows and air intakes removes any possible reference to house windows, while marking the clear separation of the deck-house and the flying bridge and giving the superstructure a crisp, lengthened outline. The interior also illustrated the excellence and avant garde thinking of Spadolini’s design – the helm station and the chart table were included in an area devoted to communication, which was also equipped with a table, divan and galley. In addition, all the spacious were roomy and functional, and the cabins were laid out in a novel manner. It was an instant hit.

Against this background of rising success, Cantieri di Pisa awarded Pierluigi Spadolini a new commission that took him back to his design roots and created a range that was to become a yachting legend – the Akhir. This new star, destined to mark the course of Italian boating history, was again named after a celestial body – Achenar, a blue star in the Eridanus constellation that, despite its extreme distance, is one of the most brilliant to be found in the night sky.

In 1969 the yard expanded its production of motor yachts with the building of the 21 metre Pegasus. It was the seventies decade of the century that has just closed. The Cantieri di Pisa’s celestial bodies – Polaris, Saturno, Jupiter, Pegasus and Kitalpha – aroused great enthusiasm and confirmed the yard’s prestige world-wide.

In the 1960s and ’70s the yard’s output showed substantial diversification, as exemplified by the introduction of the Katios and Kitalpha ranges – 10-metre and 15-metre craft designed for sport fishing. At the same time the company developed the even larger Saturno, Super Saturno, Atlas and Pegaso ranges.

The naval architect Pierluigi Spadolini started to work with Cantieri di Pisa in 1961 and gave the yard’s designs a new direction.

His first task was to modify the superstructure of the 10-metre Jupiter and the 13-metre Polaris as he felt that the original deck-houses looked bulky and out of proportion. To correct this he reduced their height and introduced a series of styling tricks to give the design a new lightness, while improving the dimensional ratio between the deck-house and the flying-bridge. Launched in 1964 these were named the Super Jupiter and the Super Polaris – larger models characterized by the addition of a flying bridge, a feature that was to become a standard for the models that followed.

In the early 60s, the boom in motor-yachts continued, especially those with live-aboard accommodation. This led to the creation of new and different ranges, each of which was named after a celestial body, followed by a number indicating the length of the craft in metres. Later, a measurement expressed in British feet was adopted for the Akhir range. The company’s first motor yacht, Jupiter, a 10 metre, was unveiled at the Milan Boat Show in February 1961 and the 13 metre Polaris range followed soon afterwards. These two designs, with their characteristic deep-V hulls and triple mahogany planking, attracted remarkable success with scores of examples being built.

The turning point came in 1956 when, with a view to designing and building even larger boats, they opened the new Cantieri Navale Italiano yard in Porta a Mare on the Navicelli Canal – built during the Medici era.

This prestigious Tuscan yard has to date launched approximately 600 vessels, mostly motor boats. The yard first became involved in yacht building in 1957, launching Tyrsa, a 20-metre ketch to the design of Bruno Veronese – the first of its type to be launched in Pisa.

They went on to deliver the famous Capitano Black and Ro-ro (1958-59), Val II (1959), and a 21 metre ketch, Val III in 1965, the last sailing boat to be built by the Pisa yards. Now named Kalea, she was recently refurbished by the Cantieri dell’Argentario shipyard.

The history of Cantieri di Pisa began in Limite sull’Arno, where a great shipbuilding tradition was born on the banks of Tuscany’s main river. Later, this area was completely devastated during the German retreat during the Second World War, a time when many shipwrights employed in the building of civilian and military craft from wood were forced to move to Viareggio or Donoratico so that they could continue working. But Gino Bini and Antonio Sostegni chose a different path.

These two men decided to stay on and in 1945 they reopened an existing yard. It was a gamble that paid off a few years later in the early 1950s when the yard came to the fore with the production of a range of craft for the Guardia di Finanza (Italian financial police).