With 13 years at the helm, Lamberto Tacoli, President and CEO of CRN Yachts, has made a name for himself to help the group fly the flag for innovation.
Lamberto’s leadership has been fundamental to the success of CRN and is today counted as one of the most respected figures in the nautical and luxury industries. Luxurious Magazine caught up with him to find out what drives him to be the man that he is.
LM: When was CRN founded and where is it based?
LT: CRN was founded in Ancona, Italy in 1963. Sanzio Nicolini started building some steel and aluminium vessels, a material that was very little used at the time since wood was preferred. It shows how the shipyard manifested itself right from the beginning. From the onset, the company was crowned with immediate success and the shipyard established itself at the high end of the market addressing a very selective and demanding clientele. Already at the beginning of the seventies, the size of the yachts measured between 15 and 20 metres and their design was immediately recognisable.
LM: How does CRN stand out from the competition?
LT: The greatest value that has guided us for more than fifty years is passion, the same one that inspires our clients. We are in the leisure business so we need to be able to work closely with our customers. We are with them every step of the way, consulting them regularly and making sure that they are happy with every single detail. We respect each other. We have a great business relationship and always enter a world where an individual yacht must be shaped around the desires of a single owner.
LM: What are the most important factors in yacht design?
LT: Being part of the custom build has to be at the top of the most important factors in yacht design. You have to get into the mind of the client, their lifestyle and their vision to really understand what they want. Equally, we can offer our ideas too as experts in what can and will work. We’re always looking for innovations to set us apart from the competition.
LM: What are the latest innovative materials used in the construction of superyachts?
LT: Glass is definitely being used more and more in boats as well as hi-tech gadgets such as lighting systems. Other than that, it is the clients that dictate what materials they want to use. Steel is still a very popular material used in building the yachts.
LM: Does a luxurious yacht often mean extravagance?
LT: Luxury doesn’t always have to mean extravagance because what is luxury for one person doesn’t necessarily mean luxury for another. It’s all about personal tastes. However, on the other hand, one of the distinctive features of the new vessel is its floodable garage, which allows the tender to enter the water without using a crane. Introduced for the first time by CRN on the 60-meter M/Y J’Ade (shown above), the garage is now being applied to a vessel of larger dimensions. The garage transforms a technical space into a new living area with a beach.
LM: When money is no object, are the possibilities endless for the furnishing of a yacht?
LT: Yes definitely. It’s all about clients wanting to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Years ago, people built castles to show off their wealth showcasing what they owned. It was about an ego. That ego has now transferred over to yachts. It’s like the building of a castle in the modern era.
LM: What is the largest vessel that CRN has ever built?
LT: In January of this year, the 80-metre Chopi Chopi was launched, which was purchased by the client for 80 million euros. It’s the largest ship to ever been built by the shipyard (as well as one of the largest ever produced in Italy). Furthermore, CRN has already launched two mega yachts this year (very rare for a superyacht company).