TITANIUMISSUE • n°32 • 2022
ontact with nature and the relationship with it is fundamental. Now more than ever yachts are a form of escape and adventure, and bringing the stylistic traits of a terrestrial home on board is no longer enough. Nowadays design and construction processes aim to make the yacht part of its surroundings, making as little environmental impact as possible. Even more so at a time when the industry has the wind in its sails. According to the Business Research Company, the global yacht market is expected to grow from $7.70 billion in 2021 to $8.22 billion in 2022, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.75%. The global yacht market is expected to reach $9.97 billion in 2026. What this means is luxury tourism with a demand for ever larger craft with spacious, versatile and open interiors. Customisation is at a maximum, comfort is a priority and new areas acquire importance: today’s owners demand extra space for a home theatre, gym, massage rooms, private spaces where they can work or hold online meetings and quiet, isolated areas. Designers and builders focus on introducing eco-friendly material, with ecodecking replacing natural teak and ecological paints and varnishes, linen panelling, bio-resins and recycled fabrics and leathers. A crucial factor in rendering yachts more sustainable is hull efficiency and weight limitation to generate consumption and emissions. The war between the Ukraine and Russia also means that fuel supplies can no longer be taken for granted, so serious consideration must now be given to alternative sources of power. Some in the yacht industry are investigating hydrogen generated from filtered, de-ionised sea water. The route towards this goal has been set. Discover all this in this special section of The One Yacht and Design, with the latest that the yacht industry has to offer!
Désirée Sormani Managing Director
A Synthesis of Form and Function
A representative of Made in Italy excellence throughout the world, TEAM Italia expresses all the values driving the country’s yacht industry – cutting-edge technology, design and function. And it can give beauty to things that by their nature aren’t always attractive!
by Angelo Colombo - ph. Courtesy by TEAM Italia
The company was founded in 2000, but in fact the two partners who set it up have worked in the field of naval technical systems since the 1980s.
Massimo Minnella and Daniele Ceccanti are two professionals who began collaborating almost forty years ago now on the production and installation of naval command and control systems, an experience that enabled them to identify a crucial requirement – integrating all these systems to facilitate the availability of information for the captain and officers, at the same time simplifying the use of all on-board systems through a single interface. As Massimo Minnella says, “All the many on-board systems have their own functional logic, instructions and particular features, and integrating them enables us to give the crew the opportunity to manage all of them through a single logic, one that’s often personalised, so it’s all more streamlined and efficient”. This is the technical key that led to the creation of the I-Bridge®, a management platform integrating the numerous on-board systems dealing with ship handling and controlling all the systems. “On a modern yacht
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I-Bridge®,
Ease
you have to manage a large number of installations, each with a specific purpose, from navigational tools to energy management. Without an integrated system the crew is faced with a whole range of different sources for the controls and management panels, each with its own language and philosophy. Our systems place every piece of equipment under the captain’s control. They can be managed from several integrated command and control stations, all with a single functional logic and graphic interface that we develop for every individual yacht”.
From a technical point of view TEAM Italia has brought some very advanced developments to the command consoles on large yachts, but it doesn’t stop there. “When we decided to introduce our ideas to the yacht industry we had to take into account two factors that we
didn’t have to deal with in larger ships – limited space and aesthetic considerations”, says Minnella. Since the presentation of its first unit Team Italia’s aim has been the technological integration of its systems, offering entirely customised helm stations made by its skilled workers or in collaboration with yard’s designers and owners. With TEAM Italia, form and substance are integrated into a high-tech system on board many large yachts, so the company now operates from three units, in Fano, Forlì and Livorno. Constant hardware and software research and development as well as meetings with crews, designers and the yard’s technicians makes Team Italia a partner rather than a supplier, because every I-Bridge® system is custom made from an aesthetic and functional point of view. team-italia.it
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an integrated management platform for the many on-board systems controlling ship-handling and all installations.
of use and immediate availability of information needed to manage all the yacht’s critical elements are basic features. These pages, some examples. Top, co-founders Massimo Minnella (left) and Daniele Ceccanti
