The latest Pearl in wood has just been launched. It was built entirely by hand by the Foschi yard in Cesenatico, and will carry passengers in the Gulf of Trieste.
The Foschi yard is one of the very few in Italy to hand craft wooden boats. The motor vessel Delfino Verde De Luxe, commissioned by the Peric Silvano shipping company in Trieste, is the 86th build by the yard, demonstrating the great experience it has built up in almost 50 years of work. The vessel is for passenger transport, is 32 m overall and seven in the beam. Construction began in October 2016 and she was launched in May. The “skeleton” and frames of the hull and deck were built in marine wood, while laminated and super laminated marine ply was used for the sides and other cladding. The construction system, fully manual, has been widely tried and tested on other vessels built by the Foschi yard and shows strength and seaworthiness particularly suitable for sailing in difficult conditions.
The yard
Founded by the master carpenter Arnaldo Foschi in 1969, the yard today is led with passion by his sons Ulisse e Andrea, not forgetting the other son Massimo, also a master carpenter, who died prematurely in 2007 after helping the family company grow. The Foschi yard specialises in repairs and refitting of classic boats: worth remembering is he important restoration in 2009 of the lugger “Giovanni Pascoli”, used for an important TV production and today anchored in the floating museum in Cesenatico. A traditional seaman’s crib is exhibited on board at Christmas.
At the beginning of the 1980s the yard was very active also in building racing boats designed by the Sciomachen studio in Bologna and built with the crossed laminar technique (used before the arrival of the new technologies for this type of boat), which proved winners in their categories in several races. In 1982 the yard also built an innovative 12 m racing yacht in carbon fibre, and in 1986 participated in the adventure of “Azzurra” with the very difficult job of fitting the bulb to the hull before the boat left for Australia to take part in the mythical America’s Cup.
The build technique
The build technique used by the yard is based on the most innovative criteria for constructing the main load-bearing structures in wood: the laminar technique that makes vessels extremely strong and at the same time very flexible on impact with the water. The sides are made of marine ply which is also laminated or super laminated and is applied using a system of glueing and fixing to the load-bearing structures that make hulls absolutely watertight with no need for caulking in the future. Phenolic adhesives are used for the sides and bottom and, for even stronger bonds, epoxy resins are used.
All superstructures are in solid and/or laminar marine wood and laminar marine ply. Every boat built by the yard can be fully customised by the customer and can be supplied “turnkey” or finished only in the wooden part or fully fitted out with windows, painting and fireproofing.
The project
The interior of the Delfino Verde De Luxe has a large saloon on the main deck with comfortable sofas and tables for the passengers carried during the small day cruises, ceremonies or special events in the Gulf of Trieste. The sun deck has an area with large open spaces with comfortable seats from which to enjoy the views of the Trieste and Dalmatian coasts. The furnishings in wood are in mahogany treated with fire resistant varnish, while the interiors and cushions, particularly refined and styled, are covered in fire resistant Sky for maximum passenger comfort. The wooden components are by the brothers Ulisse and Andrea Foschi, both master carpenters, assisted by two historical collaborators, Gian Carlo Alessandrini and Marco Montalti and the newly arrived Andrea Bertozzi.
Alongside the carpentry team are various local craftsmen who worked on all the jobs needed to make the vessel conform to the relevant regulations. Valeria Vottero Vintrella, in close collaboration with the Foschi brothers, looked after both the aesthetic part of the design and the technical part concerning the various drawings to be sent to the Italian Naval Register for approval. Giuseppe Bertizzolo, an integral part of the staff for 35 years, looked after the commercial and judicial aspects of the yard.
Propulsion
Although it is a completely craft built product, the vessel has the most modern technologies for navigation, including an innovative propulsion system consisting of three Volvo Penta IPS 900 pods giving a total power of 2100 hp, pushing the vessel to a working speed of about 20 kn. The system is of the “submerged pod” type with counterrotating propellers that can rotate even simultaneously through 90° in both directions, making it possible to come alongside or move away from the quay both remaining parallel to it or just moving off with the bow or stern, and a thus serve as a steering apparatus. The pods have joysticks with electronic impulses which allow the helmsman simple and precise use in manoeuvres and in navigation, as the pods can be used singly, as a couple or contemporaneously. The system, in addition to not having submerged appendages such as the classic propeller shafts or rather blades, gives a fuel saving of about 20% compared with traditional propulsion. The engine room too is considerably simplified, simplifying maintenance and significantly reducing noise and environmental pollution. The vessel can carry 350 passengers and is certified by the R.I.NA (Registro Italiano Navale) in Genoa.
Conclusions
The production capacity of the Foschi yard is about one vessel a year and the maximum length so far produced is 38 m. In bureaucratic and administrative terms, the yard can assist customers in the entire legal process for the type of vessel to be built, that is from the build declaration with the relevant harbourmaster and the later request for surveillance with the classifying body through to the issuing of the navigation licence or any other document. The 86 vessels built by the Foschi yard sale all the seas of Italy, islands included, to the great satisfaction of owners and passengers.
