SUPERYACHT #513
January 2005

Article selected from our quarterly magazine dedicated to the largest and most luxurious boats with information, interviews, technical articles, images and yachting news

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Interview by
Lino Pastorelli

ANTONIO MARZULLO
Rizzardi-Posillipo

Why do we always interview skippers of specific boats, I get asked, and not the Master of an entire boatyard? Well, why not! So here we are in the dining room of the new Technema 95 being exhibited at the Genoa Boat Show: the atmosphere is quiet, any noise from the quayside muffled and distant. Antonio Marzullo from Terracina, indissolubly linked to the Posillipo boatyards for 35 years, now Rizzardi Posillipo, tells us about this profession of his that is also a philosophy and a way of life. The friend that introduced him gave us a perfect description: ".Antonio, boats and the sea: a triangle of lovers and passion!"

Name and surname: Antonio Marzullo

Age: 58

Nationality: Italian

Training: "At the age of 9 I used to hide among the crates on board my father's fishing boat, so that I could go to sea, then a series of commands until my military service with the Navy on the tug boat Porto Torres, followed by my arrival at the Posillipo boatyards, then owned by Princess Odescalchi. I have never abandoned the yard, not even in its darkest moments and have risen to the position not only of Master but also of Production Manager"

Experiences as skipper: Antonio Marzullo hesitates "300, probably more, boats delivered which then sailed to the four corners of the earth, to their purchasers or for Shows, crossing the oceans and the North Sea, in all seasons: they were the many Costa Smeralda, Antigua 34 and Bermuda, Tobago. At that time boats were transferred via sea and there is no way they were the size they are today - a 47' was considered big!

Current boat: "The one we are on, this Technema 95 Posillipo, that I first took to the show in Cannes and then brought here to Genoa; next stop Barcelona."

Designer, boatyard, technical and design characteristics of the boat: "Designed by the Rizzardi-Posillipo Technical Studio, it's a large planing motor-yacht in fibreglass; 30.25 m. long, 6.80 m. wide with a displacement of 88 tonnes. It has a Posillipo tried and tested bottom and the two 2000 HP MTUs power the Technema 95 along at 25 knots when cruising and 29 knots at maximum speed."

Interior design and materials: "The architect Carlo Galeazzi has given it one of the many layouts available: separate saloon and dining room on the main deck and sleeping area with four cabins on the lower deck. Cherry wood for the furnishings with soft-coloured fabrics and leather - simple and classic."

Favourite marina: "My favourite marinas are in Sardinia, Porto Rotondo above all, but I also love the Argentario with Cala Galera."

Favourite route: "Wandering through the straits of Florida, around Grand Bahama, or even further south in the West Indies, towards Caribbean Venezuela."

What technological innovations in yachting do you think look interesting and why? Here we must add that Marzullo is a night-time sailor. What is usually avoided by pleasure sailors is the norm for him, you can't deliver boats and only sail by day and in good weather; that is not cruising. This is why ".having grown up with traditional sailing, I really appreciate all the modern systems of electronic navigation with relative interfacing, above all radar and its reciprocal recognition systems."

The worst incident that has ever happened to you? "Certain storms sailing north, like La Coruña, where my Tobago 47' took six hours to cover 4-5 miles, or in the Bay of Biscay, when the ships used to call us to see if we were managing to steer, but also the force 7-8 sea in the fog near Brest.facing it all with humility, love and lots of calm, I have seen boats break up in front of my very eyes due to forced speeds in those conditions!"

The event from your professional life that you remember with most pleasure? "In 2000 a double aneurysm called an abrupt halt to my working life: giving up seemed inevitable after the surgery." But Antonio Marzullo is not the kind of man to go down melancholic roads without a fight. "Instead, thanks to willpower, love and the assiduous presence of the sea, my boats and my work I returned to my old self - better even. A miracle in other words!"

His opinion on his role as Master and the world he works in: "Bureaucracy is an inseparable part of a master's responsibilities; our life and work is intercepted in many ways by those of others, governed by the laws of man and the sea. You just have to accept it, carrying out our task of commanding with dedication and above all with love."