(by Admiral Giuseppe De Giorgi) While Genoa and Viareggio still compete for the scepter of the main international boat show in Italy (after the split in recent years between Ucina Confindustria Nautica and some big shipyards that joined "Nautica Italiana") in the meantime SEATEC, in collaboration with Compotec, with an emphasis mainly on technology, design, components and sub-supplies applied to recreational boating, closed its sixteenth edition a few days ago in Marina di Carrara with big fair numbers. On show here was the variegated world of nautical subcontracting, which in Tuscany boasts deep roots with 488 (the 17,6% of the Italian total) small companies working in the boating sector and employing almost 2.000 employees generating revenues equal to 21,7 % of the total in the sector. The innovative fair held from Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 April, the only Italian event for the composite materials industry, has stood out for a quality visit, extremely professional and over 3 thousand products exhibited at the fair with 400 brands of which 175 overseas 22 countries. The calendar also included conferences and workshops on the new dynamics of boating and composites (such as the Seatec Academy for training for insiders or the Cross-Sector Innovation area), and the awarding of some prizes, including the to the nautical entrepreneur of the year reserved for nautical entrepreneurs who have contributed significantly to the growth of the sector's economy.
I was particularly struck by the interesting product mix of the thirty new companies present at the fair (coming from: Australia, Czech Republic, Croatia, France, Great Britain, Italy and Monaco) which, for example, ranged from naval furnishing and on-board equipment, electronic equipment and measurement and modeling in 3D. Considering, then, the growth of this innovative technology sector, which in 2016 saw almost 500 thousand printers sold worldwide with forecasts that tell us that already in 2019 will rise to about 5 million, just the 3D press, taking the words of one of the organizers of the fair, "is driving a revolution through many industrial sectors and a wide range of applications, including markets that until a few years ago would not even be considered appropriate". From the first plastic prints made with products born from corn starch, today it is also printed in glass and resin. A revolution to start producing details of boats today and hulls made entirely in 3D tomorrow. In addition to the topic of the 3D press, there was also talk of the use of natural fibers in the field of composite materials, electric propulsion engines, the new frontier of on-board control with the presentation of the 'Web-Yacht Internet of boats' , a sort of virtual guardian on the boat, and also of the latest generation of fire alarm systems, burglar alarms and anti-flooding systems.
So technology and boating continue to be protagonists of the fairs of the Versilian and Apuan coast, without ever forgetting to emphasize the excellence of products and technological innovation in order to guarantee safety and comfort. The construction of a fair is always long and complex, even after three days of exhibition there is always, in fact, a great job carried out throughout the year by several teams in synergy with each other to recreate a unique technical update of high level for the sector.
From the first experiments at the beginning of the decade of the XNUMXs to today, several brands are experimenting with boats with diesel electric or full electric engines, with the possibility, as in hybrid cars, to separate the various components and connect them through different configurations capable of redistributing the equipment inside the boat with new and unexpected provisions. In this regard, in my opinion, the presentation of a study on an innovative electric motor with the main characteristic of being linear and non-cylindrical was particularly interesting, which the curators of the project affirm "could revolutionize all propulsion units on board ships and yacht ”if used in the design phase to specifically adapt to the geometry of the installation spaces by appropriately selecting height, depth and length. In fact, the new typology would make the motor suitable for being placed in on-board environments where it is not possible today to house a conventional cylindrical electric motor. It being understood that the motor could be used both to handle low speed and high torque loads such as winches, stabilizer fins, rudders, bow thrusters, and as a propulsion motor thanks to its linear structure with two rotating shafts.
I would like to remind you that the 2017 was the year of relaunching the Italian shipbuilding industry with a turnover of yards up by 19%, reaching the 2 billions of new boats, which confirmed Italy at the top in the world for the production of superyachts (long boats over 30 meters), mainly motorized. Just the production of large yachts is in our country for over 90% destined for export (1.588 have already been produced and 175 are currently in production), with numbers confirming that the 31,6% of the world fleet is today Made in Italy, a share that would rise to an excellent 41,3% if we consider also the yachts still under construction in our shipyards. This kind of goods is just what, more than others, in Italian shipbuilding production ends up being bought in places where the combination of wealth, taxation and navigability is more advantageous. With these numbers the post-2008 crisis seems so behind us, the Italian boating is in fact in full health on all fronts: production, export, domestic market, leasing.