Glory of the Gozzo

It was the gozzo Sorrentino, a wooden fishing boat distinguished by its clean, elegant lines, that inspired Giovanni Aprea more than 170 years ago to start a business building rowing and sailing boats.

The company he founded in 1849 remains in Aprea family hands today and the spirit of the gozzo lives on in a range of majestic fibreglass-and-wood walkaround yachts whose craftsmanship is admired the world over.

Cummins is proud to be associated with the enduring Apreamare story, providing the power for its stunning new Gozzo 45 which made its world debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September 2022.

The Gozzo 45 features two Cummins QSC 8.3-litre engines of 600 hp each for a cruising speed of around 25 knots and maximum speed of around 30 knots. 

The new 14.7m flagship of the Gozzo line was conceived by Cataldo Aprea, president of Apreamare, and brought to life by yacht designer Marco Casali of Too Design and hull specialist Umberto Tagliavini of Marine Design in collaboration with the Apreamare Technical Office.

“Gozzo 45 is a vision of the future through tradition,” said Marco Casali. “It personifies the expression of a shipyard that has reinterpreted the ancient charm of the Sorrento gozzo and updates it by adapting it to contemporary lifestyles.

“While respecting the traditional lines, it brings innovations in the shapes of the bow, in the lines of the hull, in the design of the superstructure and in the cut of the windows.”

"We're the only yard in all these years to master the innovation and the development of an iconic boat like the Sorrento gozzo,” said Cataldo Aprea. “Our main strength is that we are pioneers in this ongoing process of modernizing the gozzo making it always contemporary and progressive.”

Conceived to allow integration with either traditional shaft line or stern drives, Apreamare’s Gozzo line, which also features the Gozzo 35, combines speed, safety and stability at sea. Apremare’s other line is called Maestro. Both lines are highly customisable.

Stefano Unali, Sales Manager South Europe for Cummins marine engines, has been working alongside Apreamare since 2015, getting to know the business and understanding the needs of its customers.

“Apreamare is a very customer-centric company and likes to be able to offer a wide range of options, from the colour of the hull to the finer details of the interior and the materials that can be specified,” he said. “The ethos is very much about quality, style and safety. We at Cummins relate to that.”

Cataldo Aprea said the attraction of a partnership with Cummins was obvious: “We respect the fact Cummins is known around the world for the quality of its products. There is a clear demand from our customers not just for the performance of the Cummins engines but knowing there is a first-class service network to support them wherever they might be in the world.”

Apreamare’s own international distributor network is based mainly around the Mediterranean but reaches as far as Japan, Turkey and the United States.

This article features in the Spring 2023 edition of the Cummins Magazine: