I’m having a quiet Saturday night at home, doing a spot of work and sorting through notes and pics from a couple of days spent in Italy. Thursday and Friday, I was the guest of Ferretti Group, whose CRN brand specialises in building fully customised mega yachts between 44 to 90 metres long.

Yeah, multimillion dollar boats for multibillionaires seeking seaworthy luxury retreats.

According to brand manager Luca Boldrini, back in 1963 when CRN started making mega yachts, buyers were eager to purchase something shiny to show off while schmoozing at sea. These days – as CRN celebrates its 50th anniversary – its super rich clients are more keen to splurge on a boat that enables them to slip away from the world and from the ogling eyes of all us less affluent folk. Still, the boats that CRN makes today could hardly be called understated and modest.

At the bespoke mega yacht level, the mod cons and creature comforts eclipse even the most bling bling of gansta rap video trappings. The world’s largest full HD plasma screen television (Panasonic’s 103”) … a private deck with its own helipad … an aquarium that doubles as a bar … a clear glass lift that goes opaque if someone happens to walk by while you’re in it – some of the stuff I saw touring around these yachts had me rethinking the implausibility of outlandish super villain hideaways I’d seen in James Bond movies and such. Just what sort of over-the-top amenities are available to purchase if you’ve got the money?

CRN’s shipyard is on the Adriatic coast in the sleepy little seaside town of Ancona. And for all my poor boy impulses which have me pondering the inequity of these fanciful floating mansions, I must mention even being able to complete one or two of mega yachts a year means that CRN can employ hundreds of local folks with meaningful work … that artisans are afforded a chance to apply age old skills and craftsmanship to actual commercially viable projects … that designers are commissioned to think boldly and to innovate.

To be sure, you can expect to see plenty more posts popping up on my blog about this recent trip. And my shipyard snoop was only half the fun. I bumbled around Bologna for a day as well. As brief as my visit was, I ate so incredibly well and got to gawk at all sorts of amazements.

Until I get around to publishing the next related post, enjoy these pics from the CRN Shipyard (click a thumbnail to view a bigger version of a photograph).

And even more shoots:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tikichris/sets/72157633064625603/



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