Italy’s CRN: Taking Custom to a New Level

Perfection begins with the owner’s vision.

By CRN

November 18, 2022

Founded in 1963 in Ancona, Italy, CRN is a bespoke shipbuilder that specializes in designing and building fully custom aluminum and steel and aluminum yachts up to 95 meters. The yard has always created yachts of peerless beauty. Its cutting-edge solutions set the standard for functional innovation, representing Italian manufacturing at its finest. With well over half a century of success behind it, CRN’s is a compelling story of remarkable ideas, inspiring challenges and iconic achievements that have made it the outstanding brand it remains today. Every yacht is unique; first and foremost, an individual masterpiece, before becoming part of the CRN fleet.

CRN yachts are conceived by talented, imaginative owners, who seek to create exclusive works of unmistakable style. The yachts are as special and unique as their owners. Starting from a blank sheet, CRN listens to, and shapes each client’s desires, then develops innovative concept designs that transform the owner’s vision into a breathtaking true-custom yacht. The process employs a winning blend of passion and expertise, flexibility and creativity, dependability and total commitment.

CRN infuses each bespoke megayacht concept with new meaning, embracing and reflecting the client’s wishes and designs in a genuinely creative process. Each aspect of each yacht is crafted inch by inch, with a keen eye for beauty and the sublime down to the subtlest details. The CRN working group collaborates closely with a select band of world-class architects and designers, together with the client’s personal team. Styles, colors, materials—in short, everything—can be personalized and made to measure. CRN ensures the owner full freedom of expression, empowering him or her to become the true author of their own masterpiece.

Each CRN yacht is the fruit of elite R&D, leading-edge technology and masterful construction skill. The results are there for all to see in the fine quality and excellent amenities, the optimized efficiency and supreme stylistic effect, all engineered to perfection. Each new project presents a challenge to create fresh solutions, to anticipate trends and to devise new designs. CRN is a pioneer of a panoply of functional solutions and aesthetic innovations that result in instant classics that continue to raise the bar throughout the yachting world.

But the heartbeat of the yard is its people. A team of specialist engineers, architects and technicians conceives top-performing hulls and naval platforms with superlative design solutions.

With their combined insight and problem-solving flair, these experts, technicians and specialist craftspeople are always primed to rise to the challenges laid down by exacting clients. It is this know-how, this professionalism, this passion to excel, harnessed to profound design experience, advanced shipbuilding techniques and a constant quest for the most ingenious materials, that really makes the difference for an end build of exquisite quality.

Yachts International connected with members of CRN’s Yacht Project Management Team about what “bespoke” means for the brand and the value to an owner of the builder’s dedication to first-class design and construction.

What does “Fully Custom” mean for CRN?

The term “custom” indicates something that is designed and created according to the owner’s vision. CRN applies this concept to the world of pleasure yachts where “custom” becomes a lifestyle, an original approach to living the sea. What is born in our shipyard is a unique work, a vision that is transposed into reality. “Fully custom” is part of CRN’s DNA. It is our desire to create something extremely exclusive for the owner that can make him or her re-live the emotions from the moment the yacht was just an idea until her realization.

Tell us about CRN’s people

We are a team of highly qualified professionals that are not only among the best on the market, but, above all, people with emotions and a great dedication to their work that are able to transfer this passion to the client.

We are Italians. In addition to a deep know-how at the construction level, we are characterized by great creativity and flexibility. This allows us to meet the most complex requests laid down by our clients. One of our great strengths is the very close and direct relationship between company management and the Yacht Project Management Team, which allows us to work with precision and speed. For each custom yacht, there is a dedicated and very close team that works in synergy to find innovative solutions.

The Yacht Project Management Team is made up of a Project Manager whose job is to lead the project and to interface with the owner and his team. The Project Manager is flanked by a Project Architect who follows all the client’s requests regarding interiors, style and materials.

Other important figures are the Construction Project Engineer and the Head of Construction. The former translates the requests made by the Project Manager and the Project Architect at an operational level. The latter plays a role of practical organization of resources. Also fundamental is the role of the Project Engineer, who coordinates all the engineering of the yacht.

Finally, the realization of a yacht would be unimaginable without the contribution of our highly skilled workers: “Made in Italy” craftsmen who allow us to create a truly handcrafted, tailor-made work.

What is the role of Italian Craftsmanship in a CRN yacht project?

Italian craftsmanship plays a crucial role in the creation of all our bespoke yachts. At CRN, we are proud to have an in-house select group of elite craftspeople: master shipwrights, welders, engine mechanics, electricians, production mechanics, instrument mechanics, joiners, carpenters, cabinetmakers, painters, plasterers, marble workers, upholsterers, decorators, who, with their know-how, are always primed to provide bespoke solutions.

CRN also boasts an in-house carpentry operation—Zago (part of the Ferretti Group)—with over 110 years of history behind it and more than half-a-century of master cabinet makers’ know-how. These master craftspeople are specialists, an all-Italian resource, and their contribution brings a superlative level of minutely detailed customization.

CRN also works in collaboration with small- and medium-size enterprises. These excellent specialists and local Italian craftspeople underpin our long-term production continuity, working with total professionalism and flexibility. They can create tailor-made products and solutions as well as oversee progress from concept to completion and any subsequent refits.

What do you think is the biggest challenge when it comes to full custom yacht building?

To achieve everything we have talked about so far while ensuring maximum flexibility, high quality, respect for deadlines and costs. For this reason, it is essential to involve the owner right from the start in the realization of his yacht so that he becomes part of the team. We need to be a cohesive team with the client, thanks to a constant process of listening and exchange where the point of attention is always the client.

Could you give us two examples of CRN’s approach to owner-driven customization?

The first example would be CRN M/Y Voice. Delivered in July 2020, Voice is a 62-meter steel and aluminum, fully custom yacht built in partnership with architecture studio Nuvolari Lenard. Her owner, a very determined man with precise ideas and a strong personality, had been particularly close to the project since the very first day.

Voice fully reflects the owner’s powerful personality. As for the design concept, he wanted powerful, aerodynamic, fluid external lines. Just to define the details of the completion of some particular lines of the yacht, several meetings between the Yacht Project Management Team and the owner were held. The result is a work of great beauty, with unmistakable lines immediately recognizable “from a long way off.”

The owner also asked us to replicate for her hull, the colors of one of his favorite cars. We obtained fully custom colors with a smoky quartz hull, silver-sand superstructure and jet-black details.

Also, the interiors were designed in every detail. For example, the study of lighting was meticulous to ensure the highest level of customization so that in each environment, it was possible to modulate the level of brightness, not only according to night/day scenarios, but also in accordance with the music guests would be listening to.

The client specified highly advanced comfort levels aboard, approved by RINA and customized to extend to crew members as well, their well-being of paramount importance to him. We designed the audio system to match the performance of a recording studio, in order to reflect the client’s main passion: music.

The level of information technology is also very advanced to guarantee privacy and cybersecurity with standards certified by Lloyd’s Register of Shipping.

Very high performance was also among the owner’s specific desiderata. By contract, Voice was required to reach a maximum cruising speed of 16 knots, but the shipyard managed to bring the maximum speed to 16.5, with a range of 5,500 miles.

The owner’s attention to the environmental protection theme found correspondence in CRN. To that end, Voice obtained the IMO TIER III certification, which guarantees a 70 percent reduction of harmful emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in the exhaust gases of the engines.

Another fundamental feature and specific request was having a full AUT-UMS yacht, so that she could be totally governed by automation, without the continuous supervision of a chief engineer. In the case of Voice, CRN fully realized her owner’s dream for a unique, fully personalized vessel, built to the highest standards.

CRN M/Y RIO is another excellent example of what fully custom means for CRN. She is a 62-meter, designed and built by CRN in close collaboration with Omega Architects, who created the exterior concept, and designers Pulina Exclusive Interiors for the styling inside. Her taut, flowing hull lines and near-vertical bow reflect the strikingly dynamic, sporty personality of a fully bespoke opus with a strong artisanal stamp. RIO exudes a remarkable harmony between the ample interior and exterior spaces, evoking a strong impression of even greater volume and a functional unity between inside and out. This new 62-meter yacht with an 11.2-meter beam spans four decks and accommodates up to 12 guests in comfort. The upper deck is the owner’s exclusive domain, a great oasis of intimacy and privacy that can also be enjoyed as a social zone.

As for every CRN true-custom yacht, our goal in designing and building RIO was to create a unique work of art that perfectly fulfills the owner’s vision. The yacht reflects the character of the owner, who has a passion for being on board. He is a new, young, client who desired a shared cruising experience with his family and close friends. The result is a superyacht that makes on-board life uniquely pleasurable, with her harmonious distribution of the spaces and a smooth, fluid layout that links the many large indoor and outdoor living areas in masterly style, where natural light reigns supreme.

Moreover, the magnificent al fresco spaces are conceived for spending memorable moments with family and friends, enjoying the open-air life to the full. The ample interiors are designed as multifunctional living spaces that can be used as social zones, for relaxation and fun or as meeting rooms to work in complete comfort.

The entire superyacht is tailored on the basis of the owner’s brief to create an extraordinary personalized cruising experience steeped in freedom and privacy. The owner can savor the seclusion of a private deck or dive into the buzz of the sizeable social areas. This wealth of spaces includes the stern lounge with bright, airy al fresco dining facilities, or the lounge at the bow on the owner deck with a generous spa pool and sun area for fitness use and parties. Not to mention the wellness lounge, with water toys aplenty at the beach club, or the huge spa pool and cinema zone aft on the wheelhouse deck.

The owner’s deck spans 323 square meters dedicated to the owner’s exclusive use. To the stern, an al fresco dining area links to the sky lounge for an indoor/outdoor experience. Connected via sinuous walkways, both aft to the main deck and wheelhouse deck and to the outer deck at the bow, the area transforms easily into an open-air party zone. At the bow, the lounge spanning 115 square meters leads directly off the master cabin. Full privacy is always assured, as the area is secluded and out of the crew’s sightlines. Here, a lounge area features a teak pool. This great multipurpose outdoor space can also be opened up to guests and for parties.

This unique yacht reflects an advanced contemporary concept of on-board living. The comfort is set off with an impeccably selected array of exquisite materials blended to perfection to accentuate the contrasts and add verve to every space. The owner expressly requested bright, colorful spaces and a happy atmosphere for younger family members to enjoy. Hence the tropical concept, where the prevailing upbeat white tones set off a judicious mix of lively pops of color and zestful, exotic décor with vibrant motifs. The white walls harmonize with the marine palette of the fully customized furnishings and textiles, while delightful details in tones of blue and fuchsia or green and grey further embellish every deck.

Imaginative stylish details and custom artworks suffuse all the decks with character. Sumptuous wallpapers and jungle-style decorations create a sense of energy with their endlessly fascinating effects.

CRN M/Y RIO is also IMO Tier III-certified, assuring drastic reductions of 70 percent in harmful emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the engine exhaust.