Ondina 42
A white yacht lying still on flat water under a pale dawn sky.

Gulf of Naples

One launch at a time.

Three hulls in the range, and custom builds up to twenty-eight metres.

The rangeTalk to the yard
The yard shed against the light, with a hull up on staging.

The yard

Fourteen months, in twenty seconds

Seven stages, in the order they actually happen.

The shed

It starts as a cage

Frames and keel go up on the jig. For six weeks the hull has no shape at all.

The hull on staging inside the shed, backlit by the arched windows.

The timber

Planking goes on by hand

Plank by plank, and every joint is dry-fitted before any glue touches it.

A joiner’s hands running a plane along a board, chisels laid out beside.

The steel

Then comes the metal

Tanks, engine beds and pulpits are welded here: the right size is not in a catalogue.

Sparks falling down the side of the hull during welding.

Systems

Cables first, furniture after

Systems, insulation and bulkheads close in that order. Opening them later costs double.

The timber helm and pale leather saloon, light coming through the shed windows.

The finish

Nine coats of varnish

Hand-sanded between each one. It is the part nobody sees and everybody touches.

A hand running along the polished mahogany handrail.

The launch

Out of the shed

The yard travel lift takes eighty tonnes. Above that we launch with the port crane.

The finished hull on the hardstand in front of the open shed doors.

The sea

Then two weeks of trials

Commissioning, propeller tuning and a real passage before she is handed over.

The yacht under way at sunset, a long wake behind her.
  1. The shed
  2. The timber
  3. The steel
  4. Systems
  5. The finish
  6. The launch
  7. The sea

The range

Three hulls, drawn to scale

The drawings are in the same proportion as the boats: it is the only way to see what actually changes between a 42 and a 76.

  1. Ondina 42

    Day cruiser

    LOA
    12,90 m
    Beam
    4,10 m
    Engines
    2 × 600 hp outboard
    Berths
    4
    Model sheet

  2. Stabia 58

    Cruising cabin boat

    LOA
    17,60 m
    Beam
    5,05 m
    Engines
    2 × 1,200 hp inboard
    Berths
    6
    Model sheet

  3. Vulcano 76

    Custom flybridge

    LOA
    23,10 m
    Beam
    6,20 m
    Engines
    2 × 1,900 hp inboard
    Berths
    8
    Model sheet

No two leave the shed the same. The range is where the drawing starts, not a catalogue to tick.

What we do

Four trades, one shed

The shed

Everything under one roof

A welder at work, sparks in the half-light of the workshop.
A timber and brass ship’s wheel on the helm station.
The timber helm cockpit with instruments, open to the sea.

Two thousand four hundred square metres and fourteen under the beam: a hull comes in as a cage of frames and leaves under her own power. Nothing leaves the yard to be made elsewhere, not even the joinery.

  • Joinery, metalwork and paint shop all in house
  • Eighty-tonne travel lift on the yard’s own quay
  • Forty undercover berths ashore for winter storage
The yard
1972
The year we started. Third generation now.
118
Hulls launched, from the first to today.
2,400m²
Shed, with fourteen metres under the beam.
34
People, almost all of them on the floor.

You judge a boat after ten years, not at a show. We see all of ours again, and you can tell straight away where we were in a hurry.

Salvatore EspositoMaster shipwright

Questions

What owners ask first

How long does a build take?

Fourteen to twenty-two months, depending on length and how much of the deck is bespoke.

The months do not compress by paying more. They compress by deciding earlier.

Can we visit the yard?

Yes, by appointment, and before any talk of quotes. There is nearly always a hull open in the shed, and it is the fastest way to see how we work.

Do you work on boats you didn’t build?

Yes. Refit, interiors and storage apply to any hull.

The joinery also works on subcontract for other yards.

Timber or composite?

Both. Hulls are PVC-cored composite; decks, joinery and finishes are solid and laminated timber.

The timber is not nostalgia. Above twenty metres, on deck, it is still the material that ages best.

First step

Tell us about the boat you have in mind

Metres, intended use, and when you want to be afloat. Those three things already say whether we can be useful.

Write to the yardHow we work