Pershing is the benchmark make when we talk about large open boats. Integrated in the Ferretti Group since 1998, their boats constitute the spearhead of the design and technology in the worldwide market of motor yachting.

Tilli Antonelli, founder and president of Pershing, passion for the sea began when he was very young in its native Ravenna. Its participation in regattas allowed him to travel around and to be part of the crew of Il Moro di Venezia, the yacht with which Raoul Gardini structured a syndicate to participate in the America’s Cup. Looking for an activity that allowed him to obtain a result from this experience he choose boat building. He convinced his friends Fausto Filipetti and Giuliano Onori, who already worked in a shipyard, to do as businessmen what at that time they were doing as employees and in 1981 they began to build sailing wooden boats to the unit in sheds that are still active a few hundreds meters of the actual Pershing shipyard. From Antonelli’s office that first facility can be seen perfectly. It also happens that the Ferretti brothers began in the yachting industry building sailing yachts.
In 1985 the sailing market was not at its best and they decided to move their activity towards motor yachting and hired the designer Fulvio De Simoni to develop the Pershing make. Fulvio De Simoni has been the designer of the make since then.
Pershing is a reference name related to the Pershing missile that at that time was the zenith of the technological capacity for its precision and speed. Indeed, from the beginning the creators of the make set as their aim to offer always something more, something more than the competition, coining the “qualcosa in più” term to define a philosophy that had to be reflected on exclusive boats for their design and technology. The distinguishing characteristic of the Pershing yachts is made of a combination of high sport performance, great luxury, with the use of maximum quality materials, all of it with an optimal functionality, to allow the maximum enjoyment of the space. Already the first model, the Pershing 45’, stood out because on an open model of that length they included three double cabins and three bathrooms on a fast hull, but also for its modern design and the special attention given to the technological aspects, that are reflected on the outer appearance of the boat giving special emphasis on the technological aspects, for example, in the sophistication of the steering position.
Pershing has grown in parallel with a young and dynamic clientele, nowadays offering a range of nine models that range from 37 to 115 feet (12 to 35 meters).

THE FERRETTI DRIVE
Since 1998 the make is part of the Ferretti Group, which has allowed enjoying the required synergies to carry out a great expansion. Antonelli remained upfront of Pershing, whereas Filipetti and Onori started their own companies, also related to the yachting world. One of the models that marked a turning point was the Pershing 88, for a set of characteristics as its almost 27 meters of overall length, its closed superstructure and its metallic finish, setting a new trend. Nowadays almost all the Pershing have the main deck closed, exceeding the open concept, and they have metallic colours, but the most important is that almost the totality of the international offer of this type of yachts has these same characteristics, so that it is not risky to say that Pershing sets a trend directly in this type of boats.

NEW SHIPYARD
In 2004 the production of Pershing transferred from Castelvecchio di Monteporzio – premises nowadays occupied by Itama, make that was acquired in 2005 - to Mondolfo, a modern shipyard designed by the architect Sandro Sartini, built on a plot of 53.000 square meters and structured in two large buildings. One of them housing the offices, with a total surface of about 2.000 square meters, as well as a shed of 6.500 square meters destined to the construction of the yachts between 48 on 115 feet, whereas another totally separated parallel building is destined to the completion of the decks, preparing the paint and as warehouse. The small models, of 37 and 46 feet are made in another installation. A third building of 500 square meters, isolated, is destined to the painting and the complex also has a swimming pool of large dimensions in which the boats are tested before their launching. A 130 tons overhead-elevating crane eases the movement of the yachts. The whole required an initial investment of 12 million euros.
The offices building has an completely glassed outer facade, facing North, so that natural illumination comes in permanently, but without getting the strength of the full sun. The building transmits the idea of modernity of the Pershing boats themselves, therefore materials such as fibre; steel and glass have been used. Here we find the commercial, marketing and design offices, with the project managers, but not the technical office, that is at the Ferretti Group headquarters in Forlí. In each model or group of models in the case of the smallest boats, there is a project or product manager that follows up the whole project and deals directly with the clients to introduce the modifications on the larger boats. Before undertaking the definitive construction, 1:1 models of the interiors are made to verify the operation of the volumes.
At the top of this building there is the boardroom and the office of the president of the company, Tilli Antonelli, with an interesting balcony that it directly over the highest part of the main shed. In this way the president can verify life and with a privileged perspective the evolution of the works. A central sort of catwalk runs across the main shed, so that the yachts are placed on each side to have the works done, coming out this catwalk the electrical supply and also vacuums cleaners that allow to retire the dust and the waste generated during the construction process, which multiplies the cleanliness and the security. Each type of boat has its area and work team, in a specialized way. In this building the bulkheads, structural or not are installed, the engines and the transmissions, the carpentry works are done, the electronics, etc. Over 50 feet, the tanks are structural, laminated into the hull. On a second building -6.800 m2- the decks are finished, with the installation of the fittings, the windscreen, etc, so that it is possible to work on the hull and on the deck separately. Once the two parts finished, they proceed to the assemblage in the main building and then it is painted. This building also has the warehouse, with a particularity: the elevating fork lift moves through the corridors by means of an automatic system because at the base of the shelves there are sensors that ease its position. Even here modernity is present.
The paint booth is one of jewels of the crown at Pershing, because it is one of the largest and most sophisticated ones in Europe. The installation, pressurized and air-conditioned at a constant temperature allows obtaining an optimal hardness of the paintwork, similar to the one applied in the car industry. Two large ventilators introduce air at the rate of 35.000 cubic meters per hour.Three longitudinal grids on the floor allow that sixteen groups of extractors clean the air from impurities that could affect the paint and they filter it before expelling it to the outside, so that there are no polluting emissions.