The Yacht Club Marina di Loano, a lovely Italy yacht charter destination, hosted the second ‘Captain’s Day’ on Monday, October 13, 2014. The event was organised by the ITALIANYACHMASTERS, the association of Italian Superyacht Captains, promoting the Italian sailing excellence in the world.
ItalianYachtMasters
Over 50 Captains participated in the event, in addition to numerous specialised workers from the nautical sector, journalists and the event’s sponsors, with the total number of participants exceeding 130. The day was managed and coordinated by Captain Dario Savino.
Following the opening speeches by Giorgio Benussi, General Director of the YCML, and Marco Cornacchia, Marina di Loano Harbourmaster, Captain Gino Battaglia took the floor, representing the board of ITALIANYACHTMASTERS. Battaglia underscored the results obtained by the Association over the course of its first year of activities, both in terms of relationships and in its capacity to represent the nautical sector in various institutional and other settings. Battaglia was also specific in highlighting how the ITALIANYACHTMASTERS has made important contributions towards the employment of Italian Captains, informing the event’s attendees about the various successes obtained.
2014 Captain's Day organized by ItalianYachtMasters
Next on stage was Engineer Poerio from Benetti Yachts, offering his views about an ‘organisational model of nautical economics’. Using a series of data relative to the economic values and employment figures for the various segments of the nautical economy, Poerio stressed the importance of a series of common objectives that need to be met, such as the organisation of an international event to provide an Italian bench mark in the global market, and the establishment of an internal institution that involves all the market’s players. Other short-term objectives were identified as: the simplification of the administrative system, the valorisation of the regional contexts, the creation of a single and shared statistical data system, the creation of combined innovation strategies, and integrated competence training.
Dr. Torri (from San Giorgio Shipping) tackled the topic of taxation in relation to short-term rental contracts, bringing the audience up to date about the most recent regulatory developments, in particular in relation to the problems related to the circular issued last July by the Agenzia delle Entrate (the Italian Inland Revenue Service) on the topic of bunkerage and excise duties.
Presentations were delivered throughout the day, with analyses and in depth considerations of a wide variety of themes, some of which were specific to the world of Italian Captains, such as the comparison of Italian professionalism to Anglo-Saxon standards, a topic that was addressed by Captain Barletta. Captain Sulmonti, on the other hand, referred to the important experience obtained by the students of the Tuscan Nautical Institutes, who, for the first time this year, had the opportunity to gain hands-on work experience on-board recreational crafts. He went on to highlight the many activities carried out over the course of 2014, involving numerous technical workshops with the specifically goal at keeping Italian Captains continually up to date.
Dr. Roberto Neglia, manager of institutional relations at UCINA – Confindustria Nautica (the Italian Marine Industry Association that is part of the Confederation of Italian Industry) informed the audience about the most recent regulations and the successes obtained in this field thanks to a team effort intervention that involved collaborations with ITALIANYACHTMASTERS and the Yachting section of ‘Federagenti’ (National Federation of the shipowner’s agents and ship brokers. Topics included the reform of the Recreational Craft Code, simplification of the administrative regime and of activities relative to recreational navigation (including those with commercial ends), the revision of professional titles within the recreational craft sector, simplification of the “arrival and departure” procedures, the approval and national legislation action taken regarding the recognition of Marina Resorts with the consequent reduction of VAT to 10% for ‘mooring and the overnight stay in docking units within harbour facilites appropriately equipped’.
The Captain’s day was brought to a close by Captain Trigiani, who presented the 2015 programme of training activities directed at ITALIANYACHTMASTERS members and their professional development.
