They are names that are memorable: "Chopi Chopi", "Darlings Danama" or "J'Ade". BOOTE EXCLUSIV readers will be familiar with them from reading about them in recent months. The similarities also include their shipyard, Costruzioni e Riparazioni Navali in Ancona, abbreviated to CRN.
In the last decade, the Italians have delivered units between 46 metres - including "Clarena" (ex-"Kooilust Mare") - and 80 metres, "Chopi Chopi". And this decade is already the most recent of five. This year, CRN is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, which is not bad news in an industry that has only really taken off in the last twenty-five years and has therefore seen many new start-ups. At CRN, one could almost speak of an established tradition. Only a few German and Dutch shipyards can look back on a longer history. One of the milestones was without doubt the integration of the shipyard into the Ferretti Group in 1999, and since then CRN has been synonymous with the consortium's top-quality products and large individual buildings.
The driving force at the time was Lamberto Tacoli. Together with Norberto Ferretti, he founded the Custom Line in 1996, with lengths between 30 and 43 metres made of GRP. Tacoli saw CRN as an opportunity for the Ferretti Group to move into the classic materials of steel and aluminium and thus into the premium class. Through the positions of Sales & Marketing of Custom Line and CRN, Tacoli became Chairman of CRN and today calls himself CEO of the Group.
The CRN story began in 1963 when Sanzio Nicolini founded the company at the Ancona site under the same name, under which abbreviation the shipyard later became known. A workshop from wartime was available. Nicolini was already building in steel back then, at a time when wood was the preferred material for smaller formats. Until 2004, CRN only supplied steel hulls, after which GRP also came into play.
Read the full article in BOOTE EXCLUSIV 6/13.
