GUIDA DESIGN - YACHT NAVAL ARCHITECTURE
FRANCESCO
GUIDA
Naval engineer, designer, and builder — four decades shaping the way Italy goes to sea
THE MIND BEHIND SANTASEVERA
PORTRAIT
NAPLES. Born August 1963
GUIDA DESIGN
Naval Architecture & Design
A unique character — a cross between a nobleman of yesteryear and the deus ex machina of the nautical sector.
The Neapolitan naval engineer is both genial and reserved. Having spent decades designing boats that are at once beautiful and quietly revolutionary, Francesco Guida is one of the true go-to names in the industry — the designer behind some of the most recognizable hulls and interiors afloat, and now the owner and creative force behind Santasevera.
For an American owner weighing a new Italian marque, his name is the assurance: this is not a start-up reaching for the water. It is a lifetime of yards, launches and lessons, distilled into a single flagship.
A LIFELONG PASSION
Francesco Guida — Cannes, 2019
IT BEGAN AT TWELVE
At twelve years old, Guida carried his first drawings to Giovanni Jannetti of Sanlorenzo, simply to ask his opinion. By his early twenties he had earned a first-class honours degree in naval engineering — graduating cum laude at twenty-three.
“My family didn’t look too kindly on me working in the nautical world,” he recalls of the early 1980s, “even though designing boats had been my great passion since I was a child. So the only way I had of doing this particular job was to sign up for a naval engineering degree — acceptable to my parents, and still in the world I loved best.”
Yet a degree alone opens no doors. “Other things are much more useful — like sailing, and knowing the history of yacht design. You can design the most beautiful boats in the world, but without experience and a background, you will get nowhere.”
KNOWING THE HISTORY OF YACHT DESIGN IS ESSENTIAL. YOU CANNOT INNOVATE IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE JOURNEY THAT LED TO THIS MOMENT.
FRANCESCO GUIDA
A PHILOSOPHY OF LIVING ABOARD
INNOVATION, NOT SPECTACLE
For Guida, innovation has never meant astonishing lines for their own sake. “It means developing and testing potential new ways of living on board — new uses for boats that are in step with the times we live in.”
His boats are proof. The Magnum 35, the first sport-fisherman built in Italy. The Italcraft 51, the first motorcraft with a tender garage. The Arcadia series, which in 2008 rewrote the whole yacht concept with a glazed deckhouse and solar panels. Guida looks to the past to improve on the present — taking a mainstay and giving it a modern twist.
THE AZIMUT LINE
Interiors from the S6 to the revolutionary S10 — for the Azimut·Benetti Group
FOUR DECADES OF BUILDING
THE CAREER
From technical director to founder — a path through the most storied yards in Italian yachting.
ITALIANCRAFT - Technical Director
1986
Joins a leading shipyard, designing and building new vessels from 38 to 65 feet — among them the Italcraft 51, the first motorcraft with a tender garage.
1989
13 Years
SANLORENZO
General Director
Leads the creation, design and development of yachts from 62 to over 100 feet, and coordinates the acquisition and refit of the ex-Crestitalia yard at Ameglia. Under his direction, turnover climbs from five billion lire to fifty-five million euro.
2001
To 2003
ILVER
General Director
Directs production of the 33, 47 and 58-foot yachts and the styling of the 30, 39, 41 and 49. In parallel, oversees builds for the historic Magnum Marine shipyard in Florida.
2006
To 2016
ARCADIA YACHTS
Founder & Director General
Creates the shipyard from the ground up — production facility, technical and commercial divisions — and develops models from 58 to 115 feet. The 2008 glazed-deckhouse, solar-panelled Arcadia revolutionises the category; by 2016 the yard exceeds forty million euro in revenue.
2003
To 2023
Two decades of independent practice — exteriors, interiors and engineering for Palumbo’s ISA Extra and Extra Fast series, the 80m Columbus Dragon, the Azimut S Line, Cantiere delle Marche, Otam, Baglietto, Codecasa and more.
THE RETURN
2022
MAGNUM MARINE, FLORIDA
Reopening
Returns to Magnum after nineteen years to lead the re-opening and resume production of the 47, 60 and 70-foot motoryachts.
TODAY
THE FLAGSHIP
SANTASEVERA YACHTS
Owner & Founder
His own marque — a 16.35-metre Italian motoryacht built around a fully flush deck. Everything before it was preparation for this.
OTHER THINGS ARE MUCH MORE USEFUL, LIKE SAILING AND KNOWING THE HISTORY OF YACHT DESIGN.
YOU CAN DESIGN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOATS IN THE WORLD BUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE EXPERIENCE OR A BACKGROUND, YOU WILL GET NOWHERE.
FRANCESCO GUIDA - ON WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS IN BOAT DESIGN
Selected Works
FRANCESCO’S PORTFOLIO
A small selection from a body of work spanning sport boats, day cruisers and full-displacement megayachts.
INNOVATION PER SE DOESN'T SO MUCH MEAN CREATING INNOVATIVE OR ASTONISHING LINES, BUT DEVELOPING AND TESTING-OUT POTENTIAL NEW WAYS OF ONBOARD LIVING AND NEW USES FOR BOATS THAT ARE IN STEP WITH THE TIMES WE LIVE IN.
FRANCESCO GUIDA - ON HIS DEFINITION OF INNOVATION
SELECTED CREDITS
Design, interiors and engineering delivered through the studio, 2003–2023 and beyond.
FRANCESCO GUIDA FINALLY BUILT HIS DREAM PROJECT.
A REVOLUTION. THE PERFECT TENDER.
A PIECE OF ORIGAMI THAT'S BEAUTIFUL BOTH CLOSED AND OPEN.
NOW HIS NEW VISION HAS A NAME.
SANTASEVERA
SANTASEVERA 52
A 16.35-metre Italian motoryacht built around a fully flush deck — the distillation of a lifetime’s work, now sailing for America.
THE FORMS OF THE FUTURE WILL HAVE TO BE SIMPLE. THEY WILL HAVE TO STRIKE THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN CLOSED SURFACES AND GLAZED ONES AND BE LOW TO IMPROVE STABILITY.
FRANCESCO GUIDA - ON WHERE DESIGN IS HEADING