“Creativity is born from anxiety like day is born from dark night. » “It is in the crisis that innovation, discoveries and great strategies are born. » Massimo Paperini quotes Albert Einstein in English in front of about thirty students. The professor, who is not a philosopher but a naval architect, provides the course “The Yacht Design of the Third Millennium” as part of the “yacht design” master’s degree at the Polytechnic of Milan. On a large screen, the teacher projects a map of Italy dotted with red dots: “It’s about marine protected areas. Access to the most beautiful seas on our planet is now forbidden to shipowners who do not care about the environment. We are counting on you to master the regulations aimed at respecting the seabed. »
An injunction to put into perspective: exhaust gas emissions, use of paints containing harmful substances, discharge of contaminated water, degradation of the seabed… Super yachting is an intrinsically polluting activity. “Rented from 225,000 euros to 1 million euros a week, consuming 2,000 liters of fuel per hour, superyachts are a magnifying mirror revealing soaring economic inequalities and the acceleration of ecological disaster”, emphasizes Grégory Salle. The author of Superyachts. Luxury, calm and ecocide (Amsterdam editions, 2021) recalls that the fleet of the 300 largest superyachts in operation alone emits nearly 285,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, or as much or more than an entire country. “Today, spokespersons for the superyacht industry have their mouths full of environmental concerns. They too say they are touched by the grace of sustainable development,” summarizes, not without irony, the sociologist.
“Of course, a superyacht has a bad carbon footprint. But we’re not all going to go paddle boarding,” says Alexandra Illa, yacht design student.
Can we really combine superyacht and sobriety? “Superyachts are getting more and more media coverage, especially with the confiscation of the assets of Russian oligarchs due to the war in Ukraine. So much the better: it’s an opportunity to seize to develop the sector”, assures Dimitris Magenis, 26, who joined the “yacht design” master’s degree at the Polytechnic School of Milan after studying architecture in Greece. With three classmates, he practices designing a sailing boat and a motor superyacht. The team begins by imagining the owner: a 35-year-old, athletic banker who likes to travel to the most remote corners of the planet.
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