Origins
Epaminonda Ceccarelli (1925–2011) was one of the pioneering figures of Italian yacht design. An engineer by training, he opened his own studio in Ravenna in 1954 and, from the outset, developed a broad and unconventional design vision, capable of combining technical culture, formal sensitivity and direct knowledge of construction. Deeply attached to his hometown, he chose to live and work in Ravenna throughout his life, turning this strong connection into a privileged perspective on the relationship between the sea, architecture and the territory.
A Pioneer of Italian Yacht Design
Passionate about the sea, a sailor and a racing helmsman, Epaminonda Ceccarelli entered the world of yacht design at a very early stage, developing what he liked to describe as his own “architecture of the sea”. He was among the first to understand that, in order to grow and reach a wider audience, pleasure boating had to evolve from a world of prototypes into an industrial sector. From this intuition came a decisive part of his work: the design of boats conceived for the sea, structurally sound, innovative in their hull forms, and capable of combining design quality with accessibility.
Among his most significant achievements was the Classis 26, recognised as the first Italian production sailing yacht built in fibreglass. This was followed by many other projects that helped define a new culture of yacht design in Italy. His yachts, identified by the EC signature — the acronym for Epaminonda Ceccarelli — still represent an important part of Italian boating history, with more than one thousand boats continuing to sail in seas around the world.
From Sailing to Motor Yachts
Epaminonda Ceccarelli designed both sailing and motor boats, in wood and fibreglass, custom-built and series-produced, always maintaining a strong consistency of language. His boats were conceived for real behaviour at sea, with particular attention to balance, reliability and build quality. In the motor yacht sector, he introduced a softer and more three-dimensional design approach, applying the concept of continuous, rounded surfaces to hull sides and superstructures well before such solutions became widely adopted.
Marinas, Architecture and Design Culture
His work was never limited to yacht design alone. Epaminonda Ceccarelli was also a designer of marinas, boating infrastructure, residential and industrial buildings, furniture, objects and graphic identities. In the field of marina design, he was responsible, among other projects, for the Marina di Cervia, the waterfront facilities of the Circolo Velico Ravennate and the Ravenna Yacht Club, as well as numerous studies for harbour infrastructure in Italy and abroad. In architecture he received important recognition, including the IN/ARCH Award in the early 1960s and the international competition for the design of the Italian headquarters of Johnson Wax in Arese. This ability to move across different disciplines did not represent a dispersion of focus, but rather a rare quality: the ability to transfer method, vision and sensitivity from one field to another, building a true culture of design.
A Living Legacy
Epaminonda Ceccarelli was far more than a designer: he was an innovator and a builder of culture. He contributed to defining a new phase in Italian pleasure boating, promoting its industrial development and leaving a mark that goes far beyond individual yachts or buildings. His legacy lives on today not only in the boats, the architecture and the marina projects he designed, but above all in the approach that continues to define the identity of Ceccarelli Yacht Design & Engineering: the ability to unite vision, technique, construction and a culture of the sea within a single idea of design.
