Seatec/Compotec, CarraraFiere’s B2B trade fair dedicated to nautical components and composite materials used in production, will be held on 13 and 14 March in Marina di Carrara, in the heart of one of Italy’s main areas of engineering, craft and industrial tradition for nautical production.
Through an itinerary of accessories and materials, it will be possible to learn about new products and technologies and discuss them with manufacturers, technicians, and designers.
The exhibition will also offer a rich programme of meetings and events with debates, workshops, and talks on specific topics, offering practical expertise and food for thought on the sector’s most topical issues, in a stimulating and dynamic context.
The focus of the new edition of Seatec/Compotec will be on the theme of innovation. The selection of themes has been dictated by the history and tradition of the region, which boasts a cluster dedicated to the boating industry with top-level shipyards, a vast supply chain, and university centres such as Genoa and La Spezia.
The 2025 edition offers a programme of conferences that will allow participants to understand the developments of the boating industry by focusing on central and innovative themes for the sector, such as additive manufacturing, the relationship between production and the environment, and the use of new materials.
Events:
Thursday 13 March 2025 – 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
‘Additive Manufacturing and the Marine Industry’ will describe the future developments of a technology now accepted and used by the marine industry. Presentations will seek to provide information on technologies, applications and materials.
Thursday 13 March 2025 – 14:30 – 16:00
‘From the Shipyards‘ Side: Production and Environmental Care’ where central will be stories from shipyards and manufacturers, including Fabio Bignolini, Northen Lights Composites.
Thursday 13 March 2025 – 2.30 pm
Round Table: ‘The boating industry of the future, the point of view of Italian designers’ specially designed to highlight what will be the trends in innovative projects and to understand how the sector is evolving.
This will be followed by a Lectio Magistralis by Sergio Buttiglieri, of Sanlorenzo, and Marco Rossato, of Marine4All, who will present two innovative and ‘enlightened’ visions of the boating industry:
Sergio Buttiglieri will talk about his long collaboration (which started in 2006) as Style Director of the Sanlorenzo shipyard. When Massimo Perotti, Chairman of the Sanlorenzo Group, bought the shipyard (established in Limite sull’Arno in 1958) with the intention of revolutionising the nautical world also from the furnishing point of view. Buttiglieri, realised the goal of connecting the nautical world with interior design, collaborating with great designers and architects such as Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel, Piero Lissoni (since 2018 Sanlorenzo’s Art Director) and Patricia Urquiola, with the contribution of great nautical designers such as Zuccon International.
Marco Rossato, a disabled sailor, launched Nautic4All in 2023, creating a platform to showcase accessibility and sustainability solutions in the nautical industry. The goal is to change the accessibility narrative away from the perception that it only benefits a small number of users. Designing for accessibility and comfort benefits all marina users, from those with disabilities to able-bodied boaters, elevating the cultural understanding of accessibility as a priority that improves the experience for all.
Marco Rossato will attend both on 13 and 14 March, in the dedicated MARINA4ALL area that will host a series of meetings dedicated to the theme of boating and disability.
Friday 14 March 2025 – 10:30 am – 12:30 pm (Saily area)
‘The sailing industry in Italy’ a talk with videos, technicians and opinion leaders and “The next yachting generation” a seminar organised by *RINA, one of the most important ship classification societies in the world, which offers a range of tools to assist designers and manufacturers, as well as offering new services in application of the essential requirements of the Recreational Craft Directive.
Awards: MYDA and QUALITEC TECHNOLOGY and QUALITEC DESIGN
The MYDA, Millennium Yacht Design Award competition, now in its 21st edition, is aimed at Rookie and Professional Designers who will compete in the ‘New Projects’ theme. The theme of the ‘New Projects’ section reads: ‘Design as a substantial contribution to the development and innovation of a yacht. Completed but not yet realised projects’.
The winners will see their projects displayed in the specially designed exhibition. The award allows young designers, both beginners and those already working in the industry, to showcase their projects dedicated to new ideas in design.
At the same time, a conference will be held on the role of design in the innovation and sustainability of new projects and on the expectations that a technical office has of young aspirants. The Qualitec Technology and Qualitec Design awards highlight the excellence of participating companies and the commitment of the components supply chain to offer increasingly advanced products, both technologically and aesthetically.
