Genoa as Barcelona. The new marina according to Renzo Piano

Marina Fiera Genova

From the ashes of the old Boat Show facilities, what will be one of Italy’s most beautiful marinas, perfect for keeping your boat, is being built in Genoa. One can count on the fingers of one hand the large cities with a marina in the heart of the center: Barcelona (which “turned around” thanks to the Port Olimpic for the 1992 Olympics) and Valencia (which was able to renovate its waterfront in the wake of the America’s Cup) come to mind, and Genoa has all the credentials to follow the Spanish examples.

Marina Fiera Genova, boating in the heart of the city

With a total investment worth €8.3 million, Porto Antico of Genoa (which acquired in 2019 Marina Fiera Genoa) is changing the face of the Marina, a focal point as part of the Levante Waterfront project, an ongoing multifunctional hub designed by Renzo Piano and dedicated primarily to boating and leisure that the archistar has donated to the city. Also part of the Piano project are the restored Palasport, an urban park and a residential area with services, accommodation and commercial activities.

Waterfront evolves

The development plan (to be completed by mid-2025) includes a series of interventions that will increase the number of available berths and the average length of berths. One only needs to see the widespread renderings to understand the scope of the project. In total, Marina Fiera Genova has about 400 berths from 4 to 24 meters, which will increase to 28 meters with the new works, with an average draft of about 6 meters, lined up on multiple docks.

Marina Fiera Genova consists of two docks at the eastern entrance to the Port of Genoa, from which the inlets and resorts of the Ligurian Rivieras can be quickly reached. To give an example Portofino is just 12 miles away, Bergeggi 20. From June 24 to July 2, 2023, they will be the centerpiece of Ocean Race – The Grand Finale: the round-the-world crewed sailing race will end right in the Ligurian capital.

Marina Fiera Genova, work in progress

We summarize the areas of intervention: the redevelopment of quay F, the one positioned furthest to the east; the insertion of services-including the new port management and galley-dedicated to the dock into stable structures; and the functional reorganization of the mooring plan, with a complex path of displacements that has the dual objective of optimizing the marina’s capacity and stabilizing it in a configuration suitable for the Boat Show.

Last but not least. Accompanying Marina Fiera Genova on its development and transformation journey has been North Sails as a technical partner. The American sailmaker founded in 1957, with 150 lofts around the world and a preferred supplier to all the most important regattas on the planet, from the America’s Cup to the Ocean Race, has chosen Genoa for the construction of its new production site.