Meet Cantiere Del Carlo

Last updated: November 1, 2026

Viareggio builds big yachts. In 2023 its boatbuilding district exported more than €1 billion for the first time, and large groups and very large yachts now drive that growth. Inside the port, in the Darsena Italia basin, one family still works in wood.

Cantiere Del Carlo has belonged to the same family since 1963. Today it specializes in restoring wooden boats, some of them more than a hundred years old. When La Nazione marked the yard’s sixtieth year in 2023, its headline quoted the family: “Così ci prendiamo cura delle vecchie signore del mare.” This is how we look after the old ladies of the sea.

A foreman from Codecasa

The founder, Francesco Del Carlo, was an old-school maestro d’ascia (master shipwright). Before he opened his own yard, he was capocantiere (yard foreman) at Codecasa. That yard is a piece of Viareggio history in its own right. A maestro d’ascia, Giovanni Battista Codecasa, founded it in 1825, and it celebrated two hundred years in 2025.

Francesco’s yard started with three slipways. It built and worked on fishing boats of up to 25 m, in oak and pine. When the fishing industry declined, the yard turned to restoring pleasure boats.

The family tells a second, drier version of that story. According to La Nazione, Francesco’s boats were built so well that hardly anyone came back for work. One fishing boat the yard built about fifty years ago, in pine from the local macchia di Levante (the Levante woods) and oak, still returns. It only needs routine maintenance.

Three generations in the shed

Francesco’s sons, Guido and Marco, grew up in the yard. “Dall’età di 8 anni ho passato le estati al cantierino in darsena Italia,” Guido told La Nazione: from the age of eight, he spent his summers at the little yard in the Darsena Italia. Marco joined the work at 14.

Guido’s son Adriano is the third generation. He has worked at the yard as a carpenter since 2007. By 2023 Guido had retired, at least on paper. “Sono entusiasta,” Adriano told La Nazione that year, “di questo impegno importante perseguito con orgoglio, anche per dare continuità alla tradizione familiare.” He is excited about an important commitment, pursued with pride, not least to carry on the family tradition.

The yard has also outgrown its original slipways. In 2021 La Nazione described three sites: the 1963 yard, former CUV hangars on Via dei Pescatori acquired in 2000, and new sheds in the fish market area, added in 2006.

The Products

What leaves Del Carlo is not a new boat but an old one that can go back to sea. The work spans carpentry and mechanics. The craft guide Homo Faber lists four sheds, each with its own mechanical and carpentry workshop.

Much of the skill lies in the timber. The family chooses woods to suit each boat and advises owners on what to do aboard. La Nazione mentions local pine, oak, and mahogany. On the yacht Magda, the yard redid the interiors in mahogany about twenty years before 2023. According to La Nazione, experts called it one of the best jobs ever done on boats of that type.

Some timber is getting harder to find. In 2021 the family said Thai teak, especially in long lengths, had become difficult to source.

The yacht from Some Like It Hot

The yard’s best-known guest is Portola. She is a 25 m motor yacht, built in 1928 by Harbor Boat Works in Long Beach, USA. Daniel Millard Callis designed her, and she is built of Douglas fir.

In 1959 Portola appeared in Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot, with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. In the seduction scenes, Curtis’s character poses as her wealthy owner.

Her American owner wanted her restored, and the work went to Del Carlo. In October 2021 the work was just beginning, with the hull about to be stripped of paint. “Ma siamo fiduciosi in un bel lavoro perchè la barca lo merita veramente,” Guido told La Nazione. But we are confident of good work, because the boat truly deserves it. By October 2023 the restoration was nearly finished.

A presidential motor yacht

Paolucci is a 30 m wooden motor yacht, built in 1970 by Picchiotti, another Viareggio yard. The Italian Navy commissioned her as a military vessel and high-speed ambulance. She later served as a representation yacht for the President of the Italian Republic. In October 2023 she was one of seven other boats the yard had in progress.

In 2021 the yard was also restoring Star Fire, a 22 m English sailing yacht. Some of the vintage boats the yard restores go on to sail at classic-boat gatherings around the Mediterranean.

Why a small yard matters

Viareggio’s boatbuilding district has a problem that money alone does not fix. In 2024 Il Sole 24 Ore reported a shortage of workers, with no system in place to train basic trades such as carpenters. Family yards like this one, where the craft has passed from grandfather to grandson, help keep those skills alive.

Visiting Cantiere Del Carlo

Cantiere Del Carlo is a working boatyard, and it publishes no information on visits or tours. If you have a specific reason to visit, such as a classic boat that needs work, contact the yard directly through cantieredelcarlo.it, the website listed for it by Homo Faber.

You can still get a feel for Viareggio’s shipbuilding story in town. The digital museum in the Torre Matilde, opened in November 2024, covers the city’s history, including shipbuilding. Opening times change, so check the Comune di Viareggio website before you go.

Classic-boat lovers should also know about the Raduno Vele Storiche Viareggio (Viareggio Historic Sails Rally), a gathering of classic sailing boats. It held its 18th edition in October 2023. Check the organizers’ announcements for the current dates.

For the rest of the town, from the Liberty seafront to the Carnival, see our Viareggio profile. For the wider region, start with Versilia and the Apuan Alps.

Information is provided in good faith and may change. Always confirm opening hours, prices, and event dates with the official source before you travel.