The passion of a lifetime

We are greeted by her bright smile and we immediately feel at ease. A cheerful outlook and enthusiasm shine through immediately.

Alessandra Biondi, together with her brother Carlo, runs today the family business: Biondi srl, founded by their father Guido in the 1970s in Casale sul Sile, in the province of Treviso.

A boatyard of 8000 m2 that has always made its strong points: sales, assistance and winter service of storage, refitting and refurbishing.

This is a job that they have been learning since they were children, when their father Guido used to employ them in the warehouse, among the shelves or in administration. A job, yes, but also a passion. The same passion that the founder still has today, despite his 88 years of age.

Boating, with a capital B, runs through the veins of the Biondi brothers. They have seen it change and transform from the early 80s, when pleasure boating was still hyper-exclusive, to the 90s with the great boom in the sector and the queue outside the door, until 2000 when the Biondi brothers established themselves as a reference point for assistance and winter storage in the northern Adriatic.

This year they have decided to embark on a new path together with Italian Yacht Store. As sub-dealers for the Venice-Treviso area, they sell Ferretti Yachts, Pershing, Itama and Custom Line.

“Boats are my life, my passion,” says Alessandra and the relationships that she has built and cultivated over the years proves it, “With our historical clients we have created almost a friendship. It’s not uncommon for them to stop by just to say hello, to get away for a while and dream about the next boat.”

What is the fundamental aspect of the relationship with the client?

I think the human relationship is fundamental. Knowing who you have in front of you, so that together we can make the right choice for them, both in terms of means and timing.”

Your personal selling style …

I call myself an anomalous salesperson. With clients I am transparent, I give heartfelt advice and I never push for a purchase. I always wait for the customer to decide that the time is right.

We have more than 90 boats from 10 to 15-18 meters in storage.

What are the main activities at the shipyard?

Assistance and support have always been our strong points, characteristics that have allowed us to establish a relationship of trust with our clients and to maintain it over the years. The customer is accompanied at every stage, from the sale to the sea trial.

We offer our customers a complete service that starts with taking the boat from the port at the end of the season and ends with taking it back out to sea the following spring.

We provide support for every aspect: mechanics, carpentry, painting, electrical systems. In the summer, the work is geared more towards solving minor problems and is not limited to Italy – we often travel to Slovenia and Croatia.

We believe that the nautical sector is really undergoing a revolution and a revival. During the past few years, which have unfortunately seen a slowdown in the sector, the choice of quality used boats is very limited. The new market, on the other hand, offers great possibilities and we’re happy to have embraced the Ferretti Group brands with Italian Yacht Store.

What kind of boating vacation would you recommend?

Definitely Croatia: wonderful sea, uncontaminated places, but also excellent services.