Storm destroys yachts on Italy’s Ligurian coast

Following gale force winds, torrential rain and heavy seas that hit Italy’s Ligurian coast earlier this week, dozens of yachts have been damaged or destroyed. 

One of the yachts to fall victim to the extreme weather is Suegno, the 37.8-metre Custom Line launched in 2010. Suegno’s home port is the Porto Carlo Riva marina in Rapallo near Genoa. In scenes more reminiscent of hurricane season in the Caribbean, huge waves destroyed a part of the marina’s breakwater, which had been reinforced in 2000 after a similar storm. The yacht reportedly broke free of her moorings and finished up partially sunk outside the port. The classic sailing yacht Sakara, completed in 1913, ran aground near the Suegno but appears to be mostly still intact.

Other casualties of the storm which the team at SYT has identified include the classic 1961 Feadship Eutopia, which is almost fully submerged, the 30m Benetti motor yacht Darling Boys, the classic 1975 Ocean 75 and the Codecasa 35s Maria Carla, which has sunk by the stern.

Of around 390 yachts of all sizes moored in the marina, local sources say over half have been damaged or destroyed. A number of boat owners and crew had to be rescued by the emergency services. The damage wrought by the storm to Rapallo, and to neighbouring Santa Margherita and Portofino, is incalculable but will run into millions of euros. 

Liguria Nautica and La Repubblica published these YouTube videos of the stricken yacht and the moment when the breakwater collapsed.