Pershing

A shipyard built around speed

Pershing began in 1981 on Italy's Adriatic coast as Cantiere Navale dell'Adriatico, founded by Tilli Antonelli with partners Fausto Filippetti and Giuliano Onori. The yard took its name from the Pershing missile, a signal of intent that has shaped every hull since. Its first model, the Pershing 45 of 1985, was drawn by Fulvio De Simoni and set the template of a low, planing sports yacht that put outright pace ahead of convention. That founding idea has never really changed. Where many builders soften as they grow, Pershing has kept performance at the front of the brief.

Speed here is not a headline figure alone. It comes from a way of building, with surface drives and waterjets in place of conventional shafts and hulls kept light through composite and carbon construction. A Pershing is meant to feel fast before it moves, then prove it once the throttles go forward. The brand sits at the sharper end of the Italian fleet, closer in spirit to a road-going supercar than to a displacement cruiser. That character is the reason owners choose it.

Two families, one bloodline

For most of its history Pershing has meant one thing, a planing sports yacht with a knife-edge profile and a helm that rewards a confident hand. That line is now badged the X Generation, running from the compact 5X up through the 7X and 9X and their siblings. These are the fast boats, built for open water and quick passages, with performance drawn from surface-piercing propellers or waterjets. They keep the traditional Pershing silhouette, long in the bow and low in the house. They carry the DNA that the yard has refined across four decades.

The GTX range answers a different question. Introduced with the GTX116, and joined by the GTX80 and the newer GTX90 project, the sport utility concept trades a little top speed for far more usable volume. Beam is pushed further aft, and side terraces open the main deck to the sea. A proper beach club and a tender garage take priority over pure pace. The idea is a yacht that still cruises hard yet works for a full complement of guests spending the day aboard. It broadens who a Pershing is for without abandoning the pace that defines the badge.

Inside the Ferretti Group

Pershing joined the Ferretti Group in 1998, and the partnership gave the yard the engineering depth and industrial backing to grow its boats well beyond their early size. Naval architecture now comes from the Ferretti Group Engineering Department, working alongside Fulvio De Simoni, whose hand has shaped the marque since the beginning. The group structure lets Pershing share research on hull forms, propulsion and build methods with its sister brands while keeping its own distinct identity. Larger projects such as the aluminium 140 also draw on the group's superyacht know-how. That mix of specialist design and corporate scale underpins the current range.

Ferretti itself has been majority owned since 2012 by the Weichai Group, part of China's Shandong Heavy Industry, which took control during the group's restructuring. Ownership at that level has funded a steady flow of new Pershing models rather than changing the boats' character. The yard remains rooted in Italy, and the design language stays recognisably Pershing. For a buyer, the group behind the badge matters mainly as a guarantee of continuity and long-term support. The boats themselves still read as pure Pershing.