Piero Formenti has been appointed as the new President of Confindustria Nautica. The general council of the association representing the Italian boating industry made the decision yesterday. His appointment will be ratified on May 16 during the general assembly of members, which will take place at Satec, the historic spring convention being held this year in Rapallo.
Piero Formenti will serve as President of Confindustria Nautica for the 2025–2029 term. He is the first president in the association’s history to represent small-scale boatbuilding: since 1979, he has been the owner of Zar Formenti, a company he founded specializing in the production of inflatable boats. Formenti previously served as Vice President of Confindustria Nautica for two consecutive terms, from 2015 to the present, representing small boatbuilding within the association. He also briefly held the position of acting President of Confindustria Nautica as Senior Vice President, from May 9 to June 24, 2024.
The goals of his mandate
At the heart of Piero Formenti’s program are the promotion of the entire boating upply chain, the development of entrepreneurial culture, the enhancement of Made in Italy, the strengthening of the association’s representation efforts and of the Genoa International Boat Show, as well as the general promotion of yachting and maritime culture. His vision and candidacy have received broad and widespread support across the various sectoral assemblies that make up Confindustria Nautica.
Formenti’s appointment, as required by the association’s bylaws, is the result of a consultation process coordinated by the nomination committee, carried out in strict adherence to Confindustria Nautica’s statutory and regulatory procedures. The consultation saw a very high level of participation among member companies (79%) and an even higher proportion of votes cast (94%).
About Piero Formenti
Piero Formenti founded Zar Formenti in 1979, a company dedicated to building high-quality inflatable boats. He has been a board member of Confindustria Nautica since 2008. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the European Boating Industry, the association representing the boating sector in Brussels, where he previously held the position of President for two terms (2015–2017 and 2017–2019). Since 2019, he has been a board member of I Saloni Nautici Srl and, as of September 2024, is also a member of Confindustria’s technical group “Europe.”
Born in Lombardy in 1958, Formenti has been married to Donatella since 1983 and has a son named Luca. He inherited his passion for the sea and boating from his father, who was once the head of an R&D lab at the Pirelli Group and later became production director at a company that, in the 1970s, manufactured rubberized fabrics and a small series of inflatable boats.
“My long-standing experience within the association has shaped in me a unified vision of Confindustria Nautica, and I intend to make that vision the cornerstone of my term, putting myself at the service of every part of the supply chain – said Piero Formenti following his appointment – My background in small-scale boatbuilding sends a strong signal of cohesion and maturity within the boatbuilding sector, which now faces major challenges such as innovation, the green economy, revitalizing the domestic market, simplification, and engaging the next generation—all in a context where the economic climate is particularly tough on small builders and the national market”.
