Eilean showcases the fine craftsmanship involved in yacht restoration

It took nearly three years for Italian master artisans to painstakingly restore this Scottish-built
1936 yacht using original materials and techniques whenever possible.

Eilean yacht sailing ©Officine Panerai

• The cockpit was rebuilt according to the 1930s plans and fitted with its original features including the wooden steering wheel
• Eilean’s two masts were remade using six cubic metres of spruce wood from a single tree in Alaska
• Sixty percent of the boat’s original 4cm-thick Burmese teak planking was salvaged
• Around 5,000 screw heads were made from the original decking
• Eilean’s new sailing instruments – including a wall clock, barometer and marine chronometer – were made exclusively for her by luxury Italian watchmaker Panerai, which commissioned the restoration project

Visitors to Homo Faber Event 2022 in Venice will have the chance to board the yacht Eilean, spectacularly restored by Panerai, the high-end watchmaking maison and former supplier of professional diving instruments and timepieces to the Italian navy.

A 22-metre Bermudian ketch designed and built in 1936 by a legendary Scottish boatyard, Eilean was in a state of disrepair when she was found in Antigua in 2006 and bought by Panerai. Transported to Italy on a cargo ship, Eilean was soon in the hands of master artisans at the Francesco Del Carlo boatyard in Viareggio. Over the next three years, they brought Eilean back to life while preserving her shape, defining characteristics and the majority of her original materials.

With her elegance and perfect proportions, Eilean is not just an extraordinary example of craftsmanship and authenticity but also an expression of the deep-seated human and seafaring values that are an inextricable part of Panerai’s brand identity.

Panerai’s restoration of Eilean demonstrates the respect the luxury sector has for traditional artisanal skills and its dedication to championing master craftsmanship and preserving it for the future.

Eilean will be moored right next to Homo Faber Event in the waters off San Giorgio Maggiore island, with visitors able to board her to get a closer look at the skill and artistry that brought her back to life. As a magnificent symbol of traditional boat building and fine craftsmanship, Eilean is a perfect fit for Venice, an age-old city built on the sea and seeped in creativity.

Eilean yacht – Tomas Bertelsen ©Michelangelo Foundation

Eilean is one of 15 exhibitions that comprise Homo Faber Event 2022, organised by the Michelangelo Foundation.

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Homo Faber Event

Crafting a more human future

Fondazione Giorgio Cini, San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice

Organised by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, the Homo Faber Event is an international exhibition that champions artisanal talent, showcasing an impressive variety of materials, techniques and skills through live demonstrations, immersive digital experiences and imaginative displays of handcrafted creations. From functional everyday objects to outstanding decorative pieces, this edition highlights craft’s role in creating a more sustainable and inclusive future. The event offers a rare chance to admire the prestigious work of a selection of Japan’s National Living Treasures and to experience craft and its connections to the arts and to the design world. Visitors can join guided tours of the 15 exhibition spaces led by passionate students participating in the Young Ambassadors Programme. Imagined by a team of world-renowned curators and designers, the scenographic event transforms the magnificent spaces of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, located on San Giorgio Maggiore island in the heart of the Venetian lagoon. On top of the event, the Homo Faber in Città project gives visitors a chance to experience craftsmanship across Venice through tailor-made itineraries. homofaber.com

The Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship is a non-profit institution based in Geneva, Switzerland, which champions contemporary craftspeople worldwide with the aim of promoting a more human, inclusive and sustainable future. The Foundation seeks to highlight the connections between craft, the wider arts and the design world. Its mission is to both celebrate and preserve craftsmanship and its diversity of makers, materials and techniques, by increasing craft’s everyday recognition and its viability as a professional path for the next generations. From engaging educational programmes such as the Summer Schools, to its signature digital project the Homo Faber Guide and the international exhibition Homo Faber Event, the Foundation is fostering a cultural movement centred on master artisans and rising stars. michelangelofoundation.org

Panerai

Panerai’s watches are a natural blend of Italian design, expert Swiss technology and passion for the sea. Founded in Florence in 1860 as a workshop, shop and school of watchmaking, for many decades Panerai supplied the Italian navy in general, and its specialist diving corps in particular, with precision instruments. The designs developed by Panerai in that time, including the Luminor and Radiomir, were covered by the Military Secrets Act for many years and were launched on the international market only after the brand was acquired by the Richemont Group in 1997. Today, Panerai designs its watches in Italy and crafts its movements and watches at its Neuchâtel factory in Switzerland. Technical excellence and exclusive design are the core principals of Panerai watches due to the seamless melding of Italian design flair and history with Swiss horological expertise. Panerai watches are sold across the world through an exclusive network of distributors and Panerai boutiques. panerai.com

Eilean

Eilean was built in 1936 by the legendary Scottish boatyard, Fife of Fairlie, according to a design by William Fife III. In her long history, this beautiful boat has known a succession of different owners who have taken her across the Atlantic no less than 36 times. During the 1970s and 80s she was a charter yacht in the Caribbean, moored at English Bay, Antigua, and such was her popularity that she was chosen by the band Duran Duran to feature in the video to their hit song Rio in 1982. Eilean’s glory days came to an end after she was damaged by a stricken ferry near Malaga, Spain. Her then owner took her back to Antigua to begin repair work, but progress was slow and in the following years she suffered further damage. She was found and bought in 2006 by Angelo Bonati, CEO of Panerai, and her restoration was completed in 2009.

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