Thirty years riding the crest of the wave as italy’s elite yacht broker

1986-2017. Three decades on the nautical market as a quality yacht broker specialising in three different areas: yacht sales, charters and nautical tours with a focus on the most spectacular and unexplored corners of the globe. The Equinoxe Yachts story embraces all the planet’s seas, huge sailing experience and expert knowledge of the destinations and craft handpicked by its two founders, Corrado Di Majo and Alessandro Ussi, inseparable pioneers in the luxury boating holiday sector in Italy. A combination that saw the company celebrate, its milestone 30-year anniversary in 2016.

The sea, a passion for sailing and a professional approach to the nautical and cruising worlds are the glue that holds together a solid partnership dating all the way back to 1986. This was the year when Corrado Di Majo took a deliberate step back from his very successful offshore sailing career (at 23, he became the youngest Italian sailor ever to finish the Ostar solo transatlantic race and at 24, skippered B&B Italia in the Whitbread round the world race in which he competed twice). At the same time, Alessandro Ussi retired from an equally challenging competitive career with the Italian national athletics team that saw him twice crowned Italian triple jump champion.

“We started out as dealers for Bénéteau and Azimut in Turin, Avigliana and Sanremo, but were simultaneously focusing on bareboat charters through our offices in Milan. We almost immediately added crewed sailing and motoryachts, Turkish gulets, and expedition and dive yachts worldwide to our list in that side of the business. The initial idea, which was quite radical and successful at the time, was to bring together the complete nautical product with tourist-oriented services ranging from airline ticket booking to services ashore, logistics and insurance,” explains Corrado Di Majo. “Our greatest strength has always been our consultancy service for the nautical products we sell, design and recommend.”
Equinoxe Yachts has represented Moorings/Sunsail, which have more than 1,500 boats in 30 locations worldwide, for over 30 years. In both crewed and bareboat chartering, the factors that make the difference are the quality of the boats, the service provided, the standard of the bases and the overall organisation of each trip. Equinoxe is a guarantee of excellence in all four areas.

For its five-star charter service, Equinoxe Yachts focused on exclusively-managed yachts with experienced professional crews that know every inch of the areas in which their boats are based, be that the Mediterranean, Caribbean or Pacific and Indian Oceans. All also offer the added value of having an Italian background, something that is becoming increasingly popular with clients choosing luxury yachting holidays.

Another strategic and core part of Equinoxe’s business is sailing and motoryacht sales, an area in which Di Majo and Ussi’s personal skills have led to the company being appointed as a dealer for leading international yards of the likes of Bénéteau, Azimut and Ferretti. Equinoxe Yachts has also acted as general contractor and project manager for the builds of several sophisticated one-off megasailers for Italian and foreign clients. Over its three decades in business, Equinoxe has sold in excess of 500 yachts.

Last but not least, Equinoxe Yachts was one of the first companies (and remains one of the very few) to whisk Italians off to the Galapagos, the Poles and the most remote regions of the planet where flawless planning and organisation are everything: the Subantarctic Islands, the South Shetlands, the Antarctic Peninsula, the glaciers of Patagonia and South Georgia, the North Pole, Alaska and Greenland, not forgetting the Tropics and the world’s best diving sites. Unique and extraordinary, our expeditions deliver exhilarating adventure, comfort and safety all in one sophisticated package.