Is it possible to fall so much in love with a boat that you want to become its ambassador? If the boat is a Tuccoli and if the lover is Marcello Gherbin, the answer is: yes.
In a normal boatyard-customer relationship the pattern is defined. On the one hand there are the builders and sellers and on the other hand there are buyers and users. In the case of Tuccoli and Gherbin the scenario is quite different. On one side there is the shipyard that has been building boats for pleasure and sport fishing for over 70 years. On the other there are a man who, after buying the boat, decides to promote it and make it known to as many fishing enthusiasts and yachtsmen as possible.
Marcello is primarily a sports fisherman. “Mainly in inland waters and more for pleasure than for competition, so much so that I don’t take part in competitions at sea, but it is an activity I practise as often as possible,” he says of himself. “I was looking for a boat to sail, but mainly to fish in the Adriatic. Of course, I also take the family out to sea, but this is something that happens 10 times a year, whereas I go fishing three times a week. So I needed above all a fisherman in the purest sense of the word. Usually when you want a boat like that you think of American manufacturers. We like the solidity of construction, the reputation they carry and certain technical solutions. “With one limiting characteristic, however: boats born in the United States are designed for use in ocean waters, they do not come to the world for the Mediterranean, a sea with lower wave characteristics, but dry and steep, markedly different from the taller, longer and softer ones found in the ocean,” illustrates the Italian fisherman.
In Tuccoli, however, he has found the perfect union between the two requirements: American construction standards in terms of weight, construction structure, deck layout, but with the live-aboard designed for Mediterranean waters. The model born in Collesalvetti that bewitched him was the T250 VM of which he immediately became owner and which he found mooring in the Le Saline dock in Chioggia, one of the most active and well-equipped in the northern Adriatic.
“A Tuccoli comes with a lot of design and construction content. It’s normal that this affects the selling price. It is difficult for an angler to choose something ‘expensive’ if he has not directly proven that that cost is not a premium due to the brand, but the right price for a boat that objectively and subjectively is worth more. To make a sailor understand that that boat is the perfect boat for him, I have to make him try it out,’ says Marcello.
So adding his passion for his Tuccoli T250 VM and the rare presence of Tuscan fishermen in the Adriatic, especially the new models, Mr. Gherbin decided to become an exclusive representative of the Livorno-based yard.
“I am not a dealer, I don’t sell boats from other yards, I only deal with Tuccoli models. I am interested in the fact that anyone looking for a fisherman on this side of the boot can have the chance to test a great boat like the ones they build in Collesalvetti. For this reason, in addition to making the boat available for trials and providing the yard with indications on what might be most interesting for an Adriatic fisherman, I intend to organize events and moments in which yachtsmen can touch the qualities of these craft,” explains Marcello .
Thus, from a personal love comes an opportunity for all those who want to get to know the Tuccoli up close or even just be curious as to why such a fisherman is worth so much. If you would like to get in touch with Marcello Gherbin, send him an email to: marcello@barchetuccoli.it, visit his Facebook page or call him on +39 349 789 00 81.
