Fitment · Sanlorenzo
Sanlorenzo at Ameglia: The Yard on the Magra, and the Tenders That Suit Its Yachts
Ameglia is where Sanlorenzo's composite yachts are built. Understanding the yard explains a good deal about how those yachts carry their tenders.
31 July 2026 · 4 min read
Introduction
Sanlorenzo builds at several sites in Italy, and Ameglia — on the Magra river in the province of La Spezia, just inland from the Ligurian coast — is where much of its composite production happens. The SL, SD and SX lines are associated with this yard.
The location is not incidental. A river yard imposes real constraints on how yachts leave, and Sanlorenzo's reputation for building to a limited annual number rather than to a volume target owes something to that geography. For a tender buyer, though, the more interesting consequence is what those yachts are like once they are afloat.
01 — The yard and what it builds
The yard and what it builds
Ameglia sits a short distance up the Magra from the sea, near Lerici and La Spezia — the stretch of coast that has been the centre of Italian yacht building for the better part of a century. Sanlorenzo's composite yachts are built here; larger metal superyachts are associated with the company's other facilities.
The house characteristic that matters most for tenders is Sanlorenzo's approach to layout. The company has been notably willing to rearrange the conventional plan of a motoryacht — the asymmetric SL and the beach-oriented SX line are the well-known examples — and rearranged layouts mean rearranged tender stowage.
02 — The SX line and the tender question
The SX line and the tender question
The SX76 and SX88, at roughly twenty-four and twenty-seven metres, are built around a large open beach-level area rather than a conventional garage-forward arrangement. That is the point of the design and it changes the tender conversation.
Where the aft deck is the social heart of the yacht, the tender either has to be small enough not to dominate it or has to stow somewhere that does not compromise it. Owners of this kind of yacht are often better served by a lighter, lower-profile tender than the yacht's length alone would suggest — the constraint is the use of the space, not the size of the boat.
This is the single most common sizing error we see on beach-layout yachts. The fitment band says one thing; the way the owner actually uses the aft deck says another, and the owner is right.
03 — The SL line
The SL line
The SL86, SL96 and SL106 run from roughly twenty-seven to thirty-two metres in our reference data — planing composite motoryachts with more conventional garage arrangements, and the size to carry a proper ship-to-shore tender.
At the upper end of that range diesel becomes worth considering for the same reasons it does on any yacht of thirty metres and above: common bunkering, range, and a fuel the crew is already handling. Below that, a petrol jet tender remains the lighter and more agreeable boat for most owners' actual use.
04 — Checking fitment on a Sanlorenzo
Checking fitment on a Sanlorenzo
Because Sanlorenzo layouts vary more than most builders', the general arrangement drawing is worth less here than usual and an actual survey is worth more.
Measure the aperture rather than the volume, get the davit or crane rating at full extension, and be honest about how the aft deck is used before deciding on size. Our Sanlorenzo fitment pages run each model's published length against the current collection and show the reasoning, but on this marque in particular we would rather see the yacht.
Referenced
Vessels mentioned above
Common questions
Asked and answered
- 01
Where is the Sanlorenzo Ameglia shipyard?
Ameglia is on the Magra river in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, in northern Italy — near Lerici and a short distance inland from the coast. Much of Sanlorenzo's composite yacht production is associated with this site.
- 02
Which Sanlorenzo models are built at Ameglia?
The composite lines — the SL, SD and SX ranges — are associated with the Ameglia yard. Larger metal superyachts are built at the company's other facilities.
- 03
What tender suits a Sanlorenzo SX76 or SX88?
Beach-layout yachts often suit a lighter, lower-profile tender than their length alone would suggest, because the aft deck is the yacht's social space and a large tender compromises it. The right answer depends on how the owner actually uses that deck, which is why we prefer to survey rather than go by the fitment band.
- 04
Do you sell Sanlorenzo yachts?
No. Hawkshore Marine is an authorised dealer for Surmarine and Williams tenders. We specify the tender that goes aboard a Sanlorenzo; we are not a Sanlorenzo broker.