Sorgiovanni’s serendipity

IT may have been an accidental path, but international awardwinning yacht designer Sam Sorgiovanni wouldn't want it any other way.

The Perth-born designer, who has designed more than 20 vessels during the past 10 years, including Greg Norman's 69- metre Aussie Rules, said his first love was cars.

"I guess my heart was always in the automotive-cometransport- type thing, where you're dealing with a product that you could pretty much visualise and style inside and out," Mr Giovanni said.

"But boats were a bit of an accident, something I wasn't planning on doing; but now that I'm in the field I couldn't imagine doing anything else." Mr Sorgiovanni has more than 20 years' experience in the boat building industry, with half of that time spent at Oceanfast Ltd under the guidance of worldrenowned yacht designer, Jon Bannerberg.

The other half has been spent establishing his business, Sam Sorgiovanni Designs, which employs six full-time staff and is based in Fremantle.

Currently, the team is working on projects spread across the globe - in Holland, Dubai and Australia.

And last month, Dutch boatyard Oceanco launched the 75m Anastasia, the interior and exterior of which was designed by Sam Sorgiovanni Designs.

"As a designer it's our role really to complement the owner, because ultimately its their expression of their own personality...and yachts are one of the few remaining art forms that owners can really customise," Mr Sorgiovanni said.