From the Fincantieri shipyard to the 1992 crossing, the history of the Nastro record
Blue still undefeated
In 1992, an Italian ship crossed the Atlantic in less than three days, Destriero. His name was Steed and
covered the route between New York and England entering the history of navigation. Italian
Traditions offers a journey into a little-remembered enterprise, but still capable of
tell the story of the level reached by national shipbuilding and ship design in a
of the most fascinating challenges of the maritime twentieth century.
The Destriero was born in the early 1990s with a specific goal: to bring attention back
on the Blue Ribbon, the recognition linked to the fastest Atlantic crossing. Not yes
It was a common ship, nor a vessel designed for passenger transport. Era
a means built to face the ocean at the limit of performance, designed around
lightness, power and endurance. Fincantieri built it in the Muggiano and Riva Trigoso shipyards
between 1990 and 1991, in about 270 days; at the time it was considered the largest alloy hull
light never built.
67.7 meters long, about 13 meters wide and powered by 60,000 horses, the Steed combined solutions
typical of advanced naval engineering with an almost sporty approach. The propulsion to
hydrojets allowed it to maintain exceptional gaits, while the hull was designed to
withstand the stresses of a complex route like the Atlantic one.
She departed on August 6, 1992, from Ambrose Light, off New York. The arrival was
recorded on August 9 at Bishop Rock Lighthouse, Isles of Scilly, England. In between, 3,106
nautical miles traveled without refueling in 58 hours, 34 minutes and 50 seconds, at an average of
53.09 knots, equal to over 98 kilometers per hour. The Steed improved by about 21 hours on the previous one
record held by the British catamaran Hoverspeed Great Britain.
There was a small crew on board, led by men accustomed to competition and
high performance navigation. The venture was supported by the Aga Khan and linked to the Yacht
Club Costa Smeralda, whose pennant accompanied the crossing. There was no behind the record
only the pursuit of speed, but also the desire to demonstrate what it could produce
the Italian shipbuilding industry when technology, design and ambition were progressing in the
same direction.
The result was extraordinary because it did not belong to the symbolic world of the great
ocean liners of the past, but at a new stage in maritime history. The Blue Ribbon was
born in the era when shipping companies challenged each other over the speed of connections
between Europe and America. With the advent of the airplane, that competition had lost centrality,
but its technical and narrative value remained intact: measuring oneself against the Atlantic meant
still dealing with the sea, with the limit of materials and with the ability to control a
extreme machine.
The Steed’s record has remained unbeaten ever since. More than thirty years later, that crossing
retains a particular charm precisely because it seems to belong to another era: a
time when a challenge on the ocean could still become a national story, test
industrial and sporting gesture. The Steed was not only a record-breaking ship, but a synthesis of
skills: construction sites, engineers, technicians, crew, entrepreneurial vision.
Today his name often comes back as a curiosity, almost as a forgotten story. Yet,
behind those numbers — 67 meters of aluminum, 60,000 horsepower, 3,106 miles less than
sixty hours — remains one of the most astonishing feats of contemporary seafaring. A
record born in the Ligurian shipyards and achieved in the Atlantic, where the Destriero continues
ideally running faster than everyone.