Produced by Pershing, one of the seven brands of Ferretti Group, the GTX116 leverages LFAM technology for some of its main superstructures: air grilles and visor above the windshield are additively produced with the Heron AM system to achieve aesthetically interesting geometries with reduced weight and delivering groundbreaking innovation in the manufacturing process of this vessel.
In the luxury yachting industry, innovation in materials and manufacturing processes is critical to ensure high performance, exclusive design and reliability. Ferretti Group, a global leader in the design, construction, and sale of luxury motor yachts and leisure boats, chose to commission Caracol for the realization of the first 3D printed air grilles for the Pershing GTX116, as part of its new range of sports yachts combining elegance, comfort space and the signature Pershing thrill.
Pershing GTX116 is a 35-metre yacht, with a sporty yet elegant style, and an extreme livability to elevate the seagoing experience to a new dimension. This sporty yacht optimizes all onboard weights to achieve high performance.
The application of Caracol’s Heron AM platform demonstrates how large-format additive manufacturing can effectively be used to revolutionize yachting and luxury boat production, enabling the fabrication of complex superstructural parts with intricate geometries. In this project, Heron AM manufactured key elements, including side air intake grilles and visors, demonstrating its capability to deliver high-performance, customized solutions for the luxury yachting industry.
Yacht air grilles and other superstructures are traditionally produced through manual lamination of fiberglass on molds. This process requires multiple molds depending on the complexity of the geometry and involves intensive manual work by highly skilled labor, impacting both production time and costs.
In contrast, large-format 3D printing eliminates the need for master molds and tools entirely, streamlining the production process. With Heron AM, composite components featuring intricate geometries and highly customized designs can be produced directly from the digital model, bypassing the manual lamination phase. This significantly reduces prototyping and production times, enabling rapid iterations and design optimizations. Moreover, the process only requires finishing operations such as gel coat application, further cutting down on labor-intensive steps.
Heron AM also enables the use of lightweight yet strong materials, improving component performance while reducing material waste, making the process more sustainable than traditional methods. Its flexibility allows for small-batch or fully customized production, catering to the specific needs of each project.
The adoption of Large-Format Additive Manufacturing (LFAM) for the production of air grilles on the Pershing GTX116 yacht has led to remarkable improvements in efficiency, sustainability, and overall product quality. By leveraging Caracol’s Heron 300 system, equipped with a High Accuracy (HA) extruder and a 3 mm nozzle, the grilles were printed using ASA reinforced with 20% glass fiber (GF)—a material chosen for its durability and resistance to harsh marine environments.
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18 March 2025
