Which accessory, which engine, which boat? For the wise boater, the purchasing process is based on gathering a good amount of objective information, looking beyond traditional catalogs. And certainly, to obtain more data about the quality of various marine products, nothing is more important than testing them, either personally or indirectly, carried out by professionals capable of thoroughly evaluating a vessel, an engine, and various technical innovations. To spread this fundamental testing culture, for the benefit of serious manufacturers and end users, a valuable partnership has been born among the docks of our Genoa marina: The International Yachting Media has indeed launched its permanent test center here, at Marina Porto Antico in Genoa. Leading players in the marine industry have immediately joined the project, from Mercury Marine Italia to Scanner Marine, to Salva Marine and Quick Group.

Genoa Tourist Port: the Ideal Location for a Test Center

The choice of the Genoa city center marina, in the heart of Porto Antico, is certainly not random: The International Yachting Media – that is, the world’s most-read digital marine publisher, with 6 magazines published and 17 international editions – has selected our Ligurian port based on well-defined criteria.

As TIYM founder Luca D’Ambrosio himself emphasized during the press conference presenting the new test center, on the occasion of the Genoa Boat Show 2025, “We are in Genoa, in a country that is the world’s leading marine industry producer and exports 90%. Here we have the best of Italian and international companies, ready to be tested in front of the public and told to the world.”

Certainly a test center has all the advantages of being positioned in a city like Genoa, deeply maritime, rich in shipyards, services and marine infrastructure. As emphasized by Andrea Barbagelata, president of Marina Porto Antico, what distinguishes the Marina Porto Antico tourist port from other ports “is being completely open and permeable with the city. Here the public can walk on the docks and see the tests live: it’s not a sterile laboratory report, it’s innovation above and below water, before everyone’s eyes”

The Inauguration of the New TIYM Test Center at Genoa Port

The presentation of the new The International Yachting Media test center took place as anticipated on the occasion of the Genoa Boat Show, on September 18; on stage, together with Luca D’Ambrosio and Andrea Barbagelata, were present Alessandro Conti, General Manager of Mercury Marine Italia, Fabio Montemitro, Sales Director of Scanner Marine, Carlo Selva of Selva Marine, Michele Marzucco, President of Quick Group, and Stefano Lenarduzzi, CEO of Quick Group.

The concrete inauguration of the test center was held a few days later, Saturday September 27: from that day our Genoese marina, in addition to offering boaters safe and comfortable moorings in the heart of the city, presents itself to the marine world as a permanent hub for innovation.

The Characteristics of the New Test Center

The new marine test center in Genoa has been presented as an analog initiative in a digital world: the rigorous and professional tests that will be carried out here on new vessels, propulsion systems and navigation accessories, following clear and transparent protocols, will be documented in every step with videos, photographs and reports. All this will then be published by The International Yachting Media, through its specialized publications in the marine sector.

Taking advantage of the characteristics of the Genoa tourist port, the test center will be open year-round, thus giving companies the opportunity to showcase their new products and spread greater awareness; and it will allow testing on any type of vessel, from the smallest recreational hulls to the largest yachts, knowing that our marina accommodates boats up to 75 meters in length.

This is therefore not a temporary or occasional project, but rather a permanent structure, which will allow for long-term testing as well, tests whose duration can extend for many months. It will thus become possible to verify different innovations under real-use conditions, to show the authentic qualities of individual products.

To accommodate the test center, our Genoa tourist port has made room for small modifications, without compromising in any way the experience of those who choose our berths: the presence of appropriate signs allows visitors to observe the testing activities, as well as possibly examine the boats and accessories being tested.