Heritage

Hello, and welcome to the Heritage of Lazzara Yachts.

Vince Lazzara was a chemical engineer from Chicago and while his background wasn’t in boatbuilding, he had a deep passion for the sea.

He had a saying, “God only gives you so many days, but the ones you spend at sea don’t count against you”.

So it’s no surprise that in 1955 he decided to build a boat for himself.  It was a 40 foot sailboat called the Bounty II.

That sailboat was built in conjunction with AeroMarine and was manufactured with fiberglass applications that Vince had pioneered. At the time it was the largest fiberglass boat ever built.

In 1960 Vince started his own company and called it Columbia Yachts.  He worked hard perfecting his designs and processes which led Columbia to become the world’s largest manufacturer of fiberglass sailboats.

Vince was always on the lookout for new opportunities and in 1967 he sold Columbia.

At the dawn of the seventies Vince moved to Florida and started a new company named Gulfstar Yachts.

Gulfstar built both power and sailing yachts.  These vessels became popular based on their designs and quality.

In 1974 Vince’s two sons Brad and Dick, joined the flourishing builder truly making it a family endeavor.

For nearly 20 years Gulfstar dominated the sailing industry.  Eventually becoming the largest producer of charter sailboats in the world.

In 1989 Dick envisioned an innovative new yacht that he and Brad believed would change the industry and require a new company to build.

The brothers sold their interest in Gulfstar and devoted all their energy into realizing this dream. The following year 1990 Lazzara Yachts was founded.

Beginning in 1990 extensive market research was conducted about the needs and  desires of yacht buyers, as well as, the voids that existed in the yachting industry.  The results of these studies were incorporated into every facet of Lazzara Yachts from Product Development to Customer Support.

By 1992 the company’s first yacht, the Lazzara 76 was launched to overwhelming response. It was a winning combination of a production and custom yacht, allowing the owner to personalize his yacht to reflect his own tastes.

What followed was a litany of production and model advances.  The yachts sizes and features increased as manufacturing was made more lean and vertically integrated.

Lazzara created their trademarked Skylounge Cabriolet. An option that enclosed the fly bridge level of a yacht, transforming it into an additional living area.  This was very popular on the Lazzara 80 because it brought a mega yacht feel into the motor yacht class.

Lazzara continued to build highly personalized yachts through it’s 106, 110, and 116 product lines.  In fact, to this day, no two 100 footers built by Lazzara have been exactly the same.

2005 marked the family’s 50th Anniversary in the boat building industry.

By then, Lazzara’s third generation with Dick’s three sons Joe, Rich and Tony, as well as Brad’s son Steve had all come on board.

Rooted in an innovative spirit and driven by solid engineering, Lazzara Yachts stunned the industry yet again in 2006 with the launch of its revolutionary LSX product line.  The LSX 75 saw Lazzara enter the sport yacht category with luxury, performance and style that is second to none.  It garnered awards, praise and orders from around the globe.

Vince would have been proud.  He started a remarkable legacy that endures to this day and for generations to come.