While Baglietto’s brand is known on American shores, its profile isn’t as high as that of other Italian builders. The yard’s management team clearly wants to change that. It has just establishing an office in Fort Lauderdale. The team has further hired Ed Sacks (left), a yachting veteran, to run the new Baglietto office.
Sacks has been named Baglietto vice president and a member of the board of directors. His primary role in the Fort Lauderdale office will be to grow Baglietto further throughout North America and Mexico. Sacks will understandably be tasked with bringing the builder and buyers together. He will also serve as the liaison between North American and Mexican clients and Baglietto while their megayachts are under construction. The sleek aluminum megayachts from 115 to 164 feet (35 to 50 meters) should appeal to a number of buyers. So, too, should the steel and aluminum Baglietto megayachts from 131 feet (40 meters).
Sacks’ career has spanned multiple industries, including manufacturing and finance. He continues to serve as managing director of The VSTH Group, a privately held merchant bank in North Carolina. It provides investment banking services and private equity investment backed by its own capital. In yachting, he’s well-known for a few things. Sacks established The Sacks Group in the 1980s, one of the first yacht-management companies in the world. It also offered charter, and continued to do so well after he sold his interest in the 1990s. (The Sacks Group was acquired by International Yacht Collection in 2010.) Sacks was also a megayacht owner. He commissioned the 155’8” (47.5-meter) Azzurra from CRN in 1988. Azzurra was designed by the late Gerhard Gilgenast. Azzurra chartered for $100,000 per week, a high rate for her time. Azzurra II followed in 1993, at 179’3” (54.65 meters). Most recently, Sacks was the head of North American operations for ISA Yachts.
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