The Sorrento gozzo: history of a traditional boat

The gozzo is the emblematic boat of the Sorrento peninsula: small and sturdy, driven by oars and a lateen sail, pointed at both bow and stern and designed for inshore fishing. Sorrento has a very old seafaring and boatbuilding tradition, which sources trace back to the 10th century, and a few yards still build and restore wooden boats using the methods of the past.

A history spanning centuries

According to historical sources, gozzi were built on the peninsula especially in the 17th century, thanks to the thriving fishing industry in the Bay of Naples: even then Marina Grande had a boatyard of about 200 square metres devoted to these boats. The name is said to come from the hull's broad, “swollen” midship section. A legend tells how the boat came to the peninsula: local fishermen found an abandoned Saracen boat in a cove, salvaged it and adapted it to their needs.

The gozzo is found all over the Mediterranean, its shape varying with the waters it sails and the work it does: from coastal trading to fishing with nets of various sizes, down to the smallest boats without nets. The Sorrento gozzo is measured in Neapolitan palms (one palm is about 26.4 centimetres). In the past it often had an odd number of oars: to counter the mistral, the north-westerly wind that blows across the bay, builders fitted a different number of oars on each side.

How a gozzo is born

Boatbuilding techniques have their roots in Greek times, and craftsmen still work by practical methods, without drawings on paper. In the yards of the peninsula you can see whole walls covered with templates and garbi, the patterns used to shape each piece of the hull.

It is said that a gozzo's life begins half a century before it is built: the timber (elm, oak, maritime pine) came from tall trees at least fifty years old, whereas today most of the wood on the market is imported tropical timber. In Sorrento the wood was seasoned in monazzeni, caves dug into the tufa, well ventilated and kept at a constant temperature, where it dried slowly for anything from three or four months to a year.

A devout boat

The gozzo is bound up with the religious feeling of seafaring folk. A crucifix is fixed to the tip of the bow and stays there for the boat's whole life, and boats usually bear the name of a saint, whose image they carry on board. The saint of Sorrento's gozzi is Saint Antoninus, patron of the town and protector of sailors and farmers, venerated in the basilica dedicated to him.

Modern techniques have changed the traditional gozzo too: fibreglass made mass production possible, and the engine altered its shape, looks and use.

The Pianosa, a gozzo on a larger scale

One example of this tradition is the motor vessel Pianosa, built in 1947 at the Aprea boatyards in Sorrento, near the Santa Lucia district, where wooden boats are still repaired. Its structure resembles that of the Sorrento gozzo, but with a wider beam. It was built for the Ministry of Justice and until 1992 carried goods and passengers, mainly prisoners, between the islands of Pianosa and Elba: it was so solid and safe that it could sail even in heavy seas. Once decommissioned, it was entrusted to master boatbuilder Cataldo Aprea and in 2003 it was restored at the Aprea Mare yard, with craftsmanship faithful to tradition. Several kinds of wood went into it: mulberry, pine, oak, elm and cedar of Lebanon.

To discover Sorrento's other great woodworking craft, read our guide to Sorrento marquetry; for the town's seafaring past, see the history of Sorrento.