Italian shipyard Azimut-Benetti has paid tribute to superyacht designer Stefano Righini.
A statement issued on behalf of Azimut-Benetti founder Paolo Vitelli and executive vice president Giovanna Vitelli described Righini as "a genius who has inspired and favoured the successes of our Group for decades."
It continued: "Stefano was one of the most intelligent men I knew: he understood everything, whether it was a technical problem or a human problem and he reacted immediately with sharpness and generosity."
Righini, who was a stalwart of the Italian yachting industry, was known for his long collaborations with Italian yards such as Azimut-Benetti, Overmarine and Baglietto. He is estimated to have designed up to 6,000 yachts.
"Stefano has directed our vision of yachting for many decades and has interacted with our technical directions as a true component of the company," the statement from the Vitellis said.
Righini is also credited with swapping small portholes with large hull windows to allow natural light inside the yacht’s interior – a feature now widespread in yacht design.
The largest design penned by Righini was the 49.9 metre Mangusta 165, examples of which include Samhan and Zeus 1, while his latest project was the Azimut Grande 35 Metri.
The statement added that Righini, whose death was announced on October 3, passed away after "a long-suffering."