Ferretti Altura 424 Sailboats for Sale

In the late 1970s, as the European yachting sector experienced a massive surge of industrialization, the Italian builder Ferretti Yachts—founded by brothers Alessandro and Norberto Ferretti—embarked on a bold project to redefine the motorsailer. Up to that point, motorsailers were often viewed as compromised hybrids: clumsy under sail and sluggish under power. Commissioning the visionary naval architect Alberto Mercati, Ferretti introduced the Altura series. While the original wooden iterations established the concept, the fiberglass Ferretti Altura 424, launched in 1979, solidified the shipyard's reputation for luxury and robust ocean engineering, serving as a stepping stone toward the builder's eventual dominance in the luxury motor yacht market.