26 January 2021 13:45 Business
Parisa Hashempour
On 18 January 18, Joseph Vincent Vittoria passed away at the age of 85 following a long battle against leukemia. Despite precautions, he caught COVID-19 and passed away not long after, surrounded by loved ones at home.
Vittoria was a Knight of Malta, a Freeman of the City of London and esteemed owner of the Mirabella shipyard. He grew up in Sea Cliff in the US, “where he developed a passion for sailing and was always available to the local yacht club s members to crew their boats,” said his son Joseph Vittoria in his obituary.
He went on to explain: “During their [the family’s] time in England, Joe renewed his relationship with sailing by buying a series of Camper Nicholson sailing yachts. The family enjoyed memorable sailing trips together in the Italian Mediterranean.” After years working in automation and air travel, Vittoria turned his eyes to the seas, ultimately developing the Mirabella l
M5 in 2012) wanted to change the transom shape and extend the aft deck to carry a Carbon Cub seaplane. The works to achieve this began with Pendennis who saw to her new stern, major engineering upgrades, new Carbo-Link rigging and a refreshed interior by RWD in 2014.
Photo: Giuliano SargentiniHaving noticed some problems with the newly-altered yacht – particularly in the way the raised keel box generated a lot of noise in the owner s suite – the NCA Refit yard together with Rob Doyle Design were chosen to take on the next phase of the refit. The team cut the keel in half to move the ram housing forward, then oversaw the yacht s exterior colour change.