Itama fortyfive : finally all problems fixed

Dear all, as owner of an Itama fortyfive made in 2013 I faced tons of problems that finally, after 2 years of fighting, I solved.
Here a list that I hope can help Itama owners or who would like to buy an Itama.
1) gangway : the retractable gangway never worked properly, but the solution, knowing it, is quite easy : buy from Opac a 5 meters extension for the gangway sensor and place it as closer to the stern as you can. Basically the sensor is originally too much inside and the remote control does not catch the signal.
2) trim tabs : to fit the tender lift, the yard reduced the size of the trim tabs, the effect was to make the trim tabs useless : there is only a solution which is to replace the trim tabs with interceptors (either zipwake or humphree)
3) piping : faucets and metal piping are not in Aisi 316L but in galvanized iron, make sure you change them asap if you do not want to face breaks.
4) water leackage in the engine room : few causes
a) the sensor of the ladder out is a cable that passes under the waterline and lives in the water, I suggest removing it and closing the hole
b) the pump of the seawater used to wash the anchor chain has a plastic filter, with the pressure the plastic filter warps and let tons of water in. You should change the filter with a filter of better quality.
c) the holes of the tender lift, if not properly sealed will let water in (and usually they are not properly sealed)
d) the mechanical seals could be another problem, usually Ferretti Groups who produces Itama does not use the best product.....I suggest to change them with the american ones.
5) noise from the engine room : the engine room is usually not properly insulated, I had to insulate it properly, including exhaust pipes
5) instruments : I upgraded everything (Simrad NSS EVA 2 12 inches as plotter with structure scan, and vessel views 7 inches, adding an electronic sonde for the level of gasoline).
6) sundeck cushions : Ferretti makes them in foam, with the result that they get wet, they never dry and you will end with cushions heavy and full of mold. On top the covers of the cushions are made in very poor quality : I changed everything using a material called breathair, super light and which does not remain wet, changing as well the covers.
7) flush hatches : poor quality, they leaks (they are in plexiglass, with the heat and the cold plexiglass moves and detaches from the profile : the solution is to change hatches with hand made ones in crystal.
8) battery chargers : the generator does not have his own battery charger, I added it, the mastervolt used by Ferretti is not big enough (50w), so I added a Dolphin 100w.
9) bow thruster and stern thruster : I changed the original bow thruster with a new sidepower and I added a stern thruster
10) the bimini is made with a poor quality fabric that leaks after few months, I replaced with Sunbrella.
11) gelcoat blue get awful after a couple of years, I painted the boat with Dupont (same color as original)
Beside the fixing, I added
1) a bow and a stern winch, that helps me in docking
2) a watermaker Idromar
3) a seakeeper 5 which is the best thing I ever done, life on board is always great even at anchor in choppy sea.
So..........why buying an Itama if the boat has so many issues?
The hull is solid and fantastic (deep V 22° at stern) , you can cruise 23/24 knots in 6 feets waves without slamming
The line of the boat will be forever beautiful
It is a perfect size boat : does not need a sailor man, it is easy to handle, does not burn too much gasoline, good for a day in the sea as for few days cruising.
Last....I did not know I was going to face so many issues when I bought the boat

Unfortunately this is what you get when you buy something made by Ferretti

The 45 S is exactly the same boat as the 45, with bigger engines (550 hp instead of 480), more or less same speed (34 instead of 33 maximum), much less range (Itama says 220 for the 45 and 190 for the 45 S, but this is not real......the 45 has the same tank of the 45s, which is 1160 liters, but when you are at 1050 liters the story is over since the engines will say insufficient gasoline pressure.....the 45 burns around 4.8-5 liters per miles at 28 knots cruising speed, and no one boat goes fully straight....so if in theory you might be able to run for 210/220, in practice 200 nm is the maximum you can do with flat sea , but going 200 nm without refilling will not be very smart.....at the end you can go 150 nm to stay on the safe side. The 45s with 550 cummins burns more than 6 liters per miles at cruising speed, which means 175 nm in theory, realistically 165 before you run out of gasoline, which brings the safe line at.....125 nm....a way too less for a boat). Beside that, I checked the boat : no one of the problems has been fixed, Itama sells 1/2 boats per type every year, the molds are old and in bad shape, there is no interest for the Chinese Group who owns Ferretti to invest in Itama. The only reason why Cummins 550 where installed is because Cummins is not producing any longer the 480 5.9 QSB. But the 550 is heavier and bigger, so even less room in the already small engine room.
The only modification made at 45S is the deck, to fit the engines.
The luck of Ferretti is that 99% of people who buy a 45 use the boat only to go few miles out of the port to swim, and using the boat like that, before you realize the problems of the boat the warranty has already expired. With my boat I went from Athens to Lavagna (near Genova), from Lavagna to Saint Florent (Corsica), from Lavagna to Rome, from Rome to Ponza, from Ponza to Sardinia.........In one word, I use the boat for her main purpose : cruising
So ......if you buy a 45 S and use her for cruising you will face the same problems I faced (and I forgot to mention that in case of rough sea, if you do not install bulkheads behind the air intakes of the engines, your engine room will get full of salty water ( I made carbon fiber bulkheads to avoid the problem even if i do not know if bulkhead is the correct english word....but I guess you understood).
Conclusion : Magnum and Itama are probably the very last boats with great sea handling if we exclude the big fishing machines as Viking), unfortunately both produce very few boats and, beside the great hull, the quality is very poor. And since most of the boat owners want a boat that in 40 feets gives the space of a villa with small consumption, and do not care of sea handling at all, the age of the great and real boats is almost over :-(((

Ferretti already killed 2 legends : Bertram and Itama, and it is killing Riva as well. The only reason they are selling Riva well is because of the name, but now there is only the name, quality is about a Bavaria

And yes, after fighting 2 years to solve all the issues I can proudly say my Itama 45 is probably the only one on the market properly working : season 2017 ended basically with zero problems after over 1500 nm around the med (the only problems were : fuse of air cond gone, fuse of the stern thruster gone both fixed in 5 minutes, a zipwake replaced, which took half day, and the anchor breaker gone- Ferretti installed a 500w breaker on a 1500w winch-also fixed in few hours, but these small inconvenients are quite normal in a boat)

I have nothing against Riva....the design is fantastic, what I said is that the quality is no more the same since Ferretti was sold (they were still excellent when Norberto Ferretti was leading Ferretti).
About my boat, she was a demo with few hours on engines under Ferretti warranty. And none(or almost none) of the problems I faced could have been find by a surveyor......

Yes, my boat was at Genoa show as demo for seakeeper. Hull is painted with DuPont, in case of small scratches much easier to fix than Awalgrip.
Boat was painted at Netter yard, in Fiumicino (Rome).
Geny is a Kohler 7 kw, quiet itself, but even quieter than usual because I re made the insulation of the engine room

Sorry but I fully disagree.
I have tons of friends with Riva, also big ones, and they have tons of issues.
And why you say Rivarama is not designed for an offshore cruise? Remember : Rivarama has an omologation in A class, exactly as Rivale, Virtus, and the others......the only difference is that on a Rivarama you have less space inside, but this is a question of comfort on board.
About quality......Riva made in Sarnico till 2008 had great quality, Riva made in Sarnico now have a decent quality (on Rivamare I have some doubts, I was on the boat of a friend....quality is not that great), but bigger Riva made in La Spezia......oh Carlo Riva seeing one of those boats will turn in his grave!
And about the purpose of a boat : well not everyone is billionaire, and boats in my opinion must be made for cruising and not just for a quick swim out of the port. Add that the Itama fortyfive is in A class, which in theory means waves till 24 feet. I would like to remind you that in the 70th most of the rich people were cruising with 12 meters boats, only in our times most people think that a boat should be a huge villa on the sea. I guess the mentality changed, but a boat is still a boat, which must be able to cruise long without problems.

If I understand well you have an Itama 42......which is much bigger than a fortyfive : the fortyfive is nothing else than the forty with longer swimming platform. The size of the boat is slightly more than 12 meters (12,48 meters/40 feet 11 inch) so 11 inches more than a forty. That is why it is lighter than the 42 (full loaded is about 14.7 tons), and being the 42 bigger there is more room for the tanks.....in any case I agree with you that 1130 liters of gasoline is not enough , but there is no way to add a tank (well it is possible but max you can add is about 150 liters, will not change too much.....)
I wish Norberto was still the CEO of Ferretti, he was a real gentleman.
I had an issue in the past with a boat of the Group, the boat was out of warranty since more than 1 year, Norberto gave instructions to fix the problem for free (and it was an expensive problem!!!).
Norberto himself was checking each Riva before delivering!
I tell you a small story : I asked the man responsible for Itama quality how could have been possible to make so many "mistake " on a boat.....the answery was : if I had to check every single boat, I had to spend my full day in the yard and never at office......but is not what a responsible for quality should do? spending his day checking how the boats are built?