Giovanni Alessi Anghini – A Life Shaped by Design and the Ocean

As the first of the fourth generation to step into the family’s Alessi business, Giovanni Alessi Anghini carries both the weight and inspiration of a long design legacy, yet he has always pursued his own projects alongside it. Here, among the wind and waves, he reflects on his family’s deep ties to the water, the fragile beauty of the oceans, and the quiet ways the sea keeps calling him forward.

You have such an easy closeness with the water. Was there a moment when it first called to you?

I grew up in an area close to Lake Maggiore, which is on the south side of the Alps. So the lake has always been part of me for as long as I can remember. My grandfather and his brother used to go on this small lake and spend the whole night fishing there with his friends. Whilst the older generation used to fish there a lot, this is not the case anymore. It’s funny because this love of water was passed down to me from my grandfather. It was also my granduncle who passed it to my cousin Andrea, who used to be the world champion of waterskiing jump back in the 90s.

My relationship with the sea is a bit different because my father was and still is in love with mountains. So during the summer when I was a kid we used to go to the mountains. But then at a certain point, when I was ten years old, we decided to go to Puglia in the South of Italy. That is my first memory of the sea and salty water.

Part of your love with the water has to do with your love for kitesurfing. How did you discover the sport?

Kitesurfing really started for me in 2001, when I was travelling in Jericoacoara, Brazil. I was traveling alone with my guitar, when I saw a few guys trying it out. This was during the first few years of the sport when I tried it there. The first time was scary. The feeling of being pulled up in the air by the kite was very hard to control. But after that initial fear, it was amazing. The power of the wind, with the power of waves, combined with the fact that you are surfing… It’s like getting that rush of adrenaline in your brain and soul. Since then, all my trips are focused on searching for the wind and for the right wind conditions and weather conditions.

What do you enjoy most about the sea?

Being in the middle of nature – that is what makes me happy. It makes me feel good with myself, knowing how I am spending my time on this earth. It’s peaceful, because the feeling you have when you are in the middle of nature brings you back to your own nature. So instead of being in a city working a nine to five job, dealing emails, customers and your boss, dealing with all these things, it is kind of unnatural part of human evolution that has only been around in the last 100 years. So the feeling I have when I am travelling in the middle of nowhere, I am in peace with myself.

What are some of the standout places that really captured your soul?

There are so many, but if I had to choose the place I loved most, it would be Australia, which includes Tasmania and Fiji. Tasmania is mostly rural, except for one big city which is Hobart. I went there a few years back with my backpack and walked for four full days and sleeping in a tent under the sky in Maria Island. When I was there, walking all day, sleeping and looking at the sky, the quantity of the stars which you can see is amazing. After many years living in Hong Kong, this is surprising because most of the time you cannot even see the moon due to light pollution.

What was your experience traveling through Fiji like?

I was on a catamaran venturing from one island to another, meeting and sleeping in the small bays next to the islands. Each of the islands usually have rural villages where people live. As part of local rituals, you have to ask permission to the village elder in order to stay, sleep and fish in the area. To do that, you bring kava. Kava not a vegetable, but a plant whose root you mix, mash and drink. It’s not a drug, but has special properties so you cannot feel your mouth after. Every time you go to a new place, you have to do this ritual in order to be accepted by the local community. Traveling like this, you get that feeling of returning back to your roots. When you get back to the basics of life, it gives you a different perspective.

It was in Fiji that Nowboat first began to take shape. Can you share how this idea came about?

When traveling there for a few days, I was thinking that the kind of experience I was having was one of the most beautiful things in life – traveling, not knowing where you are going to sleep tonight, searching for spots to kitesurf, snorkeling and seeing the world below the ocean surface. During this time, I started thinking why these experiences are so exclusive and how can we help my generation, which is working so hard and earning only a little bit of money, to enrich their lives instead of buying technology and Louis Vuitton bags. I started thinking of the yacht industry and I saw there was a big gap. Companies and professional charter agencies didn’t have the right tools to promote themselves, and a lot of customers didn’t know how to find them. Also, the industry is not digitally sophisticated. It’s not liketo promote themselves, and a lot of customers didn’t know how to find them. Also, the industry is not digitally sophisticated. It’s not like Airbnb, Booking.com or Uber. In the world of sea adventure, there was nothing around, so we built the platform.

Nowboat contributes 3.5% of its profits to organisations that protect the oceans. Why is this cause so close to your heart?

The ocean is the first link and origin of humankind. As organisms, we come from the ocean. This is where life starts. But in the last 50 years, all the oceans of are now struggling due to dumping of plastics, chemicals and overfishing. The entire balance of the ocean is changing. Industrial production is also increasing the temperature of the water. The problem is that if the ocean changes the temperature, reefs die, the organisms around it die, bigger fishes that depend on smaller sea creatures for food also, so there is a big issue related to ocean.

Barack Obama recently established the Atlantic Ocean’s first marine monument to preserve large stretches of land and water. Richard Branson is also working to protect oceans and so is Leonardo Dicaprio. We as a business in a small scale also hope to actively give back to the ocean. In an ideal world, the more you travel with Nowboat.com, the more you protect the ocean. I love the ocean and the sea, so it was automatic. I cannot build a business that is only driven by profit without caring about natural resources.

A big part of ocean conservation is protecting the marine life that inhabits the seas. Have you had any memorable encounters?

Yes, so many. I’ve seen dolphins many times whilst sailing. Through snorkeling, you can also study what is happening below the water surface. And one time, when we were sailing at Whitsunday in the North of Australia, there were a group of whales maybe some 50 meters from us. It was the first time I saw a whale out in the wild, and my heart heart start beating so fast. In the end, I’m really a water person and a wind person. So those two elements are what makes my soul happy.

And, if you could leave one piece of advice for those hoping to follow their passions, what would it be?

Dreaming! Dreaming is important!