About Us

Marina at sunset

THE CREW

The Crew Behind Galvanic Works

Sailors who got tired of waiting for someone else to build the safety gear we actually wanted on our boat.

Piero Zucchelli

Co-founder & Product Development

Internationally Italian and former CERN staff, Piero hunted neutrinos and invented new ways to produce particle beams. Turns out the same derring-do in inventing non-existing things that wins physics prizes also comes in handy when you’re developing solutions (including novel marine products) that need to work at 3am in a gale.

After CERN, he built technology companies – one creating lab-on-chip diagnostics, another building robots for scientific laboratories (acquired by Waters Corporation). Seven board positions held, more patents and scientific papers than he can remember.

But ask him what he’d rather talk about, and it’s the 20,000+ nautical miles under his keel. Ocean crossings, lakes, coastal passages – anywhere there’s water and wind. These days you’ll find him aboard ANDREW, his Hanse 588 in Mallorca, testing prototypes in the conditions they’re meant to survive.

“I’ve spent my career making complex technology disappear. Now I’m doing it for sailors – because we deserve better than what’s out there.”

Natalie Smith

Co-founder & Sales & Marketing

Natalie brings a British practicality to everything she does – including 25+ years of marketing experience across the Mediterranean. From Mallorca to Greece to Cyprus to Portugal, she’s built brands and businesses while never straying too far from warm water.

With 10,000+ nautical miles of bluewater and coastal sailing under her belt, she knows exactly what it feels like to be on watch at night wondering if that AIS target is getting closer. She’s been the one checking the anchor alarm every hour (but never moving). She’s lived the problems we’re solving.

Her marketing instincts are sharp, but what really drives her is making sure our products make sense to real sailors – not just particle physicists. If something’s confusing or overcomplicated, she’s the first to call it out.

“We’re building the gear we wish we’d had. If it doesn’t make our own sailing better, it doesn’t ship.”

WHY WE STARTED

Why We Started Galvanic Works

Simple: we got frustrated.

Commercial ships have sophisticated Bridge Alert Management systems mandated by international law. Pleasure boats? We’re left cobbling together separate gadgets that don’t talk to each other, configuring endless settings, and hoping that everybody at sea does the right thing at the right time… including ourselves.

We’re sailors building for sailors. Every feature our company develops gets tested on our own boat first. Every decision starts with: “Would this actually help us at sea?”

That’s it. No venture capital pressure to find a “better” business model to extract more value from the market. We finance our business by ourselves (thanks ANDREW – the robot!). And we’re not milking the cow of boat owners – because we also moo.

Want to know more?

Discover how we’re applying commercial maritime standards to recreational sailing.