The Leudo is a typical boat of Liguria and in particular of the Tigullio area. It is a commercial means of transport for small-scale cabotage. It already spread in the late Middle Ages, since its hull was designed to be able to launch and beach the boat on the beaches: the only port of the Republic of Genoa was that of the Superb. Fishermen and sailors from the surrounding communities had to repair the boats in other ways.
The dimensions of the leudi guaranteed maximum transport capacity but also the possibility of dragging them on the beaches with arm winches. The shipwrights built them directly on the beaches.
In Sestri Levante, already in the fifteenth century the beach in front of the Church of Santa Maria di Nazareth was used for the construction and storage of boats.
The distinctive features of the Leudo are a very pronounced deck bolt (in this case 728 mm), the inclination of the mast, also used as a means of loading and unloading, and the Lateen sail armor. The Leudo holds the sea well enough to allow offshore navigation. There are those who claim that many emigrants used it to reach America, a route traveled by the leudo Felice Manin on the occasion of the Colombiadi.
Originally the propulsion was exclusively sailing. The engines were installed on board only in the 1920s. In the twentieth century, the leudo experienced its last period of diffusion. Until the 1950s, these boats were used to transport wine and cheeses from the islands, as well as sand and various materials along the Riviera.
There were Leudi vinaccieri with barrels built on board below deck, and small barrels on deck; Leudi formaggiai, heralded by the typical smell of cheese; and Leudi surari (from sura = gravel), used for the transport of sand for building activity.
There were also smaller leudi which in Sestri Levante took the name of Latini and in Riva Trigoso they were called Rivanetti. In the second half of the Nineteenth century they were used for fishing with manatees (nets used until the 1930s for fishing for anchovies and sardines) in the seas off the coast of Africa or on the Tuscan and Lazio coasts. On board they had the provisions and all the necessary to salt the anchovies, they went to the coast mainly to dry the nets or to refuel, until the end of the season, within the first ten days of July.
The last Leudi were abandoned in the 1950s. Road transport and the establishment of ferries to the islands replaced the ancient habits of trade. Furthermore, the owners, discouraged by the high maintenance costs, left them to perish on the beaches. Only a few, thanks to some lovers of seafaring traditions, have been saved and of these the Nuovo Aiuto di Dio is today the only one able to navigate in Liguria.