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[ CREATIVE MINDS: AZIMUT YACHTS ]
THE FUTURE IS NOW Backed by twenty years’ commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its yachts through the creation of lighter craft with more hydrodynamic and innovative propulsion, Azimut takes another important step along this green route with the launch of the new hybrid Seadeck series, the most efficient yet built, with the aim of becoming the Tesla of the sea by Samuela Urbini
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The Azimut Yachts headquaters are in Avigliana, in Turin province. The brand is part of the Azimut|Benetti Group, which has reaffirmed its status as the world’s top producer of yachts above 24 metres in length. This photo, the Livorno yard
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[ CREATIVE MINDS ]
These pictures show the new hybrid Seadeck series, with 40% of its surfaces in carbon fibre, the most efficient planing hull ever built and innovative on-board systems to reduce energy consumption. To side and opposite, from top: the original aft space called the “Fun Island”, designed by Alberto Mancini. Entirely open, it provides a more direct contact with the sea. Center, the yacht in profile and below, the interior saloon linked to the Fun Island
T
here’s no magic formula behind becoming the world’s largest
requires a 40% reduction in emissions by 2030, a target that Azimut
producer of yachts over 24 metres for more than twenty years. There
has already reached, complementing the three elements with the first
is passion and determination. The company’s strength and solidity
agreement for the use of alternative fuels signed with ENI Sustainable
has been built up gradually since 1969, the year Paolo Vitelli founded
Mobility, and HVO biodiesel derived from renewable raw materials like
Azimut, a brand that is now at the peak of the world’s yacht-building
vegetable waste or oils generated from cultivated products that do not take
industry and sets the direction to be followed for the future of the sector
land away from plants grown for food. Tests in the lab and at sea made using
– especially protecting the environment. In the words of Giovanna Vitelli,
our yachts have shown a reduction in emissions greater than 80% compared
Azimut|Benetti group president since 2023, “Because sustainability is
to Diesel-powered yachts ”. Last September Azimut also began promoting
no longer a choice, it’s a necessity. The yacht industry runs the risk of
the Carbon Emission Index for yachts below 24 metres in collaboration
promising prototype technology, solutions that could appear more than
with Sea Index and Lloyd’s Register, creating an objective, verified index
fifteen years from now, without working to make a difference right now, but
to compare consumption and emissions.
now is the time we are making the difference for the future”. Low emission
Azimut’s green progress culminates in 2024 with the launch of Seadeck,
yachts make up over half the Azimut fleet, reducing CO2 emissions by
the first hybrid series and the most efficient ever produced by Azimut. “A
up to 30%. The result is based on three elements, the result of decades of
distillation of all our knowledge”, says Vitelli. It aims to be the Tesla of
research – lighter yachts built using carbon fibre, more hydrodynamic hull
the sea, a sustainable model that’s also visually appealing. For this reason
shapes, some patented, and innovative propulsion. “We’re concentrating on
Alberto Mancini was called in to create the exterior design. Manicini is
pod propulsion systems”, says Vitelli. “They are currently the most efficient
already familiar to the brand, based in Avigliana. “He’s a great sculptor of
propulsion systems, a technology that enables us to achieve significant
surfaces and with Seadeck he’s gone beyond the typical dynamic lines we
reductions in emissions. The International Marine Association (IMO)
know him for. He also interpreted the Fun Island, the yacht’s characteristic
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[ CREATIVE MINDS ] Matteo Thun & Antonio Rodriguez were called in to design the interiors of the Seadecks, which share the ideal of a return to nature with their architectural projects, now also applied to this yacht, where natural or recycled materials dominate. Left, the saloon. Below left, the owner’s cabin and right, the VIP cabin. Bottom, the bathroom. Left, Giovanna Vitelli, president of the Azimut|Benetti Group
aft platform, in a very original way. It’s a space where guests can enjoy the yacht’s surroundings and interact with the other people on board”. The interiors reflect the wisdom of choosing collaborations with people outside the sector, in this case with the illustrious architects Matteo Thun and Antonio Rodriguez, pioneers of sustainable architecture and eco-resorts who “have brought on board the concept of well-being in an almost Zen way, with an aesthetic that simplifies and streamlines to give great harmony and balance to the whole. We’ll have a carpet made from recycled fishing nets, lovely looking and with a very pleasant feel. The exterior teak flooring has been replaced by cork, lightening the yacht and harvested without cutting down trees”. Thun calls this a “conscious” project that we’ll see on Seadeck 6 (17.5 metres in length), followed by 7 (21.7 m) in September 2024 and Seadeck 9 (25.6 metres) in 2025. 80
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