Azimut 60 Flybridge

Gone are the slinky sinuous lines. Gone are the peculiar winged-spectacle-frame flybridge fairings. Welcome to the new serious-minded Azimut 60 Flybridge with its blunter bow and looks in keeping with Azimut’s new design style with its prominent chine, the so-called aggressive Alfa bow, introduced in 2012 with the 55S. This boat looks capable of shouldering aside the heaviest seas.

The Azimut Flybridge 60 has already won prizes for its innovative layout, so it makes sense to start with the Flybridge. Simplicity itself. The port double-helm position, right forward and sheltered under the half hard-top, is flanked by a quarter-circle bench-cum-sunpad. Both of these are in front of the action, represented by a barbecue and a 6-slab chiller-chest, a 6-8 seat dining table and quite a bit of rearward deck that can be had without any built-in furniture, leaving it free for movable deck chairs, or nothing at all for larger cocktail parties. Optionally, two large sofas provide further generous seating space for 6, so there is a lot of room up there, easily holding more than the entire guest list.

Cockpit – Sunset View

The starboard companionway leads down to the cockpit and its spacious seating and mingling areas and the access to shore via a gangway, or down to the swim platform and the twin crew berths below. The cockpit has a large sofa-cum-dining area, seating more than 6 with a couple of loose chairs, and still leaving room for circulation, a key point on any boat of this size: everything goes via the cockpit.

Fully-shaded by the slightly-overhanging flybridge, this is the best place to be in the fresh air and out of the sun, and of course, when underway, this is the most sheltered outdoor space if the air is too fresh (at over 30 knots top speed, even tropical air gets pretty fresh, pretty soon).

The cockpit leads directly forward into the double-sided lounge area, then up a step to the galley and dining space, right behind the raised starboard internal helm spot. The saloon is large and bright, the enormous windows really bringing in the external scenery, yet is cosy enough for private conversation and just a little lived-in clutter will make it a nautical home from home.

The large and bright saloon offers an optimal layout

Access to the foredeck is along both sides of the main saloon. The new foredeck design represents another big change from the past. Once occupied by the standard sloping sunpad, so beloved of Mediterranean designers, it is now a substantial entertainment area in itself with two facing sofas and a table, and space to walk between.

The whole thing folds up when underway and pretends it’s just another sunpad, nothing to see here, move along, but unfolded! It’s a marvelous space. Spacious, forward and private, you can park the teenagers there, noise and all, yet still supervise adequately from the flybridge or from within the saloon.

The convertible foredeck lounge is a key innovation

The foredeck adds yet another whole-ship’s-complement entertainment area, and provides with the flybridge, the saloon and the cockpit a lot of room for a lot of guests when you throw one of those big parties when moored. It is about time the fore-decks of the mid-range motor yacht world were opened up, and this is a very nice example indeed of how to do it.

Master double cabin with the bed placed across the yacht’s midline

Centred and forward of all is the companionway down to the accommodation. Right forward, in the bows is a double cabin, to starboard a twin berth, to port a day-head with shower, and aft, after a u-turn, the double master cabin, slightly forward of centre, with, unusually, the bed placed across the ship’s line, its head to starboard and the foot to port. This trick yields ample space for the huge chest of drawers which also houses an equally huge pop-up tv. Both doubles have en-suite heads, as does the twin crew berth behind the engine room. So she sleeps 6, plus two more guests if no crew is shipped.

Performance-wise, this substantial boat is no slouch, and depending on which of the two engine options is chosen (800 mhp MANs or 900 mhp D13 Volvos), her hot cruising speed is about 26-28 knots and she will top out at 31-32 knots. Fuel capacity is a very reasonable 2,800 litres, so longer voyages can be contemplated.

As ever, Azimut have poured on the style, and Azimut’s relationship with Achille Salvagni continues to yield abundant fruit in the interiors. Azimut offer interior fitout flexibility beyond the scope of this article, but suffice to say the Salvagni interiors are offered in two broad packages, the Riviera and the Gran Milano, both of which offer light wood finishes with dark wood trim and leather here and there. Heavy gap lines and mostly handle-less cabinet work give a very clean and simple feel and make moving within the cabins a snag-free experience.

60 foredeck lounge area

While the Righini exteriors offer the same space as other 60-footers out there, they have managed to avoid the boxiness of the competition and eschew some of the purely decorative features of the past, giving cleaner, more slender lines and a very contemporary and business-like overall appearance.

One of the portlights, for example is now, externally, another eyebrow-pentagon, and the oblong three-pane window is now a single pane, and, oddly, looks less frail as a result.

For more information, please visit www.azimutyachts.hk

Words Nic Boyde