NEWS yachting Oceanco
NEWS yachting Oceanco M/Y DAR Walking through the 90m M/Y DAR with Miamibased designer Luiz de Basto at the last Monaco Yacht Show, he was beaming with pride: “On DAR, we touched the limit of what is possible at this moment with glass – it envelops the entire volume of the yacht,” he said. And, indeed, the experience of de Basto’s external styling is remarkable, with fluid, organic proportions, floor-to-ceiling windows that bathe the spaces in light, and fascinating uses of transparency and detailing. There are no walkarounds – very unusual for this size – and this contributes to the sophisticated interplay between external and internal, one of the yacht’s most remarkable features. Inside, there is exquisiteness of detail at every scale, with ginkgo leaf motifs, curved and organic shapes, mosaics, paintings, tapestries – an ode to nature that mixes materials and hues in just the right proportions. The six-metre rotating sofa on the owner’s deck can pivot to face the sunset no matter where she is parked – a wonderful spot for the cocktails for all 12 guests on board. oceancoyacht.com Benetti‘s trio to behold While most shipyards face various limitations in building big – the vast space a large construction occupies and the multitude of skilled workers needed to deliver an owner’s wishes among them – Benetti has met the challenges of the scale of such yachts head-on at its shipyard in Livorno, and it is a remarkable demonstration of strength that it launched three giga yachts, vessels of of more than 100 metres in length, over a period of just four months. It’s a global first that ranks among the most impressive feats of the yacht-building industry not only in recent years but in living memory. In order of delivery these behemoths were (pictured from top): No 1: FB277, delivered on 18 December 2018 LOA: 107m; beam: 15.2m; built in collaboration with Imperial Yachts No 2: FB272, delivered on 5 February 2019 LOA: 100m+; beam: 17m, Hybrid, 2 million hours of skilled workforce from 100 suppliers No 3: FB275, delivered 18 April 2019 LOA: 108m; beam: 14.5m; fuel tank capacity: 345,000l PHOTOS FROM TOP: © OCEANCO; © BENETTI (3) 68 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
1978: Az32 Targa 1987: Benetti Rima FB2020 1998: Benetti Stella Fiera 1999: Benetti Reverie 2003: Azimut: AZ 68S 2009: Azimut Magellano 74 2012: Azimut 54 Fly 2017: Benetti Seasense 2017: Azimut G35 Metri Anniversary Spoils One of the world’s most storied yacht firms, Azimut/Benetti Group celebrates its 50th birthday with a bang PHOTOS © AZIMUT BENETTI The Azimut/Benetti Group adventure, one of the great stories in the yachting world, began in 1969, when Paolo Vitelli, a university student, started a charter business with a friend. The company soon moved on to production, and in 1978 the AZ32 Targa, a small boat for a small budget, became a runaway success. A new challenge emerged in 1985 with the acquisition of the Fratelli Benetti yard based in Viareggio. The aim of providing a full range of yachts, for clients with smaller budgets to those with no limits, was a difficult task, but the hard work paid off with astonishing results for both brands: Stefano Righini’s stylistic input gave the Azimut range new definition with glued windows, garages for tenders, hull windows, immense roofed flybridges, sheer bows and other innovations soon copied by competitors. Today the Azimut/Benetti Group is one of the key players in yachting, and Vitelli, who remains the president, can reflect on the success: “Keeping a step ahead, anticipating clients’ new expectations, marking the trends in style – these have always been our strong points,” he said recently. “And coupled with a prudent management of the business, they enable us still to be the company of reference in the international luxury yacht sector.” Part of this strong position comes from the company’s expansion beyond yacht-building to marinas (Varazze, Viareggio, Moscow, Livorno) as well as to Fraser Yachts, a much-respected yacht brokerage. But ultimately it is the ships that define the company, and the Azimut/ Benetti Group is justifiably proud of its mission to build the most beautiful, reliable, innovative yachts and provide assistance to their owners anywhere in the world. azimutbenetti.it CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 69
