116 Azimut Yacht Review, Specs and Market Guide

The 116 Azimut, where production fiberglass met Benetti ambition

When Yachting's Dag Pike stepped aboard the 116 Azimut for a dawn departure along the Ligurian coast, he described it as the new flagship of the Azimut range and the yacht that closed the gap between Azimut's fiberglass production boats and the Benetti superyachts built by the same group. It was also one of the first large yachts out of Azimut's new Viareggio facility, where he found 116-footers moving through the sheds almost like a production line.

YachtBuyer dates the model from 2004 to 2011 and counts 26 built. Azimut's 2009 specification gives 35.46 meters (116 feet 6 inches) overall, a 7.4-meter (24-foot 3-inch) beam, 2.04 meters of draft and 143 tonnes displacement, with twin MTU 16V 2000 M93 engines of 2,434 mhp each, 28 knots maximum and 25 knots cruise. Stefano Righini designed the exterior and Carlo Galeazzi the interior. Pike's summary was that nothing about the design would change the world, but nothing about it would go out of fashion quickly either.

A walk from the flybridge spa to the tender garage

Outside, low bulwarks capped in teak and superyacht-style rails sweep up to the pilothouse windows and the flybridge, where an arch mast supports fixed bimini tops forward and aft with large panels that open to the sun. The flybridge has a barbecue by the bar counter, sunbeds around a spa pool, settees with teak tables for dining and a diving board fixed to the rails. The upper helm is tucked into the port corner so the captain stays part of the party.

Aft on the main deck, the cockpit has a large inlaid teak table, a matching settee and steamer chairs, with an optional bar and barbecue. Steps on each side lead down to a narrow swim platform that folds down when the garage door opens outward. On the test boat the garage held a Sea-Doo jet boat and two personal watercraft, with launching ramps for the boat and one of the jet skis, plus the watermaker and hot water boiler.

• Flybridge spa pool, bar, barbecue and dining
• Arch mast with opening bimini panels fore and aft
• Aft deck dining for twelve
• Garage for a jet boat and two personal watercraft

A pilothouse with no captain's chair and one big touch screen

The main helm station is in a workmanlike pilothouse. In a detail Pike found amusing, Azimut fitted no captain's chair, to reduce the risk of falling asleep on watch. The angled wheel is flanked by screens for monitoring, control and navigation, with the yacht's systems run through a central touch screen, an approach that was new on yachts of this size in the mid-2000s. There is also a proper chart table that doubles as an office and a settee in tan leather.

On a used 116, that integrated system is now close to 20 years old. Find out whether the original monitoring software has been replaced or updated, whether spares are available, and what the captain's experience has been with it. Modern navigation electronics are a routine upgrade; replacing a proprietary systems network is not.

Five guest cabins, Pullmans for children and a master with oval ports

Stairs from the pilothouse lead down to the main vestibule on the starboard side, finished in matte cherry paneling with marble inserts in the wooden deck. Forward of it, the test boat had a cinema with deep lounging settees; Azimut offered this space as a main-deck owner's suite instead, an option aimed at the US market because it frees room for a larger crew area below. Between cinema and saloon are the galley and a serving pantry that doubles as the crew mess, feeding a 12-seat dining table at the forward end of the saloon. The saloon itself has a sweeping settee to port, a television rising from the sideboard and a curved bar with four stools to starboard.

Below, the guest cabins are reached from the vestibule in two groups: the full-beam master and two doubles, and two twin cabins. The doubles have angled beds and the twins have a third Pullman berth, so the yacht suits families with children. All cabins have en suite bathrooms in marble and wood. The master has three large opening oval ports on each side, with a walk-in closet and big bathroom separating it from the engine room. YachtBuyer lists ten guests in five cabins and five crew in three cabins.

The gearbox whine Yachting measured, and what to check now

Pike's test found one significant flaw. A high-pitched whine that seemed to come from the gearboxes intruded into the master suite, and he measured 85 dB(A) in the master bathroom against 63 dB(A) in the pilothouse at full speed. Azimut told him it was adding insulation and that ZF would address the gearbox noise.

Nearly two decades on, you cannot assume the fix was applied to every hull. Run the yacht at cruise and full speed with a sound meter in the master suite, ask for gearbox service records, and have the transmissions checked for wear. Noise is a comfort issue, but an unusual gearbox whine can also point to alignment or bearing problems.

24 knots tested, 28 claimed, and what changed

The early boat Yachting tested had 4,000 horsepower from two 16-cylinder MTUs, each topped by a huge stainless exhaust silencer, and reached a top speed close to 24 knots with a comfortable 20-knot cruise. The run from Viareggio to Genoa took four hours, with low noise in the pilothouse and rolling well controlled by Trac stabilizers. Azimut's 2009 specification lists more powerful 2,434 mhp MTU 16V 2000 M93 engines and quotes 28 knots maximum and 25 knots cruise, and current listings show engines ranging from about 2,000 to 2,400 hp.

The hull has only 9.4 degrees of deadrise aft, so it is tuned for efficiency and stability rather than slicing through a steep head sea. The 18,000-liter (4,700-gallon) fuel capacity gives real cruising range at displacement speeds. Check which engines a given yacht has, because power, speed and engine overhaul costs all depend on it.

Tail Lights and the 116 as a six-cabin charter yacht

The 116 has also worked as a charter yacht in US and Caribbean waters. Tail Lights, a 2011 build refitted in 2016, was offered through HMY in 2022 in the Bahamas and Caribbean from $75,000 a week, configured for 12 guests in six staterooms with six crew and a 32-foot Scout tender with twin 350 hp Yamahas. That six-stateroom figure shows how far owners have adapted the original four or five-cabin plan, so always ask for the current general arrangement drawing rather than relying on the brochure.

Azimut 116 for sale, prices and time on the market

YachtBuyer currently shows three 116s for sale, built from 2007 to 2011, at prices from about $5 million to $6.7 million and an average of $5.7 million. A 2011 yacht is asking about $5.6 million, the 2008 Serendipity about $6.65 million after a price reduction, and a 2007 boat about $4.98 million. Boats have averaged about 600 days on the market, and a 2008 yacht sold in 2023 at about $4.5 million, so asking prices are a starting point.

Annual running costs for a 35-meter yacht with five crew, insurance, dockage and maintenance generally fall between $900,000 and $1.5 million before fuel and depreciation. Budget separately for the periodic big-ticket items: paint, engine overhauls and stabilizer work.