Azimut 39 Review and Used Buying Guide

The Azimut 39 in brief, a small flybridge built like a bigger one

The Azimut 39 was the entry ticket to the Azimut flybridge range at the turn of the millennium. YachtBuyer dates the first generation from 1998, and Motor Boat & Yachting's test of the prototype was written while British buyers were still converting sterling into lire, which places it right at the start of that run. Azimut kept the boat going until a revised 39 Evolution arrived in 2006, and the company's website still listed a 39E page as late as 2012.

What made the 39 stand out then, and what still makes it worth a look now, is that Azimut refused to shrink everything when it shrank the boat. MBY's tester, who had the whole range from the 39 to the 58 lined up at Lavagna, noted side decks wide enough to walk past the superstructure without turning sideways, deep toerails, a cockpit as deep as the bigger models and oversized cleats feeding stern lines through stainless fairleads lifted straight from the Quarantasei 46.

For a US buyer in 2026, an Azimut 39 is a 25-year-old Italian 40-footer that typically costs less than a new 30-foot express. That can be a bargain or a trap, and most of this guide is about telling the two apart.

Righini's teardrop eyes and that sculpted saloon ceiling

Stefano Righini styled the exterior around the eye motif Azimut had introduced on the AZ54 in 1994: two small teardrop windows that seem to look out from behind the main saloon glass. It is the easiest way to spot a 39 across a marina, and it also lets a lot of light into the saloon. Azimut bonded the tempered glass directly into the GRP and fitted electrically operated side windows, which were a genuine luxury on a boat this size at the time.

Inside, Carlo Galeazzi's trick was the overhead lining. Instead of a flat panel hiding wires, Azimut molded a flowing headliner that integrates the windshield mullions, lighting, pelmets and even the window motors. MBY called it the boat's trump card, and it still makes a 39 feel more expensive than its contemporaries once you are aboard. The weak spot is age: these moldings and their vinyl or fabric facings sag and discolor after two decades, and replacing them properly is fiddly work.

Two cabins, two heads and a full dinner service in a drawer

Below decks the 39 follows the classic formula for its size: an owner's double in the bow and a twin cabin amidships, each with its own head compartment. MBY singled out the length of the forward berth for tall owners and the big rooflight in the heads, though it found the head itself plain, with a blue basin as the only splash of color. Azimut's brochure lists four berths and a maximum capacity of 12 persons.

The saloon combines a dinette, galley and lower helm on one level. A neat touch on new boats was a drawer holding a full set of crockery, cutlery and glasses for six. Stowage is adequate for weekends rather than long cruises; the tester suggested adding shelves to the shallow lockers under the galley sinks. The lower helm sits high and close to the bow with good sightlines, and the electric side windows are low enough that the skipper does not feel boxed in, but the helm seat is fixed and only the wheel adjusts.

• Forward double with en suite head and a long berth
• Amidships twin with its own head
• Open saloon with dinette, galley and lower helm
• Flybridge with crescent seating for four and a large sunpad

Caterpillar 3126 power and what the prototype really did

Azimut's 2002 specification lists twin 355 mhp Caterpillar 3126 DITA diesels as the standard installation, with a claimed 32 knots maximum and 28 knots cruising at half load. The hull is a deep V with variable deadrise, 17 degrees at the transom according to the brochure, with longitudinal strakes and four-blade propellers set in semi-tunnels to keep draft to about 3 feet 7 inches.

Real numbers are a little lower. MBY's prototype ran the smaller Caterpillar 3116TA engines at their 325 hp rating and reached 28.8 knots, and the magazine estimated that the 350 hp option would deliver about 30 knots. Range with a 20 percent reserve hovered around 200 miles whatever the speed, because the 264-gallon tank is modest. In a choppy Force 4 the 39 handled head, following and beam seas with reasonable ease, and the steering took six turns lock to lock, which is normal for the period.

On the used market you will find both Caterpillar families. The 3126 is the better engine to own today because parts and technicians are easier to find, but any Cat of this age needs its aftercoolers, heat exchangers and turbochargers checked rather than assumed.

Original 39 or 39 Evolution, how to tell them apart

YachtBuyer splits the model into two generations: the original 39 from 1998 to 2006 and the 39 Evolution from 2006 to 2008. Azimut's later 39E specification gives 39 feet 10 inches overall, a 13-foot 2-inch beam, 14.6 tonnes at full load and twin Cummins QSB 5.9 engines of 355 mhp, with 30 knots maximum and 27 knots cruising. Tankage stayed at 1,000 liters of fuel and 500 liters of water.

The quickest check is the engine room. Caterpillar blocks mean an original boat or an early repower; common-rail Cummins QSB 5.9 engines mean an Evolution. Ask for the hull identification number, because the model year on a listing and the build year are not always the same on Italian boats sold through dealers. In our estimate, Evolution boats ask a premium of 15 to 25 percent over comparable originals, which is fair if the engines have low hours, since the Cummins are lighter and simpler to service in the US.

Living with a combined engine room and lazarette

Like most small Azimuts of the era, the 39 has no separate lazarette. The engine room and stern storage share one space reached through a large hatch in the cockpit floor, and the saloon sole is sealed. MBY liked the result: the engines are handed so service points face the center aisle, the generator, batteries, fuel tanks and filters sit on a wipe-clean GRP molding, and noise in the cockpit was a few decibels below average, probably helped by foam-cored topsides and underwater exhausts.

The downside is that anything stowed back there lives with heat and oil mist, and checking engine coolant was awkward without remote header tanks. Owners usually add a dedicated locker for lines and fenders elsewhere. When you survey a 39, spend time in this space: chafed wiring, weeping hose clamps and corroded battery terminals are typical of boats whose owners treated it as a garage.

What an Azimut 39 for sale costs in 2026

Azimut 39s are relatively scarce in the US, and most of the few listings we found were in Europe. A recent Mediterranean listing for a 2001 boat with twin Caterpillars asked about $168,000, and that is a fair mid-point for a tidy first-generation example. Expect roughly $140,000 to $190,000 for originals and $185,000 to $230,000 for a well-kept 39 Evolution. Importing a European boat adds shipping, duty and a US electrical review, so a slightly dearer boat already in Florida can be the cheaper buy.

Running costs are those of any twin-diesel 40-footer: dockage, insurance, haul-out and antifouling, engine service and the occasional canvas or upholstery job. Budget around $28,000 to $50,000 a year before fuel and depreciation, more if you keep the boat in a premium Northeast or South Florida marina.

Where the 39 fits in Azimut's small flybridge family

The 39 sat below the Azimut 42 of 1999, which shared its Righini styling and Caterpillar power. It was followed by a beamier Azimut 40 tested in 2005, then by the Azimut 43 and, from 2009, the narrower Azimut 38 and its 40S sport sister. If you want the 39's look with more room, the 42 is the natural step up; if you want something newer and smaller, the 38 is the modern equivalent.