Azimut 45 Fly Buyer's Guide, Specs and Used Prices

A 'jewel' for the bottom rung of the flybridge range

When Motor Boat & Yachting published the first pictures in June 2011, Azimut was describing its new 45 as a jewel in the flybridge collection that would set a benchmark for usability. The boat made its public debut at the Cannes show that September, and Vela e Motore named it Motorboat of the Year 2011. Today the Azimut 45 is a used-market boat, built from about 2011 to 2015 according to YachtBuyer, and most buyers know it as the Azimut 45 Fly.

It sits at the entry point of a size class that later Azimut flybridges abandoned. The current Fly range starts at 53 feet, so an Azimut 45 for sale is one of the few ways to get Righini styling, two helm stations and a proper flybridge in a hull that fits a 45-foot slip. That makes it interesting to owner-operators who do not want to pay 60-foot marina bills.

Why Azimut stuck with shafts on the 45

Azimut had already put Volvo IPS pods into its sporty 43S, so the decision to give the 45 conventional shaft drives was deliberate. MBY reported that tradition reigned below the waterline, with Azimut's Easy Docking system offered instead of pods. Easy Docking ties the propellers and the bow thruster to a joystick, which gives much of the close-quarters ease of pods without their service profile.

Power comes from two 480 hp Cummins QSB 6.7 diesels, the engines YachtBuyer and several listings show, and Azimut quoted a 32-knot top speed and a 28-knot cruise. We have not found an independent fuel curve for this model, so we do not quote a fuel burn or range. With 343 gallons of fuel, plan coastal hops rather than long open-water runs. Some listings describe the engines as 5.9-liter units; check the engine plates, because parts and service intervals differ.

A flybridge you can rearrange

The 45's best feature is up top. Azimut fitted the flybridge as a modular unit at the stern covering more than 12 square meters, about 130 square feet, and roofing the whole cockpit. The furniture is built with rotational-molding technology that Azimut said saves 25 percent in weight over conventional pieces, and the modules can be arranged as a dinette with a dining table, an L- or C-shaped sofa, or one large sundeck.

The flybridge is designed for ten people around the seating, sunpad and helm. Side rails are 76 centimeters high, a sensible height if children are aboard, and a skylight beside the upper helm opens to the saloon, so the two steering positions can talk to each other underway. The upper helm takes a Raymarine display of up to 14 inches and can be shaded by a bimini.

A main deck built around a 3.2-meter counter

In the cockpit, a folding table disappears into the sofa, and there is room for a 50-liter refrigerator or an icemaker. The swim platform was offered fixed or retractable; the retractable version lifts 350 kilograms, enough for a small tender, and has steps on each side to help with boarding.

Inside, two large sofas and a pouf seat eight, the main sofa converts into a double bed, and the table rises or lowers at the touch of a switch. The galley is the 45's most talked-about feature. In the two-cabin version it has a 3.2-meter marble worktop, a three-burner cooktop, dishwasher, oven, microwave, a 165-liter refrigerator and about 730 liters of storage, and it is placed so the cook can still talk to people at the dinette and the lower helm. In the three-cabin version part of the galley gives way to the third cabin, though the counter stays generous for the class.

Two cabins or three, and which to buy

The standard layout puts the owner's cabin in the bow, with storage under the bed, wardrobes and its own bathroom lit by large rectangular ports. The second cabin sits under the helm station and gets daylight through a panoramic glazed panel. Its double bed can be split into two singles, and its bathroom also has a separate door so it works as a day head.

The optional three-cabin version adds a small cabin with bunks, raising sleeping capacity to eight including the saloon sofa. For a couple who host occasional guests, the two-cabin boat is the better buy: you keep the full galley, more storage and an easier resale story. Families with two children may prefer the three-cabin boat, but expect a smaller pool of buyers when you sell.

• Two-cabin: bigger galley, more storage, best resale appeal
• Three-cabin: extra bunk cabin, eight berths with the sofa bed, smaller galley
• Both: two heads, owner's cabin forward, double cabin amidships

Don't confuse it with the Atlantis 45

Search for an Azimut 45 for sale in 2026 and most results will be the Azimut Atlantis 45, a newer express cruiser with Volvo IPS pods and a hardtop. It is a different boat for a different buyer, with no flybridge and a sports-cruiser layout. Atlantis 45 listings from 2020 to 2025 typically ask $575,000 to more than $950,000, which can make the older 45 Fly look cheap by comparison when it is really a separate class of boat.

The quick tells are simple. The 45 Fly has a flybridge, Cummins diesels on shafts and model years from 2011 to 2015. The Atlantis has an open hardtop profile, Volvo D6 engines with IPS pods and model years from 2020 onward in the listings we checked. Ask the broker to confirm the hull identification number if a listing is vague.

Running costs and the 1,000-hour mark

Twin six-cylinder Cummins diesels on shafts keep maintenance predictable. Expect roughly $40,000 to $80,000 a year in the U.S. for a 45 to 50 foot slip, insurance, engine and generator service, bottom work and canvas. Shaft boats need cutless bearings, shaft seals and propellers inspected at each haul-out, but they avoid pod service bills.

Many surviving boats are approaching or past 1,000 engine hours, a point where many owners schedule a major service and where heat exchangers, aftercoolers and turbochargers deserve attention. A 2014 boat advertised in New Jersey listed its 1,000-hour service as completed, which is the sort of record that helps a sale. Without that paperwork, budget for it yourself.

Where the 45 Fly makes sense

The Azimut 45 suits a buyer who wants a real flybridge with lower and upper helms, a big galley and Italian styling in a boat that one person can handle. With an RINA-approved CE category B hull and a claimed 32 knots, it is capable along the coast and on protected open-water crossings in good weather.

It is less suited to anyone planning long passages, because of its modest fuel tank, or to buyers who want the joystick-and-pod simplicity of newer boats. The price gap between a 45 Fly and a newer Atlantis 45 or a used Azimut 50 can buy a lot of upgrades, so the 45 remains good value for the right owner.