Azimut 47 Fly Review and Used Market Guide

The 47 that gave its best cabins to the guests

Most builders of 47-foot flybridges in the mid-2000s were cramming in a full-beam master and squeezing everyone else into bunks. The Azimut 47 went the other way. It kept the owner's cabin in the bow and used the amidships space for two good guest cabins, a choice MBY summed up as friends reunited. If you regularly cruise with two other couples, that makes an Azimut 47 for sale worth a close look.

YachtBuyer lists the 47 from 2006 to 2009, and the boats we found for sale are 2007 to 2010 model years, with one 2011 listing in the U.S. MBY published its test in May 2007 and Power & Motoryacht followed in September 2007 after running hull one from Azimut's Varazze service center near Genoa. In the U.K. the boat was sold through Peters Opal, one of the country's biggest dealers at the time.

Owner forward, two twins amidships

The owner's cabin uses the full width of Azimut's distinctive bow for a 6 ft 4 in by 5 ft 0 in double bed. The entire bed base lifts on gas struts to reveal two storage bays, with drawers underneath, two hanging lockers, cedar lining and a full-length mirror that swings out of the wardrobe. Its head is not large, since the door opens into the shower, but it has the same 6 ft 5 in headroom as the cabin.

Aft of the lower lobby are two guest cabins of similar size, each with twin beds about 6 ft 4 in long and 29 inches wide and three pairs of oblong hull windows. The starboard beds slide together into a 4 ft 10 in double, and that cabin shares the second head, which mirrors the owner's. Headroom is 6 ft 4 in at the forward end, dropping to just over 5 feet aft. MBY called them unquestionably the best guest cabins in the class.

• Owner's cabin: forward, 6 ft 4 in x 5 ft 0 in double, en suite head
• Guest cabin to starboard: twins that convert to a 4 ft 10 in double
• Guest cabin to port: fixed twins
• Optional crew cabin aft with a small head and shower

A saloon that passes for a 52-footer

Alan Harper of PMY said the main deck could pass for a 50 or even 52 footer. Windows on all four sides, a galley moved down a level forward of the dinette, low-backed sofas and seats on thin stainless legs keep sightlines open across the saloon. Bleached oak, cream headlinings and chocolate leather kept the decor from looking bland.

The raised dinette to port is a rarity in this size and doubles as a breakfast bar or navigation table, with a table that slides out on a stainless arm and unfolds to twice its size. Options included a 41-inch-wide sofa bed and a sideboard in place of the port sofa. MBY recommended the sideboard, priced at £2,770 at launch, because saloon stowage is otherwise poor. Azimut also supplied china and custom cutlery drawers, the kind of detail usually reserved for much bigger boats.

575 hp, 32.3 knots and a fuel surprise

The only engines were twin Caterpillar C9 ACERT diesels of 575 hp each, driving through ZF V-drives. MBY recorded 32.3 knots and pointed out that 50-foot rivals needed 675 to 715 hp Volvo D12s to reach the same speed. At 32.3 knots the 47 returned 0.73 nautical miles per imperial gallon against 0.56 for the Fairline Phantom 50 and Princess 50. Lower down the range the British boats were slightly more frugal, and MBY found the 47 most efficient at 26.5 knots, giving 0.83 nautical miles per imperial gallon and a range of 292 miles.

PMY was impressed by the acceleration. The test boat passed 25 knots in under 20 seconds, beating the magazine's 20-knots-in-20-seconds benchmark for cruising boats. Both magazines described a boat that was happiest at higher cruise speeds, when the trim drops and the hull settles into a groove.

Slow steering, soft ride

Handling was the one consistent criticism. PMY measured eleven turns lock to lock, or about six degrees of rudder per turn of the wheel where ten would be normal, and a turning circle that looked about 400 yards across. The Azimut engineer on board agreed and promised fixes for later boats. MBY found the steering slower and vaguer at the flybridge helm than below and compared the 47 to a luxury SUV next to the sharper Princess 50.

The ride itself was good. The hull rarely slammed, MBY described it as loping through waves rather than galloping over them, and PMY praised its soft ride through wakes. At the dock the optional Sea Energy joystick and powerful bow and stern thrusters made the boat easy to handle. On a used 47, test the steering at both helms and ask whether the hydraulic system was modified after delivery.

Engine room details worth paying for

MBY was full of praise for the machinery spaces. Non-slip steps lead into an engine room with a strip light on a long lead, a freshwater hose with a trigger gun, remote header tanks, drain cocks and sight gauges on the fuel tanks, and clear-bowled interchangeable fuel filters. The standout is an emergency bilge system: a diverter valve lets the port engine draw water straight from the bilge and pump it out through the exhaust, a capability no ordinary bilge pump can match.

The hull is fully cored and resin infused under vacuum, and MBY rated the molding quality as good as any it had seen. The trade-off for the long engine room is that there is no separate lazarette. The optional crew cabin, priced at £13,300 at launch, becomes the de facto storage space, and PMY joked that any captain willing to sleep there should be watched carefully.

Flybridge pluses and one wasted table

Up top there is seating for at least six with room to spare, a large sunbed with storage underneath and a helm on the same side as the steps, so you can watch the swim platform through the hatch when reversing into a Mediterranean berth. MBY's main gripe was the small, high fixed flybridge table, which made dining up top awkward. A lower step at the top of the ladder also caught the tester out, so look for an added grab rail.

Elsewhere the deck is well thought out, with stern mooring gear, safe side decks and removable cockpit cushions that make boarding over the passerelle easier. Standard equipment on the PMY boat included a 15.5 kW Kohler generator, 46,000 Btu of Cruisair air conditioning and an 8 hp bow thruster.

Buying and running a 47 today

A good 47 costs a fraction of its $1,150,000 test price. U.S. listings include a 2008 boat in Maryland at $440,000, a 2008 boat in Chicago at $379,900 that began life as Azimut's Fort Lauderdale show boat, and a 2011 boat at $425,000. European asks run from €349,000 to €420,000. Expect to spend $45,000 to $85,000 a year to keep one in U.S. waters, including slip, insurance, C9 servicing, bottom work and the generator.

Freshwater boats from the Great Lakes are common on the U.S. market and usually show less corrosion. Check that the C9s have had regular valve adjustments and aftercooler service, and that the V-drives and shaft seals have been maintained.