Azimut 62S and 62S Italia Review, Performance and Value

A two-cabin 62-footer, and why that was brave

Azimut had not built a non-flybridge boat for decades when it launched the S range in 2004 with the 68S, followed by the surface-drive 86S. At the Genoa show in October 2005 it added two more red-hulled models, the 43S and this all-new 62S, and Power & Motoryacht called the 62S the best of the lot.

What made it unusual was the cabin count. A 62-foot sport yacht from a volume builder would normally squeeze in three cabins, often with a small third one that ends up full of fenders. Azimut gave the 62S two generous cabins and used the leftover space for a second, lower saloon. Power & Motoryacht called it a risky strategy and then concluded the boat was pretty near perfect as it was. Yachting later reported that about 80 were built, including the Italia version, which makes it one of the more successful European sport yachts of its size.

The lower saloon every reviewer fell for

Go forward and down from the main deck and you reach a half-level lounge opposite the galley, with a sofa, an armchair, a coffee table and a big projection screen. The entertainment system ran on an onboard PC, so with the optional Raymarine keyboard you could put the chart plotter and radar on the screen and plan the next day's route from the sofa. The galley opposite has Gaggenau appliances and a sliding door, so the washing up can disappear before the film starts.

Motor Boat & Yachting was even more emphatic than Power & Motoryacht. It called the space terrific, a revelation, and said that turning it into the optional third cabin would be a catastrophic choice. Both cabins flanking it are excellent. The owner's suite amidships is nearly as big as the 68S's, with a diagonally offset double, a raised breakfast dinette to starboard and those distinctive square hull windows. The forward cabin introduced Azimut's scissor-hinged berths, which slide together to form a double and were quickly copied by other builders.

A genuinely sharp deep-V hull

Underneath the styling is a properly deep hull, with 24 degrees of deadrise amidships easing to 19 at the transom, three non-parallel spray rails on each side and no propeller tunnels. The central rails curve toward the stem to give lift in hard turns so the bow does not dig in. Twin Caterpillar C18s, about 2,030 hp in total, sit level on V-drive gearboxes.

Motor Boat & Yachting timed zero to 30 knots in 24 seconds and praised the tight turning circle. Yachting saw 34 knots on a freezing day off Savona and called it taut, sharp and exciting, though its tester felt the wide chines slam at speed and noted plenty of spray. Power & Motoryacht found the steering unusually powerful and quick, with dramatic heel in turns; you need the sunroof open to see where you are going.

Gripes were minor and mostly cured in production: a long row of silver instrument pods that were hard to read at a glance, trim tab angles buried in the Motronica monitoring screens, and a galley fridge door on the prototype that opened aft.

Sunroof, cockpit and tender garage

The main deck is about 28 square yards under a sliding hardtop, with a single driver's seat, a navigator's bench, a dinette whose table extends to seat eight and a sun bed aft. With the glass doors open, the saloon and cockpit merge into one entertaining space. Electric side windows add airflow, and a TV rises from a cabinet to starboard.

A transom garage takes a RIB of up to 9 feet 2 inches or a PWC. From hull number three a hydraulic swim platform became optional, and it is the better place for the main tender. Check which arrangement a used boat has, because a garage-only 62S limits your tender choice.

The 62S Italia of 2011

Azimut relaunched the boat in 2011 as the 62S Italia, named for the 150th anniversary of Italian unification. Power & Motoryacht, which had loved the original, approved of almost every change. The helm instruments were regrouped sensibly, the bench beside the driver became a single navigator's chair, and the sliding sunroof became hydraulic with curved, UV-filtered glass.

The big layout change went the other way from the reviewers' hearts: the lower saloon became a two-berth en suite guest cabin with 6 feet 5 inches of headroom, turning the boat into a three-cabin, three-head cruiser. Aft, a two-berth crew cabin became standard in place of the small garage, the hydraulic platform became standard, and the cockpit table lowers to form a sun pad.

Caterpillar's C18 ACERT was now rated at 1,150 hp, and with five-blade props the Italia reached 36.2 knots in Power & Motoryacht's test, two knots more than before. It hit 20 knots in 11 seconds and 30 knots three seconds later. The test boat cost $2.54 million, compared with $2.3 million for the 2006 original.

What the numbers say about cruising

The Italia's test table shows a boat that is most efficient on plane at around 19 to 20 knots, where it burns about 42 gph and returns 0.46 nautical miles per gallon, and that cruises fast at about 25.5 knots for 68.7 gph. At 30 knots the twin C18s burn about 92 gph and range falls to a little over 200 nautical miles from 713 gallons, with a 10 percent reserve.

That makes the 62S a coastal and island-hopping boat rather than a long-distance cruiser. A run from Fort Lauderdale to Bimini and back at 25 knots is comfortable; a trip to the Exumas needs a fuel plan.

Buying a 62S today

With roughly 80 built, there is usually a choice. Yachting counted 26 on the brokerage market in 2017, priced from $481,650 to $1.19 million, and values have softened since. Today most original 62S yachts should trade between about $450,000 and $760,000, with Italias from roughly $750,000 to just over $1 million.

Construction is a strength: Motor Boat & Yachting reported vacuum-molded hull and deck, osmosis-resistant vinylester resin with a five-year osmosis warranty from new, foam-sandwich stiffening and a carbon-reinforced saloon sole. Plan on $90,000 to $160,000 a year to run one in Florida, with the C18s, V-drives, sunroof mechanism and air conditioning as the systems to watch.