Azimut 72S Sport Yacht Review and Buyer's Notes

A sport yacht that grew a flybridge

By 2009 Azimut's S collection was known for red hulls, square hull windows and opening hardtops. The 72S, launched as the range flagship that year, added something new: a sport-fly of almost 20 square meters on top of the hardtop. Azimut called it a breakthrough and a new class of boat, and it won Best Layout at the 2010 World Yachts Trophies.

It was never a volume model. YachtBuyer records about 16 built between 2009 and 2014, after which the 77S, launched at Cannes in 2014, took over. That rarity is both the appeal and the challenge if you are hunting for an Azimut 72S for sale: there are few to choose from, and each one's history matters.

Steering without a wheel: the Unique Control System

The upper helm has no steering wheel. Instead, a pressure-sensing post in the right armrest of a futuristic helm chair controls the boat, a system Azimut developed with Xenta and called the Unique Control System. Push lightly and the 72S turns gently; push harder and the turn tightens. In maneuvering mode the engines are limited to 800 rpm and the computer brings in the bow thruster and reverses engines as needed, so you can walk the boat sideways or spin it on its axis with shafts and rudders rather than pods.

Both American testers liked it and missed the wheel a little. Yachting's reviewer said it made the wheel seem Stone Age but that he enjoyed feeling the boat through a rim; Power & Motoryacht suggested a conventional wheel up top as a backup. The lower helm does keep a wheel, along with a standard Xenta docking joystick.

3,600 horsepower and a 45-knot top end

Twin MAN V12 common-rail diesels of 1,800 mhp each drive conventional shafts through ZF gearboxes with five-blade props. Power & Motoryacht ran the 72S off Pompano Beach in two to three foot seas and reached 52 mph, about 45 knots, noting that the hull sliced through the chop with ease. Yachting quoted 45-plus knots and a fuel burn of 178 gph at full speed, which it described as a reason to know where the fuel dock is.

YachtBuyer's database lists a more conservative 39-knot maximum and a 34-knot cruise, so expect variation with load, props and bottom condition. Yachting's tester found the moderate-V hull, with 16.9 degrees of deadrise, sensitive to trim tabs, with the automatic tab system leaving the boat slightly heeled until he used the manual override. A Seakeeper was fitted to the Yachting test boat and turned a lumpy, random sea into what he called a millpond.

A sliding glass roof over the lunch area

The saloon is on one level with the cockpit. To meet European rules for a step at the door, Azimut built a deep trough with a teak grating and overboard drains instead, so the four sliding glass panels open onto a flush floor. Inside, settees run along each side and the dining table, which Azimut called the lunch area, seats six or eight with an extension, under a glass roof that slides open at the touch of a button.

Forward, the lower helm has two electrically adjustable leather chairs facing a pair of Raymarine displays, and a watertight door to starboard opens electrically onto the side deck. Power & Motoryacht found the windshield top a little low for perfect visibility from this helm and recommended driving from the flybridge in good weather.

Below decks: a VIP that looks like a master

The forward cabin is so generous, with large windows and an en suite, that Power & Motoryacht's tester first assumed it was the master. The real owner's suite is full beam amidships, lit by the S collection's six square hull windows, with a walk-in closet with shoe shelves, a breakfast nook and a large head with a rain shower. A twin cabin completes the guest accommodation, and its berths do not slide together.

The galley is on the lower deck off the corridor, fully enclosable, with white Boffi cabinetry, Miele appliances, an induction cooktop with adjustable fiddles, opening ports and its own air circulation. Power & Motoryacht questioned that choice for American owners who cook for their own guests. Crew quarters aft provide two cabins.

• Full-beam master with walk-in closet and breakfast nook
• Forward VIP with en suite and large windows
• Twin guest cabin
• Enclosed Boffi galley on the lower deck
• Crew quarters aft

Cockpit, garage and the carbon sport-fly

The cockpit has a C-shaped sofa whose side sections act as chaise longues and whose center converts to a big sun pad, with a slide-out barbecue and wet bar hidden in the furniture. A transom garage takes a tender of about 3.5 meters, launched hydraulically, and there is a lifting swim platform.

The flybridge, carbon fiber to keep weight down high, measures about 215 square feet. It has a large forward sun pad and dinette that fills the port side, room aft for three loungers, a refrigerator and ice maker, and a bimini that extends from the arch.

Construction and engine room notes

Azimut says the 72S uses carbon-glass laminate through most of its structure to make it lighter and stiffer, and it is certified CE Category A. Extra-high safety rails run around the decks. The engine room, reached through a hatch in the cockpit sole, is gelcoated and houses the V12s, twin 20 kW Kohler generators and a 126,000-Btu Cruisair system. Power & Motoryacht's six-foot tester found it a little cramped and noted that the dual Racor filters were awkward to reach behind a support.

Displacement figures differ: Yachting quoted 92,000 pounds, while YachtBuyer lists 101,413 pounds at full load. Draft on the test sheets is 7 feet 1 inch, deeper than many 72-foot flybridges, which matters in the Bahamas and in shallow Florida marinas.

Finding, pricing and owning one of 16

Both test boats were priced at just over $5 million in 2011, at $5,003,110 and $5,018,203. Today we would expect a 72S to trade between about $1.1 million and $1.8 million depending on hours and condition, but with so few built and almost none publicly listed, every sale is a negotiation rather than a comparison. Expect to search internationally.

Owning one is a big-boat commitment. Plan on $200,000 to $340,000 a year with a full-time captain, insurance on a fast yacht, a 75-foot slip, servicing of 1,800 hp V12s and two generators, gyro maintenance and the sunroof and UCS systems. At full speed the engines burn close to 180 gph, so most owners will cruise in the 30s or below.