Azimut 88 Buyer's Guide, Two Generations Compared

Two boats behind one badge

The Azimut 88 name covers two related generations. YachtBuyer dates the first from 2007 to 2011, with a Galeazzi Design interior and a 30-knot top speed, and the second from 2011 to 2016, with an Achille Salvagni interior, twin 1,800 hp Caterpillar C32 ACERTs and a 29-knot top end. Both measure 87 feet 11 inches overall, about 26.8 meters, and both carry four guest cabins with crew for three.

Anyone searching for an Azimut 88 for sale should establish the generation first, because the interior concept, finishes and value differ. The numbers in our spec box describe the second-generation boat, since that is the version most often listed today. The sections below explain what each generation does differently and how to tell them apart.

Privacy as the design brief

Azimut pitched the 88 as a progenitor of a new breed of motor yacht in which the owner's world and the crew's world barely touch. The first-generation description is explicit: a system of passageways lets crew move crosswise and lengthwise, climb to the flybridge or drop into the engine room without guests noticing, with two watertight doors, one in the galley and one amidships to port. The saloon and dining area form one square room that Azimut likened to a city apartment, isolated from the service spaces.

The galley sits to starboard of the dining area and can disappear completely behind a mirrored door and closable pass-throughs. It was specified for a cook and helper, with four glass-ceramic burners, microwave, fridge, freezer, wine cooler and a 70-liter oven. Forward, the helm has a height-adjustable two-seat pilot bench and, to port, a large sofa with a chart table where guests can sit with the captain under way.

First generation, 2007 to 2011, walnut portals and four marbles

The early 88's interior is built around a sequence of walnut-framed portals, so each room frames the next. Azimut used four types of marble: Siena yellow in the master bathrooms, statuary white in the VIP and guest heads, Cosmos blue on the flybridge counter and black in the galley. The owner reaches the master by a reserved stairway into a suite with a dressing room, a bath with double sinks, doussie parquet and a breakfast area beside the central hull window, just above the waterline.

Guests get a VIP with an aft-facing double and a desk, and two cabins lit from above by daylight passing through the main-deck windshield: a twin to starboard and a double to port angled toward its window. YachtBuyer lists the first generation with a 21-foot 7-inch beam, 2,378 gallons of fuel, 343 gallons of water, a 30-knot top speed and a 27-knot cruise.

Second generation, 2011 to 2016, Salvagni's softer lines

For the 2011 update Achille Salvagni reshaped the interior, softening edges and running continuous curves between ceilings and walls while keeping the portal idea. Daylight became the theme: the lower-deck lobby is lit through the wide windscreen, the master gets two panoramic hull windows and a lacquered ceiling that bounces the light, and the two guest cabins have opal-glass skylights.

The four cabins are all privately accessed. The master has a vanity table, a seating area overlooking the sea and a Siena marble bathroom with double sinks; a VIP, a double and a twin complete the guest plan, with five guest heads in total including a day head. YachtBuyer lists the second generation at 21 feet of beam, 6 feet of draft, 181,220 pounds at full load and twin Caterpillar C32 ACERT engines of 1,800 hp each for 29 knots top and 24 knots cruise.

• First generation: Galeazzi Design interior, 21 ft 7 in beam, 30 knots top
• Second generation: Salvagni Architetti interior, 21 ft beam, 29 knots top
• Both: 87 ft 11 in LOA, 2,378 gal fuel, four guest cabins, crew of three

Decks for a crewed yacht

Outside, the 88 follows the big-Azimut pattern: a cockpit with generous seating under the flybridge overhang, a bow lounge for privacy in port and a large flybridge for sunbathing and dining. Azimut described the yacht as a terrace overlooking the sea, and the second generation added more glass to strengthen the connection between saloon and horizon.

Detailed published figures for flybridge area, tender capacity and generator size were not available in the sources we could verify, so check them on the boat itself. Buyers should confirm how the tender is stored and launched, since that drives how the flybridge can be used.

Caterpillar power and realistic performance

Both generations are Caterpillar boats. YachtBuyer gives the later 88 twin C32 ACERT E02 engines rated at 1,800 hp at 2,300 rpm, good for 29 knots flat out and 24 knots at cruise, while the earlier version is listed at 30 knots top and 27 knots cruise. With 2,378 gallons of fuel aboard, the 88 carries considerably more than the 80-foot Azimuts of its time, which helps on longer Bahamas or Caribbean legs.

We have not found an independent instrumented sea trial of the 88 with published speed and fuel curves. Expect cruise burn on the scale of other twin-C32 85- to 90-footers, and verify with engine data from the specific boat before committing to an itinerary.

Azimut 88 price and availability today

These boats come up rarely. YachtBuyer's most recent snapshot showed a single second-generation 88 for sale at $2.5 million, with earlier price markers between roughly $2.4 million and $3.5 million, and no first-generation boats listed. Given age, size and running costs, a realistic range is about $1.7 million for an early boat needing work to around $3.5 million for a late, refreshed second-generation example.

Annual costs reflect a 27-meter yacht: a captain and two crew, insurance, dockage, haul-outs and systems upkeep put fixed costs in the mid hundreds of thousands, before fuel. A boat with documented Caterpillar, generator and stabilizer service is worth paying up for.

Where the 88 fits in Azimut's lineup

The 88 sat just below the Azimut 95, the Fly range flagship of the same era, and above the 80-foot flybridges. The closest current Azimut in size is the Grande 27 Metri, which the builder lists at 87 feet 10 inches with twin MAN V12s of 1,900 hp and a top speed of up to 28 knots. If you like the 88's privacy-led layout but want a newer boat, that is the natural next look, at a much higher price.