Azimut Atlantis 50 Review, Versions and Used Values

Two boats called Atlantis 50, and which one this is

Most people searching for an Azimut Atlantis 50, including the many hunting for a "2016 azimut atlantis 50", mean the boat Azimut launched in 2014: a 53-foot 6-inch Neo Design sport cruiser with angular styling, Cummins diesels and a choice of Open or Coupe decks. That is the subject of this page.

There was an earlier Atlantis 50, unveiled at Cannes in 2006 when Atlantis was still a separate Azimut-Benetti brand. It is a completely different boat, and a short section near the end explains how to tell them apart. Never mix their specs when comparing listings.

Built like an Azimut, priced like an Atlantis

When Power and Motoryacht's Alan Harper tested hull number two in 2014, he was told the Atlantis 50 was built at Azimut's Avigliana base with exactly the same design, engineering and fit-out attention as the parent marque. The evidence is visible: chunky oversized stainless handrails, an Azimut signature; saloon cabinetry in lacquered plywood rather than molded fiberglass; and a vacuum-infused hull with a vinylester outer skin.

Barche added detail: vinylester for the first layers and DCPD resin behind, a solid bottom laminate, PVC-cored topsides and Laricross bulkheads. The hull is the same 14.34-meter build length as the Atlantis 48 of 2010, and it shares that boat's tankage and Cummins engines, but the stern was extended to add a tender garage and a far better aft deck.

Open or Coupe, two cabins or three

The 50 is a boat of choices. On the main deck you can have the Open, with an open-backed hardtop, or the Coupe, which adds sliding glass doors that open in three sections to create a doorway almost 4 feet 6 inches wide and turn the area under the hardtop into an enclosed deck saloon. Both keep the big sliding sunroof and opening side windows.

Below, the standard plan has two cabins with a U-shaped dinette opposite the galley. Specify the third cabin and that dinette becomes a small twin with 6-foot 4-inch berths only 26 and 30 inches wide, fine for kids or occasional guests. Power and Motoryacht pointed out the trade: the galley's worktop space is limited, so families who choose the third cabin lose the table that doubles as a prep area.

• Owner's suite amidships under the cockpit, full beam, 6 ft 4 in by 5 ft 4 in berth, generous stowage
• VIP forward with a 6 ft 6 in berth and about 6 ft 6 in of headroom
• Two heads: an en suite for the owner and a dual-access head with separate shower
• Galley with four-burner ceramic hob, combi oven and 215-liter fridge (Barche)

The cleverest piece of furniture on board

Power and Motoryacht singled out the stern seating as a minor masterpiece. One module combines sun bed, sofa and dinette: a backrest shaped like an isosceles triangle sits at two heights and angles and flips to face either way, the forward cushion lifts off to reveal a table on a rising pedestal, and the side cushions slide out to dining distance. Two folding chairs live in a locker underneath, so six can eat aft.

Even with that module there are walkways down both sides and a garage that swallows an 8-foot tender (Barche quotes up to 2.85 meters). The swim platform lowers to launch it, and the transom lifts to reveal the garage.

Cummins on V-drives, measured

There is no engine choice: twin 600 hp Cummins QSC 8.3 six-cylinders driving through V-drive gearboxes to conventional shafts with five-blade props. Harper admitted a soft spot for shafts over the IPS pods many European rivals used, and the 50 rewarded him with taut, predictable handling and a pleasing grip in turns.

His test boat, carrying 210 gallons of fuel and six people in 1 to 2 foot seas off Savona, reached 32.4 knots at 3,000 rpm burning 64.5 gph. The practical fast cruise was 2,500 rpm: 26.3 knots at 46.5 gph with about 230 nm of range. Barche matched the top speed exactly and noted the hull stayed soft over 70 cm wakes at any angle, thanks to a fairly deep V amidships easing to 15 degrees at the transom.

Two notes from the tests: excessive wheel scrubbed speed without tightening the turn (Azimut said it would limit the rudders to about 20 degrees), and the engine room is tight because the garage encroaches. Filters, separators and dipsticks are reachable, but the generator to port and the batteries and air conditioning units aft are hard to get at.

The 2006 Atlantis 50: how to tell them apart

The original Atlantis 50 debuted at Cannes in 2006 and was the sixth new Atlantis model in five years. Its hull was a shortened version of the Atlantis 55's, and its styling paid homage to Stefano Righini's 55, complete with a domed, double-curved glass windscreen and sunroof. It measured 50 feet 5 inches overall with a 14-foot 9-inch beam, carried 502 gallons of fuel and 132 gallons of water, and had no tender garage; the tender lived on a hydraulic platform that doubled as a passerelle.

Power came from Volvo Penta D12s: 715 hp in Europe and 800 hp as US standard. Power and Motoryacht saw 31.5 knots on the 715s and Yachting 31.4 knots; a US boat with D12-800s was priced at $1,265,580 as tested in 2007. Below, it had three cabins with the master forward.

Quick tells: the 2006 boat has a bubble-like glass wheelhouse and Volvo D12 engines; the 2014 boat has sharp angular Neo Design lines, a flat-roofed hardtop with a sliding sunroof, a transom garage and Cummins QSC engines.

Ownership costs and value

At a 26-knot cruise the 50 burns about 46 gph, so a 100-hour season is roughly 4,600 gallons. Add a 55-foot slip, insurance, haul-out, bottom paint and Cummins service, and a US owner should budget about $40,000 to $75,000 a year.

The 50 was replaced as the line's flagship by the Atlantis 51 in 2018. Used boats ask roughly $420,000 to $680,000, a big discount to the 51. Shaft drives and widely supported Cummins engines make it cheaper to maintain than many pod-drive rivals, which helps resale.