Azimut 50 Fly (Galley up configuration)

On of the more notable sport yacht design changes in the past decade has been to move the galley up closer to salon seating.

The Italian boatbuilder Azimut, recognizing this demand in the American market, has taken the popular 50 Fly and moved the galley up to where the conversation is most likely to take place while entertaining. A laundry and pantry now occupy the galley’s former space down below.

“We are seeing many customers return to overnight and destination cruising,” says Keith Teynor of MarineMax Port Clinton. “A number of our owners are using the boat year-round; summers on the Great Lakes, then taking their yacht south to Florida and back the next spring.”

The open flybridge and bow sunpad take full advantage of the sun. Loungers, sunpads, sculpted seating, hand-stitched patterns and solid wood tables create a luxurious living space on the upper flybridge with an elevated view of the seas ahead. You can equip the flybridge with a refrigerator, icemaker, sink, electric grill and flat screen TV — every luxurious comfort you can imagine. Azimut even left the aft half of the flybridge open for lounge chairs or a hydraulic davit with space for a shore launch craft.

Another welcome change is the helm seating. The lower station features twin side-by-side electric captain’s chairs, a full glass cockpit with flush-mounted Raymarine G series touch-screen MFDs, and a Xenta joystick that intuitively controls docking using the engines, transmission and bowthruster.

Seating behind the captain has a layout typically found on much larger, spacious yachts. Panoramic windows wrap around the salon, and a near full-beam sliding glass door brings the outside in, extending the social zone from the expansive outdoor U-shaped sofa forward into the salon.

The hull is left untouched — its alleged near perfect balance yields an incredible ride. For added insurance on days when fair seas are elusive, this reinvented 50 Fly includes a Seakeeper stabilizer. Coupled with twin 670-hp Volvo D-11 engines, maximum speed is well into the low 30-knot range, and cruising speed is a very respectable 26 knots.

With overnight accommodations for six, a master stateroom and private head, a VIP stateroom and guest head, and far too many options to mention, the 2018 Azimut 50 Fly is a floating water view terrace that stimulates a desire to explore, escape the routine and maybe even brush up on your Italian: Sei bellissima — you are very beautiful.