Nearly everything you need to know about Azimut’s 25 Metri is this: Lamborghini makes the helm seats.
In the soft and supple leather, with exactly the right amount of bolstering in the sides to handle either winding roads through the Apennines or a sloppy sea, these seats abaft the all-glass dash and deeply raked windshield are an example of how adding fine details can make an 87-foot yacht seem built to compete with the superyacht set.
Consider the curved, golden handrail for the stairs to the lower foyer. It looks like a metallic objet d’art. And the handrail’s leather coverings? They’re stitched on the inside, not the outside, with hand stitching that I could feel as I wrapped my fingers around the rail.
As for the broad strokes, the most striking feature of the 25 Metri is the trapezoidal bow (see sidebar) with a foredeck lounge. A U-shaped settee wraps around a table, and the sun pad has a rotating back to face the table for dining under an electric surrey top.
Aft, a hidden button raises the transom door to reveal a space for a tender up to about 13 feet long — Azimut recommends the Pirelli 3.9 Azimut Special Edition, which was designed for this yacht. There’s also stowage for everything from deck gear to dive tanks. For more toys, a hydraulic swim platform can handle a two-seat PWC, and the flybridge is braced for a davit to stow and launch another tender or toys. The flybridge also has an 8-foot wet bar to starboard and a 7-foot dining table opposite, along with room for sun loungers or water-toy stowage.
Inside, two versions of the Achille Salvagni salon layout are available. One has a formal dining table for eight, while the other has a J-shaped couch that fills the starboard side around a high-low table for dining or entertaining. (Let’s see: There are dining areas in the salon, cockpit, foredeck and bridge. Pasta, anyone?)
Both layouts have nearly sole-to-ceiling windows amidships and cut-down bulwarks with stainless-steel rails, to enhance views. For nighttime ambience, the 25 Metri has a home automation system that can store three mood-lighting combinations for the living and dining areas, controlled by a tablet.
The galley is on-deck in both arrangements, separated by a bulkhead with a sliding mirrored window, thus satisfying the typical sensibilities of European and North American yachtsmen alike. The galley is tidy, with dedicated cabinets for china and glassware, plus an array of Miele appliances. A pantograph door allows loading of provisions as well as service to the cockpit without passing through the salon, and another door is opposite the galley, next to the day-head.
The 25 Metri is likely to be a crew-run vessel, and they can close a pocket door forward for privacy or night running. To port of the helm is a curved settee with a table that can be separated by an electrically frosting glass divider. The dashboard has triple Raymarine touchscreen displays and a proprietary ship’s monitoring system, controlling everything from lighting to bilge pumps to air conditioning, and syncing with a tablet.
The aforementioned curving stairwell leads to four staterooms, all with en suite heads. Hidden in the passage to the amidships master is a washer/dryer unit (full-size versions are in the crew area). The master spans the yacht’s 20-foot-4-inch beam with a centerline king berth and stowage underneath. A pair of barrel chairs as soft as Italian puff pastry are to starboard, separated by a free-standing table. To port is a low bureau, and there’s a walk-in closet forward to starboard, with another aft on the same side. The master head is aft with a separate toilet/bidet compartment, and a 44-by-40-inch shower stall lined in Cardosa stone that was mined not too far from the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Forward, and with volume benefiting from the widened bow design, is the VIP stateroom with a queen berth, stowage underneath, and a vanity with a pouf stool. Another guest stateroom is to starboard with a queen berth, and the fourth guest space is to port with twin berths and a Pullman-style pull-down. Crew cabins for three are aft, with a separate entry.
Standard power is a pair of 1,650 hp MAN diesels, with optional 1,800 hp power plants for a top speed of 28 knots and a fast cruise at 24 knots, according to the builder. The speed is a result not just of Stefano Righini’s slippery hull, but also of lightened weight from the rigid, all-carbon-fiber superstructure.
Clearly drawing on cues from parent company Benetti for the ability to customize a yacht — from those fluted and curved bulkheads to changes in layout — the Azimut 25 Metri is all about the details.
What is Trapezoidal?
A trapezoid, the shape of the bow on the Azimut 25 Metri, is sort of a four-sided triangle that’s flat across the top. It’s the trademark shape of designer Stefano Righini, and it achieves several goals. First, it widens the usable forward deck space for lounging and anchoring. It also knocks down spray for a dry ride, and the added width translates into a larger forepeak VIP stateroom belowdecks. According to the designer, the flare, along with the hard chine and strakes forward, minimizes pitching in rougher seas.
Reinventing the Wheel
The Azimut 25 Metri has an Optimus Electronic Power Steering system by SeaStar Solutions. It gives the skipper the sensation of driving a luxury car, and the responsiveness can be dialed in to regulate the number of wheel turns as well as the steering effort, or feel. When docking or maneuvering, for instance, the lock-to-lock turns can be reduced for faster reactions. Not only does this fly-by-wire system add to the pleasure of wheel time, but it also eliminates all the hydraulic piping between the helm and the rudder compartment.
