In the market for a 23m-26m

Hi guys,

This is my first post on here after lurking around for a couple of weeks. I'm glad that I've found a place where I can meet other yacht enthusiasts, owners, and professionals to share thoughts and experiences and find useful information.

I'm currently an owner of an Azimut 68 Evolution, which I've had for just over 2 years now. I've realized that I need a slightly larger yacht to accommodate my needs, and have thus decided on upgrading to a 23m-26m.

I've already done plenty of research, and have narrowed my choices down to the following:

1- Ferretti 830
2- Azimut 82
3- Princess 85
4- Sunseeker 86

I'd appreciate any useful insight you guys might have as to which one of the above you'd recommend, and why. Obviously, I would be getting a better deal sticking with Azimut, since the regional dealer here (Middle East) would be willing to trade in my 68 for the 82.

However, I have also received a fairly decent offer on the Ferretti 830, though excluding a trade in. Their trade in valuation for my 68 was about 30% below market value, and if i decide to trade in my 68, I also don't get the same offer on the 830 (about 400k Euros less discount). Overall, trading in the 68 for the Ferretti was about 700k more expensive than buying the 830 and finding a buyer for the 68 myself or through another broker.

The Princess interests me, but after receiving the quotation today from the regional dealer, it turns out that their price is about 15% higher than the Ferretti. Although the Princess does not have the ARGs, it does have the zero speed stabilizers installed (its already built). It's interior also seems to be quite roomy and as appealing as the Ferretti. What it lacks though also is additional water toy storage, which the Ferretti has.

The Sunseeker is just another choice that I have, but am not too keen about since the regional dealer here is not as popular as the dealers from the other brands, and supposedly does not offer the service that they do in terms of after sales.

Any insight and recommendations you guys might have would be highly appreciated. Thanks

Yes I read that post a couple of days ago and it immediately made sense, seeing how i was actually offered the boat at a very significant discount. This same dealer in the past would barely give you a 11% discount, but now he's offering 30% for a brand new boat that is supposedly just about to be built!

As for the Azimut, I was and still am quite happy with the Azimut. The only aspects that annoy me are 1) the outdated saloon which is no where in style and size to what a 68 footer should have. This was overlooked prior to purchase, in all honesty, as the boat was purchased unseen in person, but was seen in the brochure, internet, etc...long story. 2) The air-conditioning on my 68 was upgraded by the regional dealer in their Dubai facilities to tropical AC, given the ridiculously hot Summers we have here (125 degrees). This has caused the woodwork to somewhat be squeaky and noisy when under way. The new 70 Azimut is also appealing, though smaller in size to what I'm looking for. I need to see the 82 in person, as it is definitely appealing!

Hi goplay...thanks for your comments. In all honesty, your first point regarding the engine air intakes being on the outside of the hull is the most important and decision making point in my opinion. I'm not too worried about the swim platform rub rails, as I have port side berth with nothing in the back....actually just about 50 feet which seperate me from the other 68 behind me, whereas the shorelines and engine room/crew quarters are somewhat secondary in terms of importance to myself, but clearly understandable.

What I liked about Ferretti was their attention to detail in terms of interior space and layout, which I found to be more appealing and usable than the Azimut's, but i do admit i haven't seen the 85 or 82 Azimut's interior in person. Also, the ARGs are extremely appealing, since I do tend to do some weekend sleepovers in some of the local islands here, and ARGs are definitely needed for a more comfortable experience at anchor.

I actually need to do a comparison between the 82 and 85 Azimuts! Time for the dealer to get to work and start convincing me!

Guys, I do apologize for sounding a bit obnoxious or insensitive to any crew members/captains on here. My comment regarding crew quarters' size didn't sound right. The reasoning I said that was that 1) my captain and deckhand both have on-shore accomodation, and rarely spend any nights on board the yacht. I do a few overnight trips at some of the islands around here, but when I do, it's for 1 night maximum. 2) The deckhand and captain are both considered a part of the family. They've been with us for over 10 years. They eat with us in the cockpit or flybridge when we eat, and are free to use the saloon on slow days after completing any daily chores, etc. Basically, there's very little use of the crew cabin.

Hope this clarifies my ill-sounding comment

Hi Evan,

I'll definitely take a look into Marquis. The only problem with Marquis is that they have no dealer that I know of here in the Gulf. I can take a risk and go with Marquis, but it will definitely be a hassle trying to get some parts or technical expertise from someone who's in a different time zone and different part of the world vs. someone who's an hour's flight away maximum.

Thanks for the recommendation, and I'll keep you posted regarding what I choose.

I agree NYCAP. But one of the problems with Azimut is that all the furnishings on the 68E were fixed and standard, so nothing could be changed to a different size or shape, and obviously the layout is standard.

The new 82 and 85, as well as the other brands in this range, all have free standing furniture, which offers much more flexibility in terms of choosing what furtniture size and style you'd want to get the best use of room in the yacht. These boats also are somewhat customizable, and if not customizable, they do offer several different options for layout which offer greater flexibilty in choosing whats best for your needs. I found that Ferretti were extremely flexible in this area, but then again, I guess they'll be willing to do anything these days given the situation they're in.

You are absolutely right regarding the "size vs. perceived size" comment! The reason the 68E was bought unseen (been on the older 68 2 years earlier) was basically due to the fact that we had upgraded from a Majesty 66, and had expected something similar, yet a bit bigger in size with much better quality. We definitely got the better quality part right, but the size difference was unexpected! First of all, I presume very few people have heard of Majesty Yachts on here, so let me give you a quick breif on it:

Majesty Yachts is the yacht division of Gulf Craft Inc., a boat/yacht manufacturer based in the U.A.E. Now I can stop right there and I'm sure people can come up with assumptions as to quality and finish. In all honesty, boating here in the Gulf tends to consist of a 30-60nm trip at most, with the rare 150nm-200nm trip if travelling from one country to the other in the GCC. For this reason, boaters found Gulf Craft yachts to be quite appealing, since they were priced around 40% less than European/US made yachts, had MTUs/Cats on them as standard along with the expected equipment and electronics, and therefore seemed somewhat reliable. And to some extent, they were.

In 2002 Gulf Craft started concentrating on the larger yacht segment and set up Majesty Yachts as the subsidiary specifically for that purpose. We purchased the first 66 off the line (huge mistake), and were amazed at the size! The boat was huge in terms of interior area, with a huge saloon, day head, 4 stateroom layout each with en-suite head, and exceptional range. The interior would be comparable to at least a 75-80 footer from other brands. The problem was with the quality. Since it was the first boat off the line, we boviously ran into problems, the main problem being the constant engine vibration and increased temp on the starboard engine (MTU 900s), which could not be resolved. We had MTU techs flown in (on their expense) and they blamed the problem on engine mis-alignment and improper weight distribution. Factory actually took the boat back and replaced the engines with CATs free of charge (1050s), along with a bit of weight re-distribution. Long story short, the boat was huge in terms of volume, but was terrible in terms of fit and finish.

We bought the 68E thinking it was bigger, but were surprised to find it much smaller. Quality is 10x better, yet size does matter (no pun intended). It was my mistake, buying a boat without seeing it twice and three times to see what I'm getting. 2 lessons learnt from this story: 1) dont buy something until you've seen 10x and gone through every detail, and 2) yachts can be 240 feet long with the interior volume of a 120 footer. (does Silver ring a bell).