Thinking about Azimut

The big difference I see is that Liam has dealt with Azimut in Europe and Capt J has dealt with them in the US and from all I've seen that makes a huge difference.

To say the truth most of the boats I deal with are five years old plus, and I hardly ever go to a manufacturer for anything.
So when I say a product is good and the bad reputation someone gives it is not deserved.
Azimut on the design and technical side are pretty inline with most other Euro manufacturer.
If you give me a Beneteau vs Azimut, I will take the later. If you give me a Princess of Fairline vs Azimut it is a hard choice, the quality of the brands is very close and is very subjective to model.
Also the Brits tend to fit everything with Volvo which I am not always keen on. If you give me an Azimut or Absolute, I will go with the first. Quality control wise Absolute is better and gives better value for money, but I am not a big fan of IPS pod drives.
If you give me a Ferretti or an Azimut, I will go with the first.

I also remind that apart the hairline cracks issues (I think it was three or four in some hidden areas) for that video the biggest mistakes in the Azimut 47 video where regarding the engine and generator which they did a complete meal of it.

Liam have you ever maintained a Hatteras Motoryacht or Sunseeker and what are your thoughts on those? Given your location it is much easier for you to get parts to replace broken parts. But I've managed most all of the brands you've mentioned. I wouldn't relate any of them as high quality. Some are common throughout Euro boats, like the slip fitted bow rails, where the stanchion cups always constantly bleed rust, compared to a all welded 1 piece bow rail which is common in US builders. I've managed quite a few Azimuts, although not one in a while. But at least 6 different ones from 50'-70'. I have a friend that is full time on a 66' Azimut and has lots of issues with it.

Sunseeker had big problems with gelcoat. The new ones we get here have water infiltration, in windows and always change and ratification.
Euroboats are getting cheaper nowadays in my book by what I see three years later.

Hatteras we do not get any here. I had an Italian client who from an Azimut 55 then later a 62, bought a new Hatteras 60 Convertible.
But to be fair that is a different beast, the engines that the thing has and its beam are found on a 75 feet Euro style boat.
So you cannot really compare the 60 Convertible to an Azimut 62. And to be fair many Azimut's do not ride bad, actually they ride pretty good.
But the weight and the power of a convertible are out of this World compared to most motor yachts.

I have experienced the Sunseeker gelcoat issues and that is true. Aside from that I've found the Sunseekers to be well built, they perform and ride at the top of their class, access to everything is pretty good, equipment and installation is very good, and the ones I've managed have had relatively few issues.

I do agree that Azimuts do ride pretty good. But of the ones I've managed, I've always had numerous electrical issues, and general interior issues (wall coverings coming unglued etc.) and access to some items was really really poor. They've just always been problem childs. The reason being is there is no continuity in certain things. All of the electrical is sub contracted to many different sub contracting companies and nothing is done to the plans and even the same electrical components aren't used from one boat to the next.

I agree that the Sportfish are a different beast and much better riding. But not because of weight. Vikings and Hatteras both ride very good and perform very well. But the good custom SF at 2/3 the weight for their size, really ride much better than both Viking and hatteras.

Yes our experience is that an Azimut dealer will do what they can to minimise warranty claims. In our case this involves first questioning our own competence, which is very tiresome. The major frustration though is that Azimut has a very limited warranty and depends on their suppliers’ warranties rather than warranting the boat they have made. Based on other comments in the forums, it seems that the dealer is paid a fixed amount for each boat to cover warranty work and so it is very much in their interests to avoid a warranty claim.

So this is my initial post. I have been reading the Forums for about 6 months. First let me say that I am quite impressed by the knowledge being shared. I have to compliment many including Capt. J and Liam for their wise advice. I have been boating for about 30 years and progressed from 13 ft Boston Whale, to 19 ft Mako, to 25 ft Grady White, to a 46 ft Bertram and then a 61 Viking Sportfish that I had for 20 years and recently sold. I recently moved to Miami and won't be fishing (age and lifestyle) and was looking for a used Motoryacht. My Viking was a 2001 so I felt comfortable going as far back as then. Although I was put off by the posts on Muts I ended up buying a 48ft 2011 Azimut Flybridge. I am a sucker for a pretty face! I had those MTU Series 2000 engines in the Viking and was tired of how expensive everything was. I limited my search to either Cats or Cummins and the 48 Azimut has the QSC 8.3 600 HP Cummins which appealed to me. Plenty of HP for a 48 ft 40,000 boat IMHO. I wasn't thrilled with what I heard about Marine Max but figured most of the electrical issues where probably debugged over 10 years and I would have to deal with the remaining Azimut only parts processes. I was able to get the hydraulic steering mechanism rebuilt here in Miami so avoided one Italian part issue. So I have the direct comparison between a Sportsfisherman and a Motoryacht and it is Big Apples to small tangerines. My Viking was 13 ft bigger than this Azimut but 60,000 more pounds and 3' 5 inches more in beam. Motoryachts are Toys compared to Sportfish boat but owner gets to choose when he buys. I must say I love the newer common rail engines and underwater exhaust in my Azimut over my Viking.

We are in the process of purchasing a used Azimut Atlantis. Of the boats we looked at, 2 of them have shattered starboard hull windows. Does anyone have information as to why?
Thanks, Shelley

2 different boats with broken hull windows means they are poorly engineered. I doubt two instances on the same model is operator error.

We have loads of Atlantis locally, from the 35 to the 54.
It would be interesting which model it is at this point. although shattered window I would imagine it to be the some of the newer ones with the hull glass surface?

I know of a couple early 2005 to 7, Atlantis 42 and 47 where the starboard windshield broke when the boat was at anchor.
Both changed under warranty with the company who does the windshield, and changed under warranty.

The boat is a 2020 Azimut Atlantis 45. NO flybridge.

Yes, they are poorly built boats and not structurally strong enough in the area of those windows, causing the window to shatter from the hull flexing too much in that area. In case you haven't noticed, Azimuts in general have lots of problems from poor engineering. A simple search on here will give you plenty of reading material.