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Azimut accommodates comfort, speed, and style in this new 50-foot cruiser. And Azimut’s latest contender does a terrific job of delivering on that impossible promise. It’s only in the third cabin where any sense of compromise creeps into the equation. In all other areas the 50 provides the complete package.
The 50’s three-cabin layout, with its lower-deck galley, places the emphasis on the master and VIP. Inevitably the third cabin is on the small side, but its bunk berths are full length, if not full width, and there is a plentiful 6 foot 7 inches of headroom in the entrance area. The open-plan galley, meanwhile, has an abundance of light and standing room, not to mention a useful opening porthole and a pretty good volume of stowage.
The master stateroom is an impressive full-beam suite set deep into the hull amidships, with generous windows, a roomy head compartment, and a full-size, low-level berth. While headroom down here is complicated by the multitude of shapes in the main deck molding above, there’s still 6 feet 4 inches in the areas where it matters. Azimut takes detailing and fit-out seriously, and the beautifully crafted slide-out vanity unit on the port side of the master suite is a prime example.
Up in the bow the VIP is less spacious than the master, but not uncomfortably so, and it is equally well endowed for stowage—both here and amidships the big double berths lift on gas struts to reveal veritable caverns beneath, while there are numerous additional lockers, drawers, and cubbyholes. Although headroom is an inch or so less in the VIP than in the master suite, it doesn’t feel restricted. The forward head, with its roomy shower compartment, has en suite access to the VIP, and also doubles as a dayhead.
Putting the galley on the lower deck creates space for a comfortable raised dinette opposite the helm, offering excellent views. Those main-deck windows are not quite as massive as they look from the outside. In fact they comprise several separate panels, with sturdy fiberglass supports in between. Yet the overall effect is spectacular, helping to create an unusually bright and comfortable deck saloon, with its discrete seating areas and the option of a sofa-bed conversion on the starboard side. The 50’s interior is the work of Carlo Galeazzi, Azimut’s usual interiors man and in my opinion one of the best in the business. The living spaces are beautifully realized with contrasting tones and textures, and lots of pleasing detail. A few more handholds would be useful, though, along with fiddles for the tables and galley surfaces, to help keep your food and drink where it belongs.
A spacious cockpit, protected by the long overhang of that enormous flying bridge—which covers some 200 square feet, according to Azimut—is complemented by an equally generous foredeck seating area, with a separate sofa and sunbed. An optional crew cabin, which might be short on headroom but makes up for it with an excellent berth, can be installed in the space beneath the cockpit sofa. There is consequently no tender garage, but the hydraulic platform can handle tenders up to 10 feet 6 inches long that weigh as much as 770 pounds.