50 YEAR HERITAGE BREEDS PREMIER AZIMUT
Established over five decades ago in 1969, Azimut’s heritage is all the more outstanding because this family company is still owned and run by founder Paolo Vitelli.
Initially, the business, headquartered in Viareggio, Italy, chartered out sailing boats. However, by 1970 Paolo had won the right to distribute a range of respected yachting brands in Italy. This led to designing new yachts and a joint venture with the Dutch boatyard Amerglass, which produced the successful AZ 43 Bali. Further expansion followed with production ranging from the AZ 32 Targa in 1977 up to the Azimut 105 Failaka in 1982, the largest fibreglass yacht in ‘volume’ production at that stage.
A few years later in 1985, Paolo acquired the long-established and highly regarded Benetti luxury motoryacht company. With a boatbuilding history going back to 1873 and a track record of marine achievements, Benetti had developed to virtually introduce the concept of the ‘megayacht’. The resulting blend of two iconic brands enabled Azimut to establish fresh standards for the industry
