Azimut 85 Ultimate

What kind of person spends $7.35 million on a recreational motoryacht? Strangely, nobody aboard the Azimut 85 Ultimate could say. Then again, maybe they didn't have to. In Sydney one minute, with Greg Norman aboard the next, now parked at Marina Mirage on the Gold Coast, this wayfaring dreamboat speaks volumes about its owner.

As much a statement about seamanship as it is showmanship, the Azimut 85 is a ship-like motoryacht personifying discernment, distinction and plain good taste. It is a boat upon which one can entertain, go places, win friends and influence people. It is most certainly a boat where one leaves the clodhoppers outside the saloon door...

Plush carpets, cherry and burlwood covered with seven coats of varnish, and coffee and camel-coloured marble flow through a galley with Miele appliances, down companionways to cabins with personal sound systems and en suites and bidets and high-pressure showers, up to a flybridge with a spa and barbecue, and aft to crew quarters kitted out with a full-sized laundry.

You may argue that in the multi-million dollar motor-yacht club such luxuries are par for the course, but the production-made Azimut 85 distinguished itself in a number of ways. It hasn't that dreaded reverse sheer which seems to emanate from some errant, wanna-be Italian motoryacht designers, and it hasn't the gaudy veneer of the try-hard interior designers.

More a shapely ship than a show pony, this Italian-made beauty cruises like silk at displacement speeds - no spilling the bubbly, no canapes on the silk tie - trimming delightfully flat without transom drag or a down-hooked bow laying low in the water.

Come fair weather or foul, the Azimut 85 will get you through stormy seas in first-class comfort. The boat provides good vision from its open-air bridge - which needs a bimini for shade - and also the internal helm station where jumbo wipers clear a massive glass windscreen.

Coupled with an interior reflecting both grace and beauty, the Azimut 85 can mix it anywhere in the world. In fact, worldwide some six or seven of these luxury boats are sold each year.

But don't be mistaken for thinking low-speed cruising is this boat's intent. Fitted with twin V12 1350hp MTU engines, the 85-footer responds more like a sportscruiser than a mini-ship.

Plant the throttles and the 66,000kg boat does a stunning 27-29kt, consuming just 450lt of diesel per hour. Fast cruising speeds of 24-25kt see consumption fall to 340lt of diesel per hour. As I said, just what sort of person owns a boat like this?

OUTDOOR LIVING
The Azimut 85 presents itself in a number of enticing ways: via the hydraulically-operated passarelle which at the push of a button extends from the stern; up the wide teak steps leading from the big aft boarding station; or through the cockpit gates adjoining a marina gangway parked alongside.

Because the Azimut has been designed with a view to outdoor living as well as inside escapes, you gain a sense of freedom the moment you step aboard. The full-length bulwarks are again more ship-like than showy, and protected from the bridge overhang which also shades the cockpit.

In true Italian style, there's a body-beautiful sunpad built into the bow, room to do a Titanic swan dive from the useful amount of clear deck space, and volumes of storage for fenders hidden under a discreet hatch.

There is an integrated anchoring system, and all around the decks oodles of impressive stainless hardware, including hydraulic winches that reel in the aft mooring lines.

I can imagine sumptuous breakfasts of eggs Benedict and Bollinger being shared in this 85's cockpit, which is only a short saunter away from the galley and just a hop, skip and jump to the water.

The oval table fronting the semi-circular lounge can seat six with a few loose chairs for lunch, and should a chill breeze set in, there is always the hand-turned timber dining table indoors.

From the cockpit a push-button control pad lifts the transom door, where a 5m inflatable or jetboat lies ready for action on self-aligning rollers. Run short of milk, need the papers, want a gelato on the shore? No problem! Within minutes you'll be taxiing for a waterside cafe.

BRIDGE BEAUTIFUL
Access to the flybridge is from a single internal ladder leading from the saloon, through a hatch which is held open on hydraulic rams. But remember to carry the shades to temper the stark white, all-over-body-tanning decks - at least until the owner fits a bimini top.

Backed by high stainless rails, the tremendous bridge is akin to a floating playground where you can let your guests run wild. They can bathe in the built-in spa, stretch out on the acres of comfy sunpad, pull up to the table flanked by firm lounges or simply hang around the wet bar. There's even a Miele barbecue to cook the lobster tails.

Yet the skipper won't miss the party behind a low-profile tinted screen, with only a wheel, electronic controls and a scant few gauges to deal with - such is the benefit of the MTU's multi-function ECU displays.

ELAN AND ELEGANCE
But to me the most impressive thing about the Azimut 85 is its tasteful interior, where Italianate flamboyance makes way for elan and elegance.

While the saloon has been nipped and tucked to accommodate the bulwarks, there is both amble headroom and floor space for packing a crowd inside. With the doors pulled open you could spill into the cockpit for apres-cruising drinks, or saunter up top for al fresco nibbles.

Inside, the formal saloon is flanked by Azimut's signature elliptical windows and curvaceous lounges upholstered in blue leather with an ostrich-like pattern. Buttermilk-coloured carpet and cream headliners and curtains add to the understated elegance.

At night the ambience comes from indirect halogen down-lighting and a central ceiling feature containing string lights. All vertical surfaces are ruby-hued cherrywood, with the horizontals in burl, including the dining table and six chairs on the starboard side.

Opposite, the galley is hidden like a bar at closing time behind a wooden-slat screen. It's not a visual feature of the saloon, but more a stylish office for catering. The galley contains coffee-coloured marble bench tops, with only judicious use of chrome and gilt edging.

There are twin circular stainless sinks so you can stack plates and scrub pots, a single-action tap, electric Miele appliances including dishwasher and family-sized oven - all the mod cons for your hostess to weave her magic.

On more private occasions, however, you might use the blue-leather lounge and compact dinette up front, alongside the internal space-age helm station with its impressive pneumatic chair. The open-plan layout allows you to see right through to the helm from the saloon, yet it's a private space perfect for an owner and partner to dine while on the run.

CABIN FEVER
Of course, no motoryacht would be complete without A-class cabins boasting built-ins for the Escada, en suites with room to beautify yourself, and space to slip into the tux. The Azimut 85 provides four double cabins, all with the same Ultimate style.

Below decks and amidships, where the boat is most stable, is the master cabin featuring a recurring theme from the saloon: cherrywood and sheets of burl enlivened by halogen down-lights and a central ceiling feature with strip lighting.

The wardrobes are walk-in, there's a settee and powder station with poof, while the bedspread over the king-sized island bed with inner-spring was covered in a heavy material of cream damask with salmon-coloured piping.

The bathroom is another world again, with toffee marble bench tops and swirling macadamia ice-cream floors, chrome and gilt-edged taps, a bidet, nice big throne, and shower with a series of special body sprays just like the local car wash.

An entertainment system, individual controls for the airconditioning and controls for piped music are all set in wood. Along with restrained use of mirrors, this ensures tradition and technology blend as one inside.

Two steps forward are the twin guest cabins with single berths, portholes and en suites. The bedspreads are a blue and yellow tartan, while the bathrooms had built-in soap dishes and toothbrush holders made from a stylish frosted glass.

But should you play your cards right, an upgrade will see you dealt the VIP guest cabin in the bow. It has a king-sized island bed, settee, make-up station, and his and hers hanging wardrobes. Who knows, maybe the hostess will even turn down the bed and leave a Lindt chocolate behind.

Back on the outer deck, there is a companionway leading down to the huge engine room with 190cm of headroom. Nearby, none-too-shabby crew quarters can accommodate the likely skipper and hostess, while a laundry will ensure everyone is wearing their Sunday best.

UP, UP AND AWAY
Built from solid 'glass below the waterline and with foam-sandwich above, the Azimut 85 feels solid and sea-kindly on the water. There is virtually no discernible transition from displacement to planing speeds, and a massive amount of torque thanks to five-blade Rolla props and the new Series 2000, 1350 hp MTUs - a serious bit of work with computer monitoring and LCD displays with bar graphs bobbing on the dash.

With electronic shifts and a 35hp hydraulic bow-thruster, the boat jumps sideways like a king crab from its marina berth. Idle speed is a quick 6kt, an increment later we're doing 12.3kt, then 17.4kt, and soon a startling 27-something knots for 450lt/hr.

The big deep-vee hull with hard chines and 17° of deadrise was designed by Stefano Righini. It feels great and looks a million-dollars-plus strutting its stuff down Sydney Harbour, throwing the water wide and kicking up a pipeline-like wake, as Galeazi's interior sparkles like a well-cut jewel inside.

Whoever owns this boat is obviously no small beer. Influential, powerful, persuasive and personable, the beautiful Azimut 85 means business - big business... Just like its owner.