Azimut/Benetti's charitable Gala

The Azimut/Benetti Group invited more than 600 clients from all over the world to its sixth Yachting Gala, which took place over the last weekend of June in the wonderful setting of Portofino.

The Gala gave guests the chance to see an exclusive preview of the new Azimut 80 and to raise a toast to Benetti, celebrating its 140th anniversary, making it the oldest Italian superyacht boatyard.

Over the two days, guests could spend their time taking part in sea trials and inspecting the assembled Azimut/Benetti craft in this beautiful, unique setting.

According to the organisers, the weekend was full of events and smiles -- smiles made even more special thanks to the charity initiative organised in partnership with the Operation Smile Italia Foundation, chaired by Santo Versace.

The foundation consists of volunteer doctors, nurses and health workers who carry out humanitarian missions in more than sixty countries around the world. Its mission is to provide reconstructive plastic surgery operations to correct serious facial problems such as cleft lip, palatoschisis, and the effects of burns and traumas on children. Every three minutes, the Foundation tells us, a child is born with these deformities. The task is enormous.

The target that Azimut/Benetti Group set during the Yachting Gala was, through donations and fund raising events, donate enough money to Operation Smile so that at least 200 children can smile again. But the result far exceeded expectations: there will now be 420 children who can access care through the donations raised at the Gala.