It is the flagship of Azimut’s Seadeck series, the largest yacht ever built at the Avigliana shipyard, and is ready to hit the water.
by Niccolò Volpati
This is the largest ever built in Avigliana, and this is no coincidence. It could only have been built there, in the middle of the mountains. Azimut has invested heavily, a good £50 million, to make its historic headquarters more efficient. Avigliana now has three pavilions for fibreglass processing, three for assembly and three ‘pools’ for testing. The entire facility covers 122,000 square metres, with 1,100 direct employees passing through every day. Much has been done to produce ever larger boats. The new vertical warehouses, the five-axis milling machine and the new painting facility serve this very purpose. Thirty-metre yachts no longer need to be built elsewhere. And so Seadeck 9 was born, the flagship of the Seadeck series, measuring 26 metres in length overall.
The project was designed by Alberto Mancini for the exteriors and Matteo Thun & Antonio Rodriguez for the interiors. Last Friday, the first model made its appearance outside the warehouses, and the owners and all the shipyard workers celebrated. The name chosen by the shipowners is a tribute to Rome, the eternal city where they met. It will soon be transferred to Savona for the final routine tests, and in the summer, it will sail in the Mediterranean.
Giovanna Vitelli, President of the Azimut Benetti Group, at the Avigliana headquarters during the launch ceremony of the first unit of the new Seadeck 9.
“Seadeck 9 is the result of fifty years spent making the seemingly unthinkable possible”, says Giovanna Vitelli, President of the Azimut Benetti Group, “fifty years of challenges overcome”. But what is the new Seadeck 9 like? At the end of the ceremony, I had the opportunity to visit the shipyard and linger among its warehouses. When I returned to the square where the boat was on display, only a few of us were left, and the boarding scaffolding was still in place. The urge to climb aboard for a quick look at the deck and interior overcame my hesitation, and I managed to climb the stairs without attracting too much attention.
The cockpit is a very open space overlooking the water. The feeling from the cockpit is that of being in the middle of the sea, in contact with the surrounding environment. The sides can be lowered, and the stern platform allows for easy access to the sea. The whole area is protected by a bimini top supported by four carbon poles and extending beyond the hard top. In addition to chaise longues, seats and tables, there is also a hot tub. What I appreciated was that the ‘openings’ at the stern and sides are at least one metre above the waterline. Often, yachts that open onto the water are too close to the surface, and I wonder what happens when sailing with rough seas astern. Seadeck 9 does not run this risk, precisely because the cockpit surface is at a safe distance from the water.
The feeling is of being on a terrace overlooking the sea, without obstacles or barriers, yet without risking being overwhelmed by the waves. To access the flybridge, a solution was chosen that ensures comfortable, safe access without cluttering the cockpit. The ladder is located on the starboard side and is set into the superstructure. It is aesthetically pleasing because it is not visible from the outside, and it is also functional because you can climb onto the flybridge without fear or difficulty, even when the boat is underway. The saloon is obviously all glass, and it is really difficult to perceive any distance between the interior and exterior. Furthermore, both at the stern and on the starboard side, the full-height windows are sliding and can be opened, so the main deck space seems to be one continuous area between the saloon and cockpit.
Floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding doors create a seamless connection between the interior and exterior. The interior design is by Matteo Thun & Antonio Rodriguez.
The layout and furnishings of the saloon create a wonderful feeling. There is a real sense of space, almost like being in an open-plan environment. It strikes an excellent balance between elegance and functionality. The same feeling prevails on the lower deck, where the master and guest cabins are located. In the engine room, Seadeck 9 is designed to accommodate a Volvo Penta hybrid propulsion system with IPS transmissions. For the time being, its owners will enjoy it, while the public will be able to see it at the next Cannes Boat Show in September.
(Seadeck 9, you can see the sea from the mountains – Barchemagazine.com – February 2026)
