Twenty months after construction started, the 134’5” (41-meter) Aziza is ready for launch at ISA this coming weekend.
Aziza is based on the 39 Meters Classic megayacht model designed by Andrea Vallicelli. Like her smaller sister, this megayacht is built of steel and aluminum. There’s a good mix of indoor and alfresco spaces throughout Aziza’s three decks, since volume is a key element of the Classic series. The alfresco areas include a hot tub on the sundeck and a good-size swim platform off the curved transom. The shape of the transom is actually a second key element of all the Classic megayachts, complemented by yet another, that being a nicely flared yet still restrained bow shape.
Aziza, with a full-displacement hull, should top out at 14 knots, powered by twin Caterpillar C18 diesel inboards. Range at best cruise, 11 knots, is said to be 3,700 nautical miles. Expect the megayacht to be delivered by the end of June.
Meanwhile, ISA continues work on four other custom megayachts at its Ancona, Italy facility.
UPDATE, APRIL 24, 2013: Aziza launched as expected over the weekend. What wasn’t expected, however, was the emotional speech of thanks given by the owner, a repeat megayacht client of the shipyard. He surprised the ISA management team and other attendees by saying he was proud to be part of “ISA world,” as he put it. Aziza’s owner added that with both projects, he and his team were always treated professionally.
Aziza will spent the summer season cruising the Med, then make her boat-show debut at September’s Monaco Yacht Show.
In other ISA news, the shipyard has established an office on this side of the Atlantic. Located in Fort Lauderdale, the ISA North America office will service both the United States and Latin America, two important markets for the Italian yard. ISA North America is headed by Edward Sacks (at right in the photo below, with Marcello Maggi, ISA’s president of sales and marketing). Sacks established the famed yacht-charter firm The Sacks Group in the 1980s. (The Sacks Group was acquired by International Yacht Collection several years ago.) Sacks will work with potential clients and their brokers to raise the profile of ISA on American shores, and will further serve as a conduit between existing and potential clients and the shipyard.
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