While she formally premieres at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September, the Azimut Grande 32 Metri already promises to turn heads. She should do so for a few reasons. The interior (see sneak peek above) breaks from conventional yacht decor, for one. More important, the performance pledges swift speed hand in hand with fuel efficiency.
The Grande 32 Metri is the newest member of the Grande megayacht series, styled by Stefano Righini and designed inside by Achille Salvagni. Salvagni is striving for flowing surfaces throughout. In fact, Azimut says the idea is to emphasize volume in each area independently, while still keeping a sense of continuity. The Grande 32 Metri will showcase contrasting dark and light woods as well. The deeper tones (glossy, too) will be on walls and other surrounding planes, while the light woods will be overhead. Overall, the effect should be a softer, gentler ambiance.
Expect to see the effect flow from the saloon into the master suite forward on the main deck, down to the four guest staterooms below. As you’d expect, the master spans the full beam (23’6”, or 7.3 meters). Further aboard is a beach club, separate from the tender garage. This same configuration is aboard the Azimut Grande 35 Metri, which, not coincidentally, premiered at last year’s Cannes show.
From a construction and engineering standpoint, Azimut is cognizant that customers are concerned about fuel consumption. The Grande 32 Metri features a hull design that the builder terms D2P. The same design Azimut’s sister company, Benetti, employs for some of its projects, the hull is a wavepiercer. It also allows getting on plane with less horsepower than traditional semi-displacement designs. It also translates to better fuel burn at low and high speeds. Carbon fiber construction helps performance as well, by saving weight. Azimut anticipates the Grande 32 Metri maxing out at 26½ knots, with 2,200-hp MTUs. Cruising speed should be 21 knots. Furthermore, the megayacht should see 1,000 nautical miles at 12 knots, a healthy figure.
We’ll have a Megayacht News Onboard feature when the Grande 32 Metri debuts.
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