On board the new flagship of Azimut's Seadeck range

If first impressions count, the Azimut Seadeck 9 makes all the right ones. Entering the port in Varazze, Italy, there awaits 25.6-metre Aeterna – the new flagship of the Italian builder’s Seadeck range – her white hull topped by a greybronze superstructure with detailing in Vulcan and Etna grey.

Immediately drawing the eye is a 1,600-litre glassbacked infinity pool that shimmers an enticing Hockney blue beneath the Ligurian sun. Push a button, and on either side of the pool folding balconies open up the aft deck, creating endless horizons and a compelling sense of space. It appealingly defines the terrazza sul mare (sea terrace) concept that gave the range its name.

The 60-square-metre three-tiered aft deck, dubbed the “fun island” by Azimut, is a visual delight that lives up to its name, inviting fun-filled days on the water with the cascade of three terraces.

Steps down from the main deck pool, the lower aft deck hosts an oversized sunlounger. Capping off the trifecta of terraces, this deck unfolds to present steps leading down to a large swim platform that provides easy access to the water and jet skis, Seabobs, paddleboards and the tender.

This Transformer, a seven-square-metre hydraulic platform by Opacmare, can also dip below the waterline, and it stows, launches and recovers the tender.

Azimut worked to ensure that the yacht was as light and the hull as efficient as possible, promising fuel savings of up to 30 per cent

Exterior designer Alberto Mancini says he was invited to “rewrite the grammar of the leisure yacht” when designing this boat – essentially to come up with a vision for where production yacht design is going in the next decade.

“On most yachts you live high up, you look down at the sea,” Mancini explains. “I wanted the opposite: I wanted the sea close, at your feet, at eye level, around you. The lower you go on the Seadeck 9, the better it gets. That’s unusual – and it’s exactly the point.”

One imagines the yacht anchored in a secluded pinescented cala with the spa pool bubbling, balconies open with hammocks rigged, steps descending into the ocean and the tender standing by at the ready to explore ashore.

With the WaveRunner and Seabobs launched from their lockers under the aft deck, music pumping from the Fusion stereo, drinks served from the aft deck’s fridge and shade provided by the overhang’s retractable awning, this becomes an alluring all-day family space for fun on the water.

Sunpads can be moved inboard to cover the pool, and the aft deck’s high-low adjustable table extends to seat up to 10 diners, so it’s eveningready too. The practicality of covering the pool when not in use also fulfils an emotional need for Mancini.

“I really don’t like the sight of an empty pool at sea – it looks abandoned, sad,” he says. “So, the sunbeds become its lid, and the cascade always reads as complete, whether the pool is open to the sun or hidden beneath it.”

Up above, the flybridge is an equally compelling space for al fresco enjoyment. Accessed from the port side deck, just before an entrance leading inside to the bridge and galley, a transverse staircase with underlit steps leads up to the flybridge.

The space is shaded by a hardtop with a fan of four darkened-glass windows. A second helm station up here offers unimpeded views forward over the foredeck lounge, the latter with its pop-up mood lights and bevy of speakers.

“Sustainability had to remain at the heart of the project. We selected materials that are natural, recycled or recyclable wherever possible”

To maintain the connection with the environment that absolutely defines this yacht, a low windscreen wraps around the entire flybridge to preserve the view while offering some shelter from the breeze.

Aft of the helm is a chef station with sink, Vitrifrigo fridge and icemaker and a Kenyon teppanyaki grill and hotplate, giving diners the full chef ’stable experience. After dining you can lounge, digestif in hand, on the huge sunpad aft staring up at the stars.

This yacht shows its devotion to the ocean in other ways too. Interior design is by Milan-based designers Matteo Thun and Antonio Rodriguez, co-founders of Matteo Thun & Antonio Rodriguez Design, both known for their environmentally sensitive designs.

Having never penned a yacht before, what were their red lines? “Sustainability had to remain at the heart of the project,” says Thun. “For this reason, we selected materials that are natural, recycled or recyclable wherever possible.”

Rodriguez further explains their guiding design principle: “Subtraction is never about removing functionality; it is about removing everything that does not add value to the experience,” he says. “The result is an environment that feels effortless and intuitive, where what remains is not the object itself, but the quality of the experience it creates.”

The restful, earth-toned saloon is understated but assured, and the Nastro armchair by Bonacina 1889, selected by the designers, is a focal point for the space. The dramatic c-curves of its rattan frame echo the curvature of the U-shaped sofa to port, the backrests of the dining chairs and the darkened glass fashion plate immediately outside.

In keeping with the close-to-the-water’s edge theme of the boat, the saloon connects seamlessly with the aft deck, with step-free access between the two spaces. The saloon is lit by picture windows to port and by full-height sliding glass doors aft and to starboard, which further open up the space to the outside. The extensive glazing is key to “creating a seamless connection between the interiors and the surrounding seascape”, says Rodriguez.

“Subtraction is about removing everything that does not add value to the experience. The result is an environment that feels effortless and intuitive”

While the Azimut Seadeck 9 has all the trappings of a ready-to-entertain dayboat, she offers comfortable accommodation to be expected in a pocket superyacht. Below, a full-beam midships owner’s suite chants the same muted, no-frills mantra as the saloon, with a touch of warmth added by walnut veneers instead of glass.

Twin marble sinks are the only hint at opulence – and even those are leavened by deeply utilitarian coppered bathroom fittings. Large hull ports indulge the space with natural light, and an office and walk-in wardrobe mark it out as the lead suite.

In the bow is a VIP double cabin and in between are double and twin cabins, all en suite. Separating the guest accommodation from the engine room are two cabins for two or three crew.

In terms of sustainability, Thun and Rodriguez kept their word, as Azimut’s project manager for the Seadeck Francesco Serra points out. “Owners are always amazed to find out that both carpeting options offered are made from recycled material – especially since the finish and softness underfoot feel so incredibly high-end,” says Serra.

“Furthermore, 100 per cent of the upholstery fabrics for all seating and sofas indoors and out are made from recycled materials. But the truly pioneering step was introducing recycled PET for the first time ever within the boat’s bulkheads and in 65 per cent of the deck, as a sustainable alternative to traditional PVC. More than 10,000 plastic bottles are recycled per unit.”

Azimut worked with Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Studio (NAMES) to ensure that the yacht was as light and the hull as efficient as possible, promising fuel savings of up to 30 per cent.

As well as designing a hull that planes at just 16 knots and tops out at 30 knots, Serra and his team wanted to increase the range of cruising speeds, “from a slow cruise speed of 20 knots up to a fast cruise of 26 knots, in efficient mode and constant trim attitude”.

With the triple 1,000-horsepower engines fitted instead of the standard 900-horsepower, as promised, she pops up onto the plane at 16 knots, maintains impeccable trim and glides confidently through turns using the wheel.

Choose the IPS joystick to steer and the response sharpens, like pressing the “sport” button on the dash of a GT car, banking more aggressively into turns. At 26 knots, the flybridge’s windscreen offers some protection when seated forward at the dining table but if you feel like chatting or reading a book, the aft deck offers better shelter.

The saloon is better still, quiet and air conditioned, where guests can lounge on Bonacina’s Nastro armchair and watch the ocean through wide windows.

Other energy-saving efficiencies include utilising 3M film on the superstructure’s glass to reflect UV and reduce load on the Condaria air conditioning, and 9.5 square metres of Solbian solar panels aft of the flybridge to keep the house batteries topped up.

Noise and vibration reduction was also targeted, and the full-beam owner’s suite is “floating”, installed on anti-vibration mounts. A metasilencer quietens the AC system and an Exilator ExiLencer reduces noise and emissions from the two Kohler gensets at anchor.

There’s scope for future iterations of the Seadeck series going greener yet. For the last two years of Azimut’s 20-year association with Volvo Penta and its IPS drives, they have been working on a full-hybrid system using the first Seadeck 7 as a test bed.

Electrification options run from a “mildhybrid” system with a battery bank that handles hotel loads at anchor, obviating the need to run the generator, right up to the recently perfected full-hybrid system.

This features electric motors mounted between the engines and gearboxes that enable full-electric propulsion for manoeuvring or very short, low-speed passages, but also act as alternators under diesel power, charging up a larger battery bank, which means you don’t need generators at all – though the extra battery capacity makes the yacht about 200 to 300 kilograms heavier than standard.

The full-beam owner’s suite is “floating”, installed on anti-vibration mounts

Aeterna will spend the summer cruising Sicily and Sardinia with her owner, but wherever she goes, she’s the end of the line in terms of size for new Seadeck models. The yachts are built at Azimut’s plant in Avigliana, west of Turin. The GRP hulls and carbon fibre superstructures are transported separately by road – low bridges prevent transportation of a completed yacht – to Azimut’s finishing plant in Savona.

The length limit for road transport is 24 metres, and the cutlines on this 25.6-metre yacht reveal that the bow and stern sections are bolt-on appendages. Any bigger they cannot build – and, anyway, it was always Azimut’s plan to limit the Seadeck range to three models: 6, 7 and the flagship 9. That being the case, what a finale this is. Bravissimo!

First published in the October 2026 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.