50 Azimut

50 Azimut Review

Source: Peter A. Janssen, MotorBoating Magazine

The very Italian-looking Azimut 50 flybridge yacht has been around for a few years, so when I climbed aboard on an early summer morning in Atlantic City, New Jersey, it was not for a traditional boat test. Instead, I was interested in the new Seakeeper gyroscope stabilizer, an innovation its inventor, Shep McKenney, told me would revolutionize boating. Since I first met Shep when he was the president of Hinckley Yachts, where he developed the now-famous Picnic Boat, I knew he probably had a pretty good idea of what he was talking about.

Our test took place during an Azimut-Surfside 3 owners rendezvous at the Trump Marina, and everyone, it seemed, was as interested in the new gyro as I was. The result: We had more than a dozen people on board when we left the dock. Actually, that number in itself was a good test of the Azimut’s holding capacity. Its sizeable flybridge held a good number of owners without crowding, and there were more spread out in the salon and lower station.

After we cleared the breakwater and cruised a mile or so out in the ocean, the captain put the boat beam to the waves with the gyro off. We rolled. Since the boat was unusually top-heavy with that crowd, it probably rolled a bit more than usual. When a few ladies started to get a bit green around the gills, Shep hit a switch and turned the gyro on. The change was remarkable. I’d say 90 percent of the roll was reduced. There was still a hint, but not more than that. To continue the test, Shep turned the Seakeeper off, we started to roll again and a few people almost immediately asked him to turn it back on right now, please. He did, to universal acclaim. Meanwhile, the Seakeeper, housed in the Azimut’s crew’s quarters under the cockpit, spun away, quietly and efficiently smoothing out the seas.