The Italian group of the Vitelli family show spectacular progress.
With 167 yachts currently under construction, representing some 6,014 meters, and a full order book until 2027, the Azimut-Benetti group can rejoice in its strategic choices in terms of innovation and design.
The time when Paolo Vitelli, then a student, secretly opened a nightclub in Turin is long gone. The year is 1969, Paolo Vitelli is 20 years old and his family is unaware of his nocturnal activities. Very quickly he sold his nightclub to create Azimut which would rent and sell sailboats. History will move at the same speed as the downwind winds that fill the sails of the foreign boats that it distributes first for Italy. Then came the design of his own units which he subcontracted to the shipyards before finally taking over in 1985 Benetti, the legendary brand established in Viareggio.
The reasons for success? Certainly the vision of its creator who was able to impose his Italian touch by surrounding himself with the greatest designers from the early years. In 1974 with Bernard Olesinski who will shape the famous Princess yachts, then John Benett, or even Stefano Righini, who will leave an inseparable mark like Azimut. But it is also technology that will ensure the sustainability of the group. In 1990, the group was the first to introduce 30 meter fiberglass hulls.
Today, the company is resolutely focused on new technologies and on solutions to reduce environmental impact. It is now Giovanna Vitelli, Paolo’s daughter, who is the President of the Azimut-Benetti group which is continuing its meteoric rise.
The group holds 14% of world production: “Quando il mare frutta, la terra frutta”. (When the sea bears fruit, the land bears fruit).
Jean-François Gourdon
