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They say you can tell
a lot about a man by looking at his yacht. If that’s true, then the
first Benetti Tradition should have been a high-speed tugboat. For this
30-meter (99-foot), semidisplacement composite creation is the property
of none other than Paolo Vitelli, president and CEO of Azimut-Benetti,
a man who is considered, even by his competitors, to work harder, longer,
and with more intensity than just about anyone in the business.
It was Vitelli who,
barely out of university, started Azimut from scratch in 1969 and who
enjoyed a degree of success that allowed him to purchase the famed Fratelli
Benetti shipyard in Viareggio, Italy, in 1985. It is Vitelli who today
ultimately oversees both concerns, plus the recently acquired Gobbi yard
and serves as president of UCINA, the Italian boatbuilding organization.
And it is Vitelli who is ultimately responsible for the newest Benetti.
Despite his personality,
Vitelli’s yacht is hardly a workboat. She’s an elegant, finely
fitted trideck motoryacht that can accommodate her owners, eight guests,
and five crew. Yet she is also the smallest Benetti. The yard still builds
the fully custom, steel-hull-and-aluminum-superstructure creations that
made it famous (it has 43 launches under Vitelli’s stewardship),
these typically starting at around 50 meters (155 feet). But five years
ago Vitelli saw the need for smaller yachts that would be less costly
and, equally important, could be built in less time. (He once revealed
to me that often it’s not the cost of a steel Benetti that stops
a buyer in his or her tracks, but the minimum two-year build time.)
In response, Benetti
introduced three lines of composite yachts: the 45-meter (145-foot) Vision,
the 35-meter (115-foot) Classic, and the Tradition, which debuted last
fall. Because all are laid up in molds, they can be constructed in about
half the time of an all-metal vessel, which must be painstakingly cut,
welded, and faired. And because they are semicustom, it’s practical
for Benetti to begin construction—and indeed carry it along to a
fair degree of completion—without waiting for actual buyers, while
still allowing them the opportunity to make modifications to suit their
tastes.
In this particular Tradition,
Vitelli’s personality comes through not so much in the exterior style
or plan—although, as is his nature, he was involved in both—but
rather in the selection of wood, marble, fabrics, and artwork, the latter
of which wasn’t in place when these pictures were taken. To those
who know him, it is not at all surprising to discover that the interior
of Hull No. 1 is, well, traditional. Showcasing once again for Azimut-Benetti
the work of François Zuretti, it’s an amalgam of dark, rich
mahogany with comparatively dark fabrics (i.e., dark blue saloon carpet),
white Carrara marble, and three different shades of onyx. The exterior,
the work of another Azimut-Benetti veteran, Stefano Righini, is equally
conservative. This is the way yachts used to look and the way traditionalists
like Vitelli believe they still should.
When Vitelli laid out
his vision (no pun intended) for the four-stateroom Tradition, he told
Zuretti and Righini that he wanted a yacht that, although smaller than
the five-stateroom Classic, nevertheless felt big to her owner and the
guests. That’s certainly the impression I got when I stepped into
the owner’s stateroom on the main deck, all the way forward. Access
is to port, just forward of the entrance foyer and day head. I first walked
into a separate dressing area from which I could turn left and pass through
a large walk-in closet into the master bath, which has a large corner
tub, double sinks, and, in a separate compartment, a bidet and toilet.
Or I could have proceeded straight into the large (but not full-beam)
bedroom area, surrounded on three sides (forward, port, and starboard)
by windows that offer superb views and plenty of light.
Next page >
Part 2: The Tradition bristles with features seen before on Benettis and Azimuts. > Page 1, 2,
3, 4, 5
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