Azimut Yachts
PMY: How does your passion both for boating and business feed innovation? PAOLO VITELLI: Yachting and business have been my passions since I was young. After a few years of experience in importing boats I decided I could do more than that and I wanted to build a boat in Italy. So I started the production in Italy focusing on quality and innovation since the beginning.
GIOVANNA VITELLI: Yachting has been part of my life since I was very young. I remember testing boat prototypes during our vacations with my family so it’s really difficult for me to keep business and boating separate. We experience the boats ourselves, we listen to our customers and from the present needs, and interpreting the futures ones, we try to develop solutions through the continuous research of new techologies and new style trends.
PAOLO & GIOVANNA VITELLI: We have an entire R&D department devoted only to innovation and I think this is quite unique in the yachting industry, making such a long-term investment. Researchers don’t need an immediate return on investment. They are working long term, and they have to look forward, and experiment with new technologies. We have to innovate but also to test. When a new application is proved to be good, then it is moved into production.
On the other hand, we are Italians, breathing and living constantly in the newest trends of design, interiors, fashion and arts, that our designers, style department and ourselves import intp our projects on a daily basis. We also contribute in evolving new trends, like it often happens with new materials or layout solutions that we discover first.
Great designers and a large R&D office, together with the brands’ technical departments have introduced some of the most significant “revolutions” in the yachting industry (think of the big windows in the hull): we cannot deny that being part of such a story is a major boost to do more and more.
PMY: What lesson from your past has helped move your business forward? PAOLO & GIOVANNA VITELLI: That anything is possible if you strongly believe in what you are doing and keep the focus on your vision. PMY: How will your products change to meet the needs of the evolving marketplace?
PAOLO & GIOVANNA VITELLI: We see a growing segmentation, and this is the reason why Azimut Benetti has developed over time different lines of products to satisfy all needs. Also, we see more and more appreciation for great livability on board and, therefore, for those shipyard that are able to deliver it. Customers seek for the type of yacht which best fulfills their needs. They are looking for innovation, not only in terms of newest technologies, but especially in terms of the best yachting experience. The focus must be on the best layouts, on increased comfort (reduction of noise and vibration), best efficiency and, also, comfortable interiors for a sophisticated, but also relaxed living.