Boat test for the 2007 Azimut 43S with boat pictures, boat specifications, and boat test results. Includes pricing, videos, engine test reviews, and ratings for the 2007 Azimut 43S.

The slick exteriors and restrained yet contemporary interiors of Azimut’s flying-bridge models, courtesy of the dynamic design duo of Carlo Galeazzi and Stefano Righini, have succeeded where others have failed: executing striking design across a line of flying-bridge cruisers. And while they are now available in sizes ranging from 39 to 116 feet, the builder felt it needed to offer more than just cruising boats aimed at families. So Azimut acquired Gobbi in 2001 and then created the Atlantis brand of open boats. But something was still missing. Hence the Azimut S range was born.

Even for a company known for being a trendsetter since launching its first boat in 1974, the S range is a high-water mark, and Galeazzi and Righini have done it again with the 43S. Like the 62, 68, and 86 S boats that preceded her, she is gorgeous. At her premiere at last year’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, she was moored diagonally so that passersby could take all of her in. She’s identifiable by the trademark broad, wine-red stripe on her hull sides set off by mirrored and shark fin-shape windows in the superstructure that make her look like she’s running hard while sitting still. The hardtop, with Azimut’s signature raked aft section, shades the cockpit, and a series of square windows in her hull sides completes the S treatment. Every time I passed her it seemed there were dozens of shoes just off her swim platform. She was mobbed all weekend.

It turns out that her looks aren’t the only features that are a breakthrough for Azimut. Never one to shy away from new technology, Azimut teamed with Volvo Penta to become Italy’s first boatbuilder to incorporate IPS drives as standard equipment on one of its models. In fact, Volvo Penta’s 370-hp IPS-500s are the only engines that are available on the 43S.

Several weeks after the Fort Lauderdale show, I made my way to the Surfside 3/Marine Max facility in Huntington, New York, for a sea trial. I arrived early, so I decided to wait aboard the boat and poke around until Surfside’s captain arrived. After learning the hard way how hot an engine room can get, I now make a point of beelining there before I run the boat. So I hopped across the 3'6"-wide swim platform and into the cockpit and was greeted with smart design: three separate access points to the powerplants and engine-related gear. The 2'6"-square cockpit hatch is suitable for everyday checks: There’s nearly two feet between the engines, and dipsticks, oil filters and fills, and belts are an easy reach from this vantage point. However, unless you’re willing to crawl forward from here—headroom is 4'3"—a removable panel in the saloon provides better access to the standard 10-kW Kohler genset and the mains’ bulkhead-mounted Racor fuel-water filters. To get to the marine gears and hydraulic steering ram, simply remove the cushions on the C-shape cockpit settee and open a 1'5"-wide hatch. The gear for the boat’s standard hydraulic swim platform is also here.

While the IPS drive system is something new for Azimut, the the 43’s stunning interior is not. The moment I entered the saloon, it was apparent that Galeazzi had created another winning design—he truly understands how to emphasize the interplay of light and space. Two cream-color settees contrast with the copious dark wenge wood, while those huge shark-fin windows—as well as the big windshield—bring in plenty of light. As open and airy as she felt, the space can be further brightened by retracting the 5'3"Wx6'5"L electric roof and opening the glass and stainless steel folding door.

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