Azimut Atlantis 45

Sports cruisers like the Atlantis 45 are becoming rare beasts with the T-top day boat craze in full flow. But my word I was grateful for its protected main deck given the weather we experienced on the first day of the Cannes Boat Show.

- Jack Haines

Sheeting rain and high winds made it feel more Southend than the South of France but hunkered down beneath the 45’s swept roofline with the windscreen wiper arms sweeping like a mad conductor we edged out into the murky soup that was the Bay of Cannes.

The 45 is a replacement for the 43, a popular model that Azimut delivered 140 in four years. The yard didn’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater given what a success the 43 had been so the updates are minor. The 45 looks more like the flagship 51 and it’s ever so slightly wider than the 43. It also gets Volvo Penta’s latest IPS600 engines meaning an 80hp boost over the 43. This extra power is felt most at around 2,500rpm where the turbos have spooled up and a nice wave of torque launches the boat forwards at an impressive rate. Zero to 20 knots takes 11 seconds and in double that time, you’ll be at 30 knots. Somewhere between the two feels like the most comfortable cruising speed, 26 knots delivering a reasonable fuel burn of just 93lph for both engines.