The Azimut|Benetti Group hosted over 600 select clients from all over the world at the sixth Yachting Gala, taking place in the splendid setting of Portofino during the last weekend of June. The event provided guests with the opportunity to see an exclusive preview of the all-new motor yacht Azimut 80 and to raise a toast to Benetti, crowning the 140th anniversary celebrations for the oldest Italian superyacht shipyard.

Azimut Benetti Yaching Gala 2013

The weekend was full of events and smiles – smiles made even more special thanks to the charity initiative organised in partnership with the Operation Smile Italia Foundation, which is chaired by Santo Versace.

This exclusive Yachting Gala for the numerous enthusiasts of Azimut|Benetti’s luxury yachts has become a traditional event and was held this year on 29 and 30 June against the wonderful backdrop of Portofino. Over the two days the guests could spend all their time taking part in sea trials and visiting the splendid Azimut|Benetti craft in this beautiful, unique setting.

Portofino Marina was “branded” with the Azimut Yachts name thanks to a two-year partnership that involves the company based in Avigliana sponsoring the jetties and staff uniforms. At the end of each day dedicated to the fun and the pleasure of sailing there were gala evenings reserved for important celebrations.

A very successful Azimut Benetti Yachting Gala 2013

The weekend opened on Friday 28 June with an exciting gala evening in honour of Benetti’s “first” 140 years. After the important celebrations held during Milan Design Week 2013 and the Rio de Janeiro Boat Show, the oldest Italian superyacht boatyard returned to Europe for a special toast reserved for all the people who have really made the company a success: its latest clients and the most loyal boat owners from all over the world. Clients with ideas and expectations that represent new challenges and constant stimuli to maintain excellence in technology and construction: the only conceivable course for the boatyard’s next 140 years. Together with Benetti, the evening’s special partners were the Antico Setificio Fiorentino, Cà del Bosco and Stefano Ricci, as Benetti ambassadors around the world who reflect the utmost in high quality Italian craftsmanship.

6th Azimut Benetti Yachting Gala

Saturday and Sunday offered plenty of opportunities for sea trials and tours to explore the Azimut collections. The special guest star among the 18 models set up for the occasion was the new superyacht Azimut 80, which was available in an exclusive preview to the 600 plus guests invited by the Italian Group, the leading company in luxury craft production, as a mark of the special attention that the Group has always paid its clients. Azimut 80, scheduled to be officially presented at the Cannes Boat Show in September 2013, is the first boat longer than 72 feet to be entirely designed at Avigliana and is fitted with incredible panoramic windows and guest cabins that offer the utmost in comfort and are destined to revolutionise the way we sail.

Most importantly the Yachting Gala 2013 was also an opportunity for the Azimut|Benetti Group to plan and achieve an important objective: to finance the work of the non-profit Operation Smile Italia Foundation chaired by Santo Versace, by raising enough funds to allow at least 200 children to smile again, and at the same time to give them a new life.

Azimut Benetti Yachting Gala 2013 Dinner

Like the event as a whole, this initiative was a great success too, thanks to the enthusiasm and the awareness of Azimut|Benetti’s friends, a sign (which cannot be stressed enough) that the strength that comes from working together can really make a difference: they not only reached their goal, they went beyond it – 420 will be children who will benefit from the care and carry on a normal life thanks to the generosity of donations.

The Foundation consists of volunteer doctors, nurses and health workers who carry out humanitarian missions in more than sixty countries around the world, correcting serious injuries and deformities through plastic surgery.