Azimut Grande 44M Uses 400kg Carbon Hull Vane as Seven Units Sell

Carbon hydrofoil cuts more than a tonne from the component

Azimut’s Grande 44M uses a fixed Hull Vane hydrofoil at the stern as part of a wider package aimed at reducing hydrodynamic resistance. The foil weighs about 400kg in carbon fibre, compared with roughly 1,500kg for an equivalent steel construction, according to Hull Vane and Azimut.

The hydrofoil is designed to suppress part of the stern wave, improve flow behind the hull and generate forward-directed lift. Hull Vane also says the installation can damp pitching and rolling, so the component is intended to contribute to both energy efficiency and onboard comfort rather than serving as a weight-saving exercise alone.

Seven Grande 44M units sold before the Monaco showing

Azimut says seven Grande 44M units were sold before the model’s Monaco Yacht Show appearance. The commercial figure places the technology package on a production programme with multiple owners rather than on a single experimental yacht.

The 43.6-metre flagship is being displayed in Monaco alongside the Grande Trideck and Grande 30M. Exterior design is by Alberto Mancini, interiors are by m2atelier, and the naval architecture combines Azimut Benetti Group research with work by P.L. Ausonio Naval Architecture.

Hull Vane works with hybrid and solar systems

The carbon foil is only one part of the Grande 44M’s efficiency strategy. Azimut also uses a mild-hybrid system with two 50kW electric machines configured as shaft generators, a battery installation and integrated solar panels to reduce generator demand during selected operating periods.

Azimut says the combination of hydrodynamic, hybrid, solar and lightweight-construction measures can reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by up to 30 percent compared with a similarly sized yacht using conventional naval architecture. That figure is a builder claim for the combined package, not a measured contribution attributable to the Hull Vane alone.

Lightweight structure supports the four-deck layout

Carbon fibre is used extensively elsewhere on the yacht, with Azimut saying more than 1,000 square metres of the vessel’s surface employs the material. The yard attributes an eight-tonne saving in the yacht’s upper structures to that construction approach, helping manage stability while creating a four-deck layout on a yacht of this length.

The upper arrangement moves the wheelhouse and captain’s cabin to an enclosed volume on the sun deck, freeing the deck below for owner-focused accommodation and social space. By pairing that layout with weight reduction and resistance-control technology, the Grande 44M provides a useful example of how naval architecture, structures and onboard energy systems are increasingly being developed as one package.