New season, Azimut Grande 26M returns with hybrid comfort focus

With yacht show season approaching, Azimut is pushing its 85-foot Grande 26M as a compact superyacht with optional hybrid “Hotel Mode”, five-cabin layout and a focus on quiet comfort at anchor. The model sits at the entry point of the Italian builder’s Grande range.

Edited by ad hoc news New Releases & Launches Desk. Reviewed before publication on 06/16/2026 at 11:05 AM ET. Details in the imprint.

As Mediterranean and US yacht show calendars firm up for the new season, Azimut is again putting its 85-foot Grande 26M in front of buyers looking for a compact superyacht with long-range comfort and lower-emission credentials. The model, which was first presented for the 2023 season, combines a raised-wheelhouse profile, five-cabin layout and an optional hybrid "Hotel Mode" that lets owners run hotel loads at anchor with significantly reduced fuel burn and noise compared with traditional genset-only operation, according to the builder’s technical notes on the official product page.

What Azimut’s Grande 26M offers in the 85-foot bracket

The Grande 26M is part of Azimut-Benetti’s strategy to push “low-emission yachts” across its portfolio, using optimized hull forms and hybrid energy solutions rather than going fully electric. The 26M sits at roughly 85 feet in length overall and has been designed by Alberto Mancini with what Azimut describes as a Deck2Deck terrace, an extended aft area that can be transformed from a high freeboard beach club into a waterfront terrace for dining when the yacht is at rest, giving more usable outdoor space in the typical marina berth length class, as outlined in recent coverage by the yachting press summarizing the Grande 26M’s design features.

Below deck, the yacht offers a five-cabin layout, including a full-beam owner’s suite on the main deck, aimed at families or charter configurations that want the feel of a larger superyacht without stepping up to a 30-meter-plus berth. Azimut pairs the interior by Achille Salvagni with extensive glazing, especially in the salon, to keep natural light levels high despite the raised-wheelhouse structure. The 26M runs on twin diesel engines on conventional shafts, with the optional Hotel Mode using high-capacity lithium batteries and energy-management systems to supply hotel loads such as air conditioning, lighting and appliances at anchor for limited periods without running the main generators, cutting local emissions and vibration during overnight stays in bays and environmentally sensitive areas.

Range and speed figures depend on the chosen engine option, but the Grande 26M is configured as a planing yacht intended to cruise efficiently in the mid-teens to low-20-knot range, while still allowing longer coastal passages with fewer fuel stops than smaller flybridge models in Azimut’s line-up. The boat competes in a segment that also includes models from Ferretti, Sunseeker and Princess, with Azimut using its low-emission positioning and the deck layout versatility as talking points to differentiate the 26M during private events and shows such as Cannes and Fort Lauderdale.

Within the broader Azimut-Benetti portfolio, the Grande 26M is billed as an entry point into the Grande family, which includes larger composite superyachts up to the 38M class. The group has repeatedly highlighted this range, along with its Magellano and Seadeck lines, as central to its decarbonization and innovation roadmap in recent communications with Italian luxury-industry stakeholders, including presentations around Fondazione Altagamma’s 2026-2029 strategic plan where Azimut-Benetti’s leadership participates as a member of the high-end manufacturers’ association according to reporting by FashionNetwork on the group’s role in Altagamma.

For Azimut-Benetti, yachts such as the Grande 26M are important not only as revenue drivers in the popular 80- to 90-foot bracket but also as a showcase for the group’s approach to combining lifestyle design with incremental emissions reductions rather than radical propulsion shifts. Azimut Holding’s investment arm is separately listed on Borsa Italiana; shares of Azimut Holding (ISIN IT0001050910) last traded on the Milan exchange in euros, providing public-market exposure to one of Italy’s better-known financial groups connected to the wider Azimut name.

Azimut Grande 26M quick profile

• Product: Azimut Grande 26M
• Manufacturer: Azimut-Benetti Group
• Category: New-release compact superyacht (around 85 feet)
• Launch date: Market introduction for the 2023 yacht season
• MSRP / Price: Pricing available on request from Azimut and dealers; typically in the multi-million-dollar range depending on specification
• Availability: Custom-ordered through Azimut’s dealer network in Europe, the US and other major yachting regions
• Target audience: Private owners and charter-focused buyers seeking a five-cabin superyacht in the 80- to 90-foot size class
• Key differentiator / USP: Optional hybrid Hotel Mode for quieter, lower-emission hotel operations at anchor combined with a Deck2Deck aft terrace and raised-wheelhouse layout

This article was a.i.-assisted and editorially reviewed. Product information without warranty; prices and availability may change at short notice. Not investment advice and not a buy or sell recommendation. Trading involves risk up to and including the total loss of invested capital.