Paolo Vitelli passed away on December 31, 2024, at the age of 77, following an accidental head injury. His fast-paced life is the story of a stunning entrepreneurial success that brought Italian yachting to the top of the world.

Source of news Voile & Moteur

A pioneer in the Italian motorboat industry, Paolo Vitelli died on New Year's Eve while vacationing at his property in Mascognaz, near Champoluc, in Val d'Aosta. The exact circumstances of his death are not fully known, but it appears he suffered an accidental head injury while handling the door of his garage. Authorities have ordered an autopsy to determine if a medical condition may have caused his death.

A Leading Figure in Yachting

Paolo Vitelli was a prominent figure in the global yachting industry, a particularly charismatic man who built a true empire in the luxury yachting sector, where he had been the undisputed leader for over 25 years. Vitelli's life reads like a novel, intertwining entrepreneurship, business acumen, and incredible foresight.

Born in Turin on October 4, 1947, young Paolo spent his summer vacations at his grandparents' property in Cap d'Antibes. It was there that he developed a passion for the sea and sailing from a young age. At the age of 13, his parents gave him a Vaurien. Loading a camping tent onto it, he set off to explore the French Riviera with a friend. Saint-Tropez, Porquerolles, Île du Levant – the two friends experienced these nautical escapades as an adventure. "Those are my best childhood memories," he told us during an interview for Neptune in 2019. The teenager was resourceful. Thanks to his parents, he traveled across Europe and honed his language skills during language stays in London or Germany. He also showed early business acumen. Having a knack for commerce and considering work a cardinal virtue in his family of Piedmontese industrialists.

Exceptional Business Acumen

While still in high school, he made some profits selling ski equipment to his classmates. Just of legal age, young Vitelli borrowed money without his parents' knowledge to create Tempo Sei nightclub with five friends. This new-style nightclub, inspired by English venues, became a sensation among the youth of Turin. Vitelli had a keen eye for opportunities and a business intuition.

Azimut was born two years later, in 1969, when Vitelli was 21. Having rented many boats in recent summers, he had gained a good understanding of the industry. Why not turn it into his business? He sold his share of Tempo Sei and opened a boat rental agency under the name of Azimut. And what about studies? Paolo, always in a hurry, skipped steps. The young businessman excelled. He earned his economics doctorate in half the time it usually takes, all while launching his business. Now free to undertake even more, as soon the rental business supplemented by the sale of used boats was no longer enough. The Turin native had a new idea: importing plastic boats from Holland and England. While such boats existed in Italy, they were only for small vessels.

Motorboats as the Obvious Choice

Believing in his lucky star, the tall man in his eternal white shirt set off on a journey to court European shipyards to entrust him with new boats to export to Italy. Impressed by the audacity of this eloquent young man, the head of the now-defunct Dutch shipyard Van Hamburg was the first to trust him and provide him with a sailboat without financial guarantees. Amerglass, Aquafibre, Tarquin, Westerly, Camper & Nicholsons, Aloa followed suit. He also convinced a certain Madame Annette Roux, the young owner of a budding Vendée brand, which was none other than Beneteau. The first Genoa boat show in 1971, first sales, and first successes.

Initially focused on sailboats, over time, motorboats became the obvious choice. At 25, it was time for Azimut's small concession to make more substantial profits by building boats under its brand. The inaugural model was the AZ 43 Bali, a 12m hard-top cruiser, which he showcased at the Genoa boat show in 1975. The Turin entrepreneur wisely entrusted the initial construction of the new AZs to his most loyal customers, with Amerglass, Westerly, and Beneteau leading the way. He now wore two hats: boat importer and builder, even though he did not yet have a shipyard.

A 60-Foot to Start

In the late 1970s, the yacht market for vessels over 15 meters was dominated by traditional Italian shipyards that built in wood or steel. A visionary, Vitelli bet on fiberglass and large boats, a segment that had not yet undergone a transformation. He was the first to arrive in Viareggio, the mecca of Italian motorboat construction, with composite yacht hulls. A 60-footer was born in partnership with Baglietto, and then the spotlight shone on the AZ 105 Failaka, a composite yacht over 30m long, which hit the water in 1982. Vitelli sold it to a Kuwaiti billionaire on a bluff, even before the plans existed!

The series was a success. The Failaka was later showcased at the Miami Boat Show. The United States became the new promised land for the brand. That same year, a famous client arrived at Azimut to order a 105-foot express yacht. It was Christina Onassis. The yacht was manufactured in just one hundred days and delivered on time to its owner for her daughter Athina's christening. This boosted Azimut's contacts list!

In 1985, Vitelli acquired the prestigious Benetti shipyard in Viareggio, an institution since 1873. Recently bankrupt due to production overruns and late penalties in the construction of the superyacht Nabila (86m long, a record at the time) commissioned by billionaire Adnan Khashoggi. This risky acquisition was a true gamble that allowed Vitelli's company to change dimensions.

Fifteen Years of Uninterrupted Growth

In 1988, he took over his subcontractor's shipyard in Avigliana near Turin, which became the brand's flagship and headquarters. Azimut had taken off, but the rest of the story was not a smooth journey. The company turned group faced enormous challenges following successive acquisitions but learned from this episode to survive the economic crisis of 1993/94 without major damage. From that point on, the Azimut group experienced fifteen glorious years of uninterrupted growth, leading it to become the global leader in yacht sales in the early 2000s. No shipyard would challenge its position, even during the 2008 financial crisis that severely hit the Italian nautical industry.

Was there a Vitelli method to achieve this? Probably. Throughout his career, the businessman had the gift of anticipating trends and the expectations of a luxury market in full expansion, which necessarily involved commercial development across the Atlantic. He understood earlier than others the importance of naval architects and designers in the success of a range. He invested wisely but showed great financial caution when the situation could shift at any moment. Vitelli never ventured into the stock market. The company he created remained a family business.

After working at Turin's top law firm, his daughter Giovanna joined him at the helm of the group in the mid-2000s. In addition to his activities in luxury yachting, Vitelli briefly pursued a national political career, serving as a deputy on Mario Monti's list from 2013 to 2015. He also presided over Ucina, the federation of Italian nautical industries, for eight years. The Turin native also ventured into marina construction in Varazze on the Ligurian coast, Viareggio, Livorno, or Malta, creating a marina beneath the old town of La Valletta. This mountain enthusiast also established a chain of boutique hotels in Chamonix and Val d'Aosta, his beloved region along with his native Piedmont, where Azimut's historic headquarters is still located in Avigliana, east of Turin.

Key Dates

• 1947 Paolo Vitelli was born in Turin.
• 1960 First nautical cruise aboard his Vaurien from the family home in Cap d'Antibes.
• 1969 Establishment of the Azimut boat rental company. Vitelli begins importing Dutch boats from Amerglass.
• 1975 Vitelli initiates the construction of AZ 43 Bali, the first boat under the Azimut name.
• 1977 Launch of AZ32, the "Ford T" of boating according to Vitelli.
• 1980 First 60-foot (AZ60 Solar), designed by American architect Terry Disdale.
• 1982 Launch with Baglietto of AZ 105 Failaka, the first composite yacht over 30m long.
• 1985 Azimut acquires Benetti and enters the American market.
• 1988 Acquisition of a subcontractor in Avigliana (Piedmont), which becomes the main factory and headquarters of Azimut.
• 1991 Pininfarina collaborates on the design of Azimut 65.
• 1999 Benetti launches Reverie, a 70m superyacht.
• 2002 Azimut acquires the Gobbi shipyard, which becomes Atlantis.
• 2003 Launch of Azimut 68S, an open cruiser with revolutionary panoramic hull windows.
• 2007 Vitelli acquires the Varazze port in Liguria and transforms it into a modern marina.
• 2019 Launch of three Benetti yachts over 100m that same year.
• 2023 His daughter Giovanna Vitelli becomes the group's president.
• 2024 Death in Mascognaz, in the Italian Alps.