MEDUSA proves how much a thoughtful refit can do. Built by Azimut in 2001 to a Stefano Righini design, she was taken back to the studs in 2025 and rebuilt as a modern charter yacht, keeping the sleek GRP flybridge profile that made the original a success while bringing the interior, the systems and the toys fully up to date. The result is a 26.8 metre yacht with the presence of something newer and the value of something proven.
Her dark hull gives her real presence on the water, and the deck spaces behind it are built for entertaining. The flybridge is the highlight, with a jacuzzi set aft among cushioned seating, a shaded dining area forward and lounge space between the two. It is a place to spend a whole day, from a slow breakfast to a soak at sunset with the coast laid out below. The main deck aft adds a second al fresco dining area, connected to the salon through wide sliding doors, while sunpads at the bow give guests a quieter, more private retreat underway.
Inside, the 2025 refit shows a confident, contemporary hand. The main salon is bright and calm, framed by large windows that pull light across soft grey furnishings, pale timber and carefully layered lighting, including fibre optic starlight detailing that turns the evenings into something memorable. It is a sophisticated space that works as well for a quiet dinner as for the dockside gatherings of up to thirty guests that MEDUSA is set up to host, backed by an advanced audiovisual system throughout.
Accommodation is arranged for eight guests across four cabins. The master is the centrepiece, a generous suite with a wide bed beneath a starlit ceiling, warm materials and its own bathroom. A further double and a pair of guest cabins, including a twin, complete the layout, each finished in the same refreshed style and served by its own ensuite. It is a flexible plan that suits two or three couples or a family with children.
Underway she is composed and quiet. ABT Track stabilisers work both on passage and at zero speed, so the jacuzzi stays level at anchor and the yacht holds steady in a swell. A cruising speed of around twelve knots suits the kind of relaxed coastal cruising she is built for, moving easily between the bays and ports of the South of France.
A professional crew of five looks after MEDUSA and her guests, running the yacht, the galley, the water toys and the entertaining with equal ease. The swim platform opens the yacht to the sea and to a spread of watersports equipment, turning quiet anchorages into places to play.
For a charter party drawn to a yacht with character, a genuinely current interior and a flybridge built for long, social days, MEDUSA offers a distinctive week on the French Riviera, handsome, freshly refitted and set up to entertain from morning until well after dark.
What sets her apart is the completeness of that 2025 rebuild. Many yachts of her age carry their years in tired systems and dated finishes; MEDUSA carries none of that. Air conditioning throughout, refreshed cabins, a modern galley and a deck layout arranged around the way people actually entertain make her feel like a current yacht rather than a restored one, which is exactly what a week of Riviera cruising and evenings alongside asks for.
