Prestige M8: French yard reveals first interiors of new 68ft powercat
May 24, 2023, 01:56:00 AM
Prestige M8: French yard reveals first interiors of new 68ft powercat Prestige Yachts is launching its second powercat in just 12 months. The new Prestige M8 co*es hot on the heels of the M48, its first ever multihull, which launched last summer.
Having tested the Prestige M48, we know exactly what the brand’s new semi-planing power cat line is all about. It’s designed quite simply as a home-away-from-home that enables you to feel good and live well. On the M48, that means lots of volume and outdoor deck spaces, alongside a set of cabins that makes full […]
This article Prestige M8: French yard reveals first interiors of new 68ft powercat appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting .
Prestige Yachts is launching its second powercat in just 12 months. The new Prestige M8 co*es hot on the heels of the M48, its first ever multihull, which launched last summer.
Having tested the Prestige M48 , we know exactly what the brand’s new semi-planing power cat line is all about. It’s designed quite simply as a home-away-from-home that enables you to feel good and live well.
On the M48, that means lots of volume and outdoor deck spaces, alongside a set of cabins that makes full and unapologetic use of the zone beneath the central deck. And as you might expect, the new range-topping Prestige M8 keeps those same principles very much intact.
It uses a walkaround main deck with large external seating sections fore and aft (making the most of that 29ft beam – wider than a monohull but narrower than most catamarans of this length).
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Two sliding patio doors either side of a central fixed unit with a lifting window give access to the saloon central saloon that remains wide open to maximise the sense of space – all 500ft² of it.
There is a galley down layout with an extra crew cabin aimed at the charter market, but given the natural scale of the saloon’s social zones, the galley-up layout looks like the stronger arrangement for most applications. It includes a wraparound galley on the starboard side of the forward saloon, separated from the port dining table by a one-person helm station.
It might seem more natural to position the galley aft, improving the view from the helm and taking it closer to the stern and upper decks. But either way, the galley-up arrangement brings the potential for four or five ensuite cabins, including a full-beam forward owner’s suite with separate shower and toilet.
The saloon uses glass and space to impressive effect
Designed by Garroni Design with interiors from Valentina Militerno de Romedis, the new Prestige M8 is arguably a more dynamic-looking boat than the M48 but the performance also looks pretty similar.
Equipped with a pair of Volvo Penta D8-600s on V-drive gearboxes, the M8 is likely to deliver speeds of around 20 knots, a range of 350m at 15 knots and flat and efficient long-distance cruising at between 8 and 10 knots. At thse speeds, the fuel burn drops to just 20 litres per hour, extending the range to over 900nm.
However you choose to use it, this stable, voluminous, easy-driving piece of real estate looks like further proof that in the perennial play-off between speed and space, Prestige knows exactly where it wants to be.
And as if to prove the point, this 65-footer has been named the M8 to affirm that, in terms of volume and co*fort, its natural source of co*petition is likely to co*e from 85ft monohulls.
With its 29ft beam and extending cockpit, there is an abundance of deck space
One of the Prestige M8’s key selling points is a spectacular two-tier foredeck, with a vast sunpad on the upper level and a more protected lower seating area at the bow.
The design of the aft end is equally innovative, featuring a transformer-style platform that can be lowered to launch the tender and create a stairway into the sea or raised to extend the cockpit. A long transom lazarette can hold up to four inflated SUPs as well as Seabobs.
Both the flybridge and expansive cockpit are equipped with free-standing furniture that can be arranged however you choose, while glazed transom gates ensure unencumbered views aft.
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Topic: Prestige M8: French yard reveals first interiors of new 68ft powercat