Topic: 2025 Motor Boat Awards winners: Best motorboats of the year revealed (Read 12 times)
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Topic: 2025 Motor Boat Awards winners: Best motorboats of the year revealed (Read 12 times)
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With that fine entry, pronounced bow flare, co*mercial-style pilothouse and co*pact fly deck, the Targa 41 might look like just another dry, soft-riding, four-season offshore machine from a brand known for its “4x4s of the sea” but this is a supremely effective evolution of that formula.
In a raft of firsts, you get hull windows rather than co*pact portlights. You get inset windows, bonded into the pilothouse structure. You get side gates in the cockpit and much larger side doors at the forward part of the pilothouse.
The engine access is also spectacular. thanks to a pair of forward-hinging hatches. But while the practicalities are beautifully judged, it’s the fun on offer that changes the game for the better.
With its flexible seating and sunbed layouts, the aft cockpit is outstanding; the two ensuite cabins could both lay claim to being the owner’s zone of choice; and superb though it is as a statesmanlike passagemaker in rough seas, it’s also a really entertaining boat to drive.
In short, if you’re happy with the traditional styling, the new Targa 41’s ability to operate as a fun day boat, a practical cruise boat and a potent sea boat make it one of the most perfectly resolved multi-purpose adventure platforms money can buy.
Finalists: Jeanneau DB 37 | Makai M37
Highly co*mended: Parker Sorrento
Winner: Fairline Targa 40
The Fairline Targa 40 is so pleasing in so many ways, it’s impossible not to fall for it. With a 13ft beam and tapering side decks, the sociable but sheltered cockpit is supplemented down below by a pair of generous cabins split by an almost implausibly beautiful lower lounge. That can be used as a third double berth too.
Yet in spite of this boat’s surprisingly practical cruising facilities, it remains extraordinarily stylish to look at and impressively responsive to drive.
It works remarkably hard as a versatile dayboat too. The generous aft cockpit has a ready-rigged table that hinges up from beneath a bench seat and a proper little tender garage tucked in the stern. There’s also a starboard seating unit that enables you to face out over the optional
drop-down side terrace.
The design is disciplined too, never once veering toward showroom novelty at the expense of seagoing practicality. It is of course an expensive boat in the context of its sector and it beco*es all the more so when you spec it up with all the desirable ‘extras’. But with its fusion of style, volume, clear-thinking design and quality build, this is a brilliantly acco*plished piece of work.
Finalists: Princess S65 | Zeelander Z5
Highly co*mended: Sunseeker Predator 55
Winner: Princess S72
Nearly all boats are a co*promise to some degree. Typically that involves a trade-off between looks, performance, style and sea-keeping. And yet somehow the Princess S72 seems to defy the laws of physics.
From the outside it looks like an elegant two deck sportscruiser (especially if you can live without the optional sportsbridge hard top) but from the inside it feels like a spacious four cabin flybridge cruiser, co*plete with all the mod cons.
The cockpit and saloon blend seamlessly into one extended entertaining space, the sportsbridge is far bigger and better equipped than you’d ever expect and the cabins are just as big and co*fortable as those on the Y72. There’s even a crew cabin and a tender garage tucked into its shapely stern.
It’s much the same story at the helm. It may be almost 76ft long and weighs over 55 tonnes but it performs like a sportsboat, topping out at 39 knots when fitted with the most powerful 1800hp MAN V12 engines. And if you opt for the long range fuel tanks it will hoover up the miles at an effortless 27 knots while delivering an unrefuelled range of more than 330 miles. It really is all the boat you could ever need.
Finalists: Beneteau Antares 12 | Prestige F5.7
Highly co*mended: Galeon 560
Winner: Absolute 52 Fly
The Absolute 52 is a boat without any significant flaw. It offers three outstandingly strong day boating zones, its internal spaces are as well finished as they are thoughtfully designed and wherever you are on the boat, there’s a sense of open space, natural light and unobstructed views that puts it right at the top of its class.
The cruising potential is also very strong, and not just in terms of the overnighting facilities and storage options, but also in terms of the engineering spaces and the easy, novice-friendly refinement of the drive. It planes flat and frugal at relatively low speeds, it remains very quiet even at the 30-knot top end and it enjoys a superbly flat fuel flow curve that enables you to run at pretty much whatever speed you choose without impacting your co*fort or your wallet.
On top of all that, this lovely looking cruiser is now available to those of us in the UK through Approved Boats – a multi-award-winning dealer with a stellar reputation for customer care. Effective though it is, we do expect some people to baulk at Absolute’s subversive decision to put the owner’s cabin in the bow but if that’s not a problem for you, this new Absolute 52 is a truly formidable package.
Sponsored by Lumishore
Finalists: Bluegame BGM75 | Palm Beach 70
Highly co*mended: Azimut 72
Winner: Pearl 82
Pearl isn’t the first co*pany to develop a raised pilothouse motoryacht below 90ft and it certainly won’t be the last but it will take something truly special to create a better one than this 82.
For starters it looks far prettier than anything this tall and voluminous has any right to, especially given its reltaively co*pact length. Thank Bill Dixon and his team of designers for pulling that rabbit out the hat.
Then there’s the packaging, which manages to find space for four luxurious double ensuite cabins on the lower deck in addition to a stunning main deck master suite with access to a private foredeck terrace.
That raised pilothouse provides a secure all-weather helm station but still leaves space behind it for a second outdoor helm and a full length flybridge that flows forward to a fabulous raised foredeck lounge on top of the owner’s suite.
A limited but well judged selection of Kelly Hoppen interiors elevate the fit and finish to the same high level as its British and Italian co*petitors, while MAN engines and premium quality systems ensure it delivers an equally refined cruising experience.
In summary, the 82 takes Pearl to a new level both literally and figuratively.
Finalists: Hardy 50DS | Leopard 40PC
Highly co*mended: Nimbus 495 fly
Winner: Beneteau Swift Trawler 54
Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes, and that certainly seems to be the case with Beneteau’s latest offering. Years of honing its extensive Swift Trawler concept along with continuous feedback from the enthusiastic customers of previous models has resulted in a cleverly thought out passagemaker that delivers exactly what people want from a co*fortable family cruiser.
With its light-filled main deck neatly divided into helming, dining, cooking and lounging duties, it manages to feel like a home from home, while its three co*fortable cabins provide all the space, privacy and storage you need for extended stays on board.
The outdoor spaces are just as appealing with a new aft-facing cockpit layout making the most of the views through the glass balustrade and broad, sheltered side decks ensuring it’s safe for people of all ages to move around. There’s even an internal staircase up to the flybridge.
An easy-going hull with Sleipner fin stabilisers gives co*fortable, quiet, efficient cruising from 5-18 knots, while solar panels provide enough power to run the systems and charge the batteries at anchor. In other words it’s the co*plete liveaboard package.
Finalists: Ferretti Infynito 90 | Sunseeker 182 | Princess S80
Highly co*mended: Otam 90
Winner: Riva 82 Diva
There’s no doubt that the Diva is a stylistic Tour de Force. With its katana-blade hull windows, the co*pound curves of its forward bulwarks and a set of superstructure mouldings that appear to levitate above darkly tinted glazing, it’s a stunning boat to behold.
That ‘statement piece’ approach continues unabated on the inside, where vast windows and unbroken sightlines are augmented with cool, clean designer finishes that live up to Riva’s sky-high reputation for luxury.
The dramatic open-plan saloon,
the beach club cockpit with its folding side terraces, the sociable flybridge and the long luxurious foredeck provide a multitude of places for guests to find their own private slice of decadence. And thanks to its solid build quality and fit-out, the Diva has the capacity to be much more than just an exclusive retreat. Quiet, refined and co*mendably brisk with superb visibility all-round, it’s as enjoyable to drive as it is to relax on.
If you’re looking for the last word in style and luxury and can afford the running costs of something as unashamedly opulent as this, the Riva 82 strikes all the right notes. It is a Diva, after all
Finalists: Omikron OT60 | RS Pulse 63 | Safehaven Voyager
Winner: Azimut Seadeck 6
This is a new award with the express purpose of rewarding the ingenuity and bravery of boat builders which dare to be different. In truth every one of our four finalists deserve that recognition from the small but perfectly formed RS Pulse electric RIB to the mighty Safehaven Voyager with its 50-knot cruising speed and 1,000nm range, via the remarkably fuel efficient Omikron OT60.
However, the Azimut Seadeck 6 stood out for demonstrating that being sustainable doesn’t have to mean sacrificing on style, luxury, range or speed.
Achieving that has required a holistic approach to boat building that enco*passes every aspect of the way it has been designed, engineered, built and sold. That starts with Alberto Mancini’s fresh take on a modern coupé that prioritises a closer connection to the sea with the emphasis on openess and transparency rather than a more agressively sporting aesthetic.
That is matched by a hull that is equally happy cruising at 8 knots as it is at 28 knots and an engineering package of triple Volvo IPS drives that perfectly co*plements it.
Extensive use of carbon fibre keeps the weight as low as possible for maximum fuel efficiency, while the hull itself is cored with recycled plastic bottles to reduce its reliance on raw materials. Cork decking and carpets made from recycled fishing nets further enehance its sustainability credentials.
However, it’s the mild hybrid system that really pushes the boundaries, enabling all the ship’s systems, including the stabiliser and air-conditioning, to run on battery power alone for up to eight hours at anchor.
The result is a boat that doesn’t just do everything you’d expect of a luxury cruiser while using less fuel and fewer raw materials, it exceeds it, proving that sustainable can be se*y too.
Sponsored by Garmin
Finalists: Approved Boats | Bates Wharf | Boats.c*.uk | Gibbs Boat Centre | Wesse* Marine
Winner: Ventura Yachting
Selling a boat is the easy bit, it’s looking after customers once the boat has been delivered that really matters. That’s where all of this year’s Service Award finalists really got it right. According to nominations sent in by members of the public, all of these co*panies went above and beyond to look after their customers not just during the purchasing phase but also the critical after sales care.
This year’s winner has been doing that consistently for more than 25 years at the very highest level. As the official UK dealer for the Ferretti Group range of yachts, including luxury brands like Riva, Pershing, Itama and Ferretti, its clients expect the very highest level of service but even they seem taken aback at how well they are looked after and how attentive the team at Ventura Yachts are. Justvtake a look at some of the co*ments we received from customers:
“We bought our first Pershing 43 back in 1996 from one of the founding partners. My family is now at Yacht #7 and the service of Ventura Yachts has only got better, more refined and personal with time.”
“I took delivery of a beautiful Itama 62RS in June 2023 and the whole process, which at times could have felt overwhelming, was always made smooth. The pre and post sale experience has been one that I wouldn’t hesitate to reco*mend.”
“My experience with Ventura Yachts has been nothing short of exceptional throughout the ownership of three Rivas. Even through Covid, their level of service has remained consistently outstanding. The attention to detail and personal care shown during each phase of the process, from customization to after-sales support, has exceeded our expectations.”
Winner: Bill Dixon
Bill Dixon was born into a family of boatbuilders based in Exmouth, Devon but realised early on that he was far more effective with a pen in hand than a chisel and redirected all his energy into designing boats instead of building them.
A degree in yacht and boat design at Southampton University confirmed his intuition and a summer internship with yacht designer Angus Primrose soon became a permanent job. His early career was largely spent designing sailing yachts for Moody but when Primrose was sadly lost at sea in 1980, he set up on his own and branched out into powerboat design.
His decision to target emerging market builders in Taiwan and the Far East was an inspired move with yards like Johnson and Hansheng enjoying significant co*mercial success in the US and Europe thanks to Dixon’s innate understanding of what these more developed markets were looking for.
Since then, his portfolio has expanded to cover everything from 80m megayachts and supersailers to affordable 8m sportsboats but in the cruising boat market he’s best
known for his long and successful relationship designing production built motor boats for both Pearl Yachts and Sealine.
Dixon Yacht Design, the co*pany he now runs with a handful of fellow designers, naval architects and support staff, helped create a new identity for the much loved Sealine brand after it was acquired by the Hanse Group in 2013. And the fortunes of Pearl Yachts have seen an even bigger transformation thanks to Bill Dixon and Kelly Hoppen’s input into the latest generation of high volume, high quality flybridge yachts
DYD has also played an important role in the naval architecture of several other major European brands, including multiple Azimut Magellanos and the Beneteau Swift Trawler 54.
In fact, given that both of the two shortlisted boats – the Pearl 82 and Swift Trawler 54 – Bill worked on in this year’s awards went on to win their respective categories, it’s only fitting that this year’s Judges’ Special Award goes to Bill Dixon.
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