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10 Fabulous Flybridge Cruisers

We look at some our recently reviewed flybridge cruisers.
  • Updated: October 4, 2015

Sea Ray L650 Fly

“Luxury is the ease of a T-shirt in a very expensive dress,” the renowned designer Karl ­Lagerfeld once said. The distinction between what is acceptable and what is desirable resonates in those words, a distinction between those who might not realize the difference and those who understand perfectly the significance of what price, quality and luxury command. To read the full feature, click here.

Azimut 77S

The bay of cannes was a rollicking mess the day I tested the Azimut 77S. A cruise ship was anchored just offshore with numerous tenders continually transporting tourists into the harbor. The Festival de la Plaisance Cannes was in full swing, and every hour or so, another fleet of yachts passed through the show’s swing bridge opening to give potential owners a hands-on experience. Once these yachts cleared Vieux Port, they were up on plane, generating a chaotic weave of wakes that roiled the anchored fleet, which otherwise would have been moored within the Old Port. And when the land breeze began to blow, the bay chop peaked up and was as perfect a place to test a boat as I might have imagined. To read the full feature, click here.

Prestige 750

I traveled to Trieste in the northeast corner of Italy assured I could find lively winter sea conditions for a significant trial run of the Prestige 750. But life plays funny tricks, and I did not expect to encounter the mirror-calm ocean, which was in stark contrast to the storm-lashed coasts of my native Britain. The calm was disappointing on one level, but it didn’t stop me from appreciating the qualities of this superb new design. To read the full feature, click here.

Vicem 77

I often cruise in Fort Lauderdale aboard sparkling new yachts of every size and description, and the reaction of the residents usually lies somewhere between aloof and blasé. After all, what’s the big deal? It’s just another multimillion-dollar yacht, much like all the rest in this “Venice of America,” this tapestry of interwoven waterways and canals. To read the full feature, click here.
Pearl dealer Pablo Hayes of Baxter Marine met me at the Palma de Mallorca Airport and drove us the 20 minutes to Puerto Portals, his company’s base and one of Spain’s fashionable marina resorts. He parked his BMW X5 alongside what is referred to (locally at least) as the most valuable berth at this end of the Mediterranean. It’s a quayside corner at the marina entrance, just across the road from the marina’s famous Wellies Restaurant and a half-hearted stone’s throw from its Frontline Terrace, which has spectacular views across a mountain range of glimmering superstructures. Everyone arriving at or leaving the marina by land passes this spot, which makes it prime real estate if you’re a boat dealer. To read the full feature, click here.

Monte Carlo 6

Are you an iPhone or a Blackberry user? Mercedes or BMW? Rolex or Omega? Brands. They’re the standard-­bearer of the 21st century, particularly among premium products, tapping deep into our tribal cortex and engendering the kind of loyalty once reserved for baseball teams. After all, to admit that the competition is better than “our” brand is to admit that we were wrong in our purchase — and none of us are ever wrong. To read the full feature, click here.

Sunseeker 86

The drive from my Suffolk home on England’s east coast to Sunseeker, which is based in Poole, Dorset, on the southwest coast, is four hours minimum without activating any speed cameras. (And there are lots in this part of the world.) At 8 o’clock on a mid-October morning at Sunseeker House, hot coffee and a bacon roll restored a suitable enthusiasm for the day, as did an unexpected break later in the heavy, dark clouds that the short-range shipping forecast had suggested were going to be particularly nasty. In the end we enjoyed Indian summer sunshine for the duration of our morning with the builder’s 86 Yacht. And while my morning had been fairly ordinary, this Sunseeker proved herself completely the opposite. To read the full feature, click here.

Monte Carlo 86

When superyacht design team Dan Lenard and Carlo Nuvolari received the instructions for the new 86-foot Monte Carlo yacht, it was clear there was a mistake. They thought they had been assigned a 413-foot superyacht. Oops. I’d guess that when the mistake was discovered, they gave oh-so-Italian shrugs and said, “Va bene.” (It’s okay.) And it is fine, indeed. The Monte Carlo Yachts 86 is a mini superyacht. To read the full feature, click here.

Azimut 50 Fly

As I drove along the New York waterfront hills of Long Island’s north shore, also known as the Gold Coast, the names Vanderbilt, Pratt, Morgan, Astor and the famously fictional Gatsby came to mind. This pristine section of shoreline borders Long Island Sound, which offers direct access to lower Manhattan and a straight shot to Connecticut. These attributes have made this area a serious yachting playground for decades. I looked out to the salt and imagined the scene during the days when industry titans with the aforementioned names plied these waters on their motoryachts and commuter craft. My final destination was the serene, mooring-field-filled Huntington Harbor, a perfect setting to run Azimut Yachts’ latest born-for-cruising vessel, the 50 Fly. To read the full feature, click here.

Sabre 54 Fly Bridge Sedan

The view from the upper helm of the new ­Sabre 54 Fly Bridge Sedan was simply awe-inspiring. We had just departed DiMillo’s Marina and cleared the channel leading out of Portland, Maine. The day was sunny and bright, and the fantastic islands of Casco Bay and the open waters of the Gulf of Maine fanned out before us in a wide-angle canvas of trees, granite and clear sapphire water. To read the full feature, click here.
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