Benetti vs Westport

In comparing the WP 125 to the B 132, you haven't picked the nearest comparable WP, which is the 130, so you're comparing a smaller, lighter, boat. The B 132 is considerably heavier than the WP 130 even and it's a plodding cruiser as opposed to the WP's which will cruise at 20 knots. Another important difference is draft. The WP 125 is 6'1", the WP 130 is 6'6" and the B 132 is 7'6". The Benetti is more an ocean crossing vessel and does have more range. However, it's a little less suitable to cruising the East Coast.

Moonen makes some boats that are more comparable to the WP's as well as some comparable to the Benetti. With Moonen vs. WP you get to see aluminum vs fiberglass.

There are many boats in these sizes and ranges and even specific models available to charter.

Bless your heart! I wish I had the money to be thinking as you do. But, I respectfully suggest that your thoughts about buying one of these boats with the idea that you could, in essence, crew them yourself is nuts.

Westports very good boats. Benetti's look beautiful but not the best quality. Moonen by far the best of the three. That being said, depends on how you use the boat. If most of the time in a marina, than probably a Westport. If cruising down to the caribbean and big water, than the Moonen. That being said, these are very big boats for owner operator. Would not recommend anything in this size range for owner operator even with family & friends. Remember that your Vikings are great sea boats. Choose wisely if you want to good out in not the best conditions. Also bigger boats require much more work.

I just don’t understand those that want to spend $20M+ on a yacht but not have any crew.

Any of those boats require a total crew of 7. If you intend to do it with one captain and then you and family doing all the rest, then you might as well just try to get jobs working on yachts. That way the money would be coming in, not going out. There are 7 jobs that are full time when you're cruising. Perhaps the WP125 can be maintained with as few as 5 but I'm not convinced.

Trying to put some things into perspective. I'd compare housekeeping for the interior to an 8000 sq ft home. I started with saying it has the rooms of a 6000 sq ft home but then add a 30% factor for it being on the water and a lot of open doors and windows.

That leaves outside maintenance. I'd compare it to the exterior maintenance of the 8000 sq ft home plus 6 cars. Just the wash down after a day of cruising is sizable.

Now, if you're going to do night cruising, long trips, cruising into ports, you must have someone else capable of relieving the captain and capable of navigating.

That gets us to engine and equipment maintenance. On a boat that size, a full time job. Let's take the least of the boats, the WP 125. You have two 2600 hp engines, two 4 cylinder Lugger 80 kw engines, 2 watermakers, water, fuel and holding tanks, 7 or 8 toilets and same number of showers, a hot tub, 7 or 8 televisions, a Wifi system, a system of cameras and security, 2 radars, 2 plotters, night vision, sonar, and other equipment. Wiring and plumbing throughout. The engineering side is definitely a full time task.

I'm going to try to compare to the 80' Viking. A 130' WP is about 3 times the amount of boat to take care of. I get to that through displacement and tonnage as they're more reflective of the size difference than 130/80 is. While some things, like the engines, are pretty equivalent, other things are totally different. Part also is that you'll likely have more people aboard the 130, all requiring support. Some things are physically more demanding too, even while seeming the same. One simple example is putting fenders out. More of them and larger.

Yes, you can do many of the crew jobs or have your kids or brothers do them. But then you aren't cruising as owners and guests, you're crewing.

I would take Moonen off your list. Too many reports of the yard not standing behind their products. One guy even built a dedicated website called "MoonenHell" to inform others;

http://www.moonengame.com/why.html

One of our sr. members became a managing partner in Moonen, built two boats with them, then sold the boats and his interests in the company. I don't know the specifics, but if you're going to build an alloy boat in that range, I would go to Burger. Good people, world-class craftsmen and financially solvent. It will also be more convenient for you to visit the yard and follow the build.

In that size range, I would not consider a Benetti. Their semi-production range has been historically problematic and aspects of the organization appear to be in disarray. For a composite build in that size range, Westport hands down!

As an owner of a Westport, I try not to show excessive prejudice toward them although I feel that one can't find a better company to deal with. Moonen was at one time on a list of builders I'd consider, but the changes in ownership and management led me to a lot of uncertainty about their future. Benetti is well...Benetti, for better or worse.

As to Burger, I'm anxious to see new builds from them. I have some concerns as they attempt to build new styles. I'd love to hear reports on Northland and love to see them build something from their new designs. I do find their 48 Cruiser most interesting. I also think of them as good people I'd like dealing with and really only know of one project that didn't go as well and it had some extreme requirements that they were not experienced with which led to delays. We did charter Top Times in 2013, a boat you reviewed in 2004. While we're not expedition yacht types, the workmanship on that boat was superb. If Burger can achieve that quality today and match it with their new styling and the faster boats they've designed, definitely worth considering.

For a production fiberglass yacht in the 112-164' range there remains one unchallenged leader, Westport.

On an alloy side, you could also look at Mulder yacht or Wim Van Der Valk if you want more Euro styling.

This. Bennettis are simply an azimut on steroids with the same build quality and same issues as azimut.

You need a crew of 6 minimum on that size, regardless if you like camping while yachting. You need a captain, mate, deckhand, stew and a chef.......an engineer as well.

Olderboater has that right, when comparing the two displacement varies by the cube (raised by the the third) 3 times the boat, effort and cost.

I have been on a few Moonen used yachts at boat shows. Spoke with the yard a few years ago about building one in the 110 to 120 ft range. Did not buy anything. I recommended the Moonen in my above response. I have never owned one and never spoke to a Captain that ran one. After doing a little research online tonight, thanks to this Forum, and the internet, I withdraw what I said above. Not smart to speak when you have no real first hand knowledge.

I will keep this short, and not comment on the crew issue, covered in full above.

Benetti- Lots of headaches
Westport- fewer headaches

Good luck!

Also figure out your cruising area because the difference of places you can get into with a 100’ hatteras or 112’ Westport, you may not be able to get into with a 130’ Westport or may need to make arrangements several months out. I personally much prefer being at a dock than anchored.

The idea of getting a land based crew to wash and clean after a trip works for a day or week end trip. It will not work out when cruising which is the point of a boat that size. Even if you find Day workers or contractors in various places you ll visit you and your captain may not be happy with the quality of the work.

Line handling work on boats in that size range is nowhere near what it is on a smaller vessel because of the size of the lines and fenders. It is not something casual boaters, friends, family can easily handle. There is also a risk of folks not understanding the size getting hurt.

As a captain, I don't let untrained folks handle lines. I ve seen so many "experienced boaters" doing stupid things on the "little" 84 i run like jumping on a dock holding a line, trying to fend off a piling that doesn't need to be or just getting in the way. I just can't imagine that working on a 120+. Captain and crew need to work as a team, which doesn't work with unknown people.

I can understand the desire to keep crew to a minimum and you certainly can cut down on interior crew like chef and drink fetchers but Once you hit 100/110 it s hard not to have an engineer. Too many systems to maintain