Recommendation for a 60-65 feet boat..

If a Prestige is too much new, anything else (new) will also be too much. You want a boat that will meet your needs, look at a used Sunseeker 66' manhattan......tons of room......4 staterooms plus crew, 3 heads.........great layout.

JustinMet -- Welcome to YF!

I agree with Capt. Ralph: we need more information. I too have a child with special needs and can vouch for Capt. Ralph not being inquisitive, but we are looking for information that might best help us help you in meeting your family's needs.

They are correct in that I don't know exactly what the OP's needs are except that he says his 52' Prestige is TOO SMALL and he has 3 KIDS, and needs room for an additional person to help and room for equipment. He says the current boat meets his needs except for space. And since I know the layout of his current boat. The 66' Sunseeker is the only boat in that size range and style(that I know of) that has 4 staterooms AND A CREW STATEROOM and none of them have bunk beds. Master has it's own staircase (just like his Prestige) and nicely sized near the rear salon. Forward are 3 staterooms for the 3 KIDS. 2 have 2 twin mattress so they can have friends on board, and the forward VIP is nicely sized. The crew stateroom is outside of the living space and perfect for the additional helper. The 60' Hatteras is a 3 stateroom boat, 62' Princess is a 3 stateroom boat.......most all planing flybridge yachts in the 60-65' size range are 3 stateroom boats.

I have ZERO involvement with Sunseeker or any of it's dealers in a business capacity. I have never worked for Sunseeker or any of it's dealers in all these years, not even 1 single day. They're a very good sea boat, quality is good, perform well, laid out and really use space well, and the 66' is very nicely arranged for it's size. I manage 2 Sunseekers, one since 2011 and one since 2019 and have run a dozen different sized ones all over this hemisphere, then again I run 98 other brands and types of yachts from other manufacturers per year, every single year. Perhaps you should step on board one, one built in the last 5 years, and not be so negative about them.

You negative? Yes. As to biased, we are all biased based on our experiences. You're biased, Capt J is biased, I'm biased. Capt J has run quite a few Sunseekers now. When the OP elaborates further I'll likely also recommend Sunseeker unless there is something to say it simply won't work. More than anything I feel there's a shortage of good choices in that range and they are one I've owned and been happy with. I wish there were more brands in that range I felt I could confidently recommend. I may at the time I post mention one or two others. I can assure you I've searched the 60-69' market carefully. Did it before our last loop boat and as we intend to order another soon, I've been doing it. I'd love to find another brand that really interested me in that size range. You've got more exposure to some Italian boats than others, many not readily available here, but still worth mentioning. I may recommend Grand Banks but with some significant caveats. I am a huge Riva fan but nothing there in that range I'll likely recommend for US boating. Princess, Pearl, Galeon and Azimut not likely to be on my list. Ferretti, in that range, if he was talking new, I'd likely mention the 670. However, we're all biased. Oh and I might mention a discontinued model, the Hatteras 60.

I'm not as experienced as everyone in the 60' to 69' range but I thought Fleming, Outer Reef and Offshore were good quality boats. There are some less prominent brands like Mikelson and Horizon that might work. Hunt builds good-looking boats.

I would agree with Fleming, Outer Reef and Offshore, just was thinking of boats more similar to Prestige. I also like Horizon. Not knowledgeable enough on Mikelson today. And, unfortunately, not comfortable recommending Hunt at this point but could be persuaded.

You like to argue just to argue. Do you have another solution you can recommend to the OP, or are you just pissing in the wind and creating dissidence as usual and NO solutions?

My response was based exactly on what the OP expressed his needs are. Perhaps those are his ONLY NEEDS. The 66' Manhattan covers exactly those needs he expressed. Period. I can't think of another yacht without going much larger that can cover those needs.

Room to store equipment- CHECK
recent boat- CHECK
60-65'- it's 1' over
4 rooms- CHECK
flyrbidge- CHECK

THOSE ARE THE FACTS THE OP LISTED. If he needed something more, don't you think it would be on his clear and concise list?????

Gents,

I too have read the Sunseeker suggestions by J. Everyone respects the broad knowledge-base he brings but I'm confused about his posts on S/Skr too. Maybe they're a better boat now, but we started limiting our coverage on them 10 years ago. I was aboard a number of mid-2000 S/Skrs and although they were good sea boats, my impressions remain somewhat different than J's. If I was shopping the used market, they wouldn't top my list. Mostly because express boats are just a waste of deck space.

We're all entitled to our opinions. I respect J's knowledge and therefore, his opinion. This might be one of the few times that I disagree.

And Capt J isn't talking about an Express boat but a Sunseeker Manhattan Flybridge model. And having purchased a Sunseeker Manhattan 65 in early 2016 and put about 10,000 nm on it, I was quite pleased with the quality. I didn't find it to merit an A+ but at least a solid B if not a B+. Our Rivas had better quality but not the layout needed to do long cruising such as the loop.

A lot has changed in 10 years. The most recent issues I knew Sunseeker to have were extensive spidering but haven't seen those in models from the last couple of years. The factory claims to have resolved the problem, but I wouldn't bet on it.

The ride of ours which is very little different from the one Capt J recommended was very good and the performance quite decent. I'd only go for the larger engine, the MAN 1200 rather than the MAN 1000 which is underpowered for my taste.

I was also disgusted by the Sunseeker Obey customer situation. While I believe Sunseeker to be legally in the right I do think they looked the other way at a dealer doing inappropriate things too long just liking the sales and I told them that directly in Poole.

The OP is shopping recent used models so 6 or more years ago wouldn't really apply. He said not more than 2 years old.

Sunseeker isn't perfect, but if wanting a planing hull flybridge in that size range with a draft in the 5' range, it's hard to beat and I shopped for a loop boat for years. Most difficult by far of any of my boat choice decisions. Others just didn't fit the requirements I had. If the OP returns, I'll highlight some others and why I would or would not consider them. However, in general, it's draft, small flybridge, overall quality, lack of bow seating and things of that nature.

I'm a little confused if you're disagreeing with his opinion of a current boat based on something from 10 years ago. I would also state that I personally know at least 5 purchasers of recent Sunseekers from 52' to 88' and all are satisfied, not perfectly so, but generally so. Last, I've seen better warranty service since they changed their dealer network and I'm somewhat more confident now that a public company is their dealer. Perhaps even more comfortable with the dealer than even the builder.

It's ironic to me that Capt J jumped in and offered advice and while some may feel questions were in order first, others have chosen to criticize his advice, including you, but only jsschieff has offered other options, all good, and if the OP is willing to accept slower then perhaps might fit his needs.

Odds are we'll order another Sunseeker in the next three months or so. Not because we're deeply in love and committed for life, but because they fit our need best of what we'd discussed so far. If not for our desire for speed, it might be Fleming. If Grand Banks made use of the bow, it might be them. So criticize my support of Sunseeker as well, but out 2016 was excellent and the current owner also did the loop and still loves it.

A 66' Manhattan meets ALL of the needs listed in the OP's posting by the OP. I'm not in a hole. You're in a hole without a f'ing shovel and digging with your finger nails. So unless you have a boat that meets the needs listing in Post #1 of this thread. Stop the subterfuge.

As for the 66' Manhattan or Sunseekers quality. I've had one to the exumas on 4 different trips with 6-7 guests on board. To and from Guatamala, in 5-7' seas all from Ft. Lauderdale. And, out of all of those miles, hardly anything broke. Nothing that was more than a footnote on the warranty list. They're a good sea boat. Their quality certainly isn't Hatteras, but then again they're not priced as such either, but it's on par with their peers in their class and ahead of the Prestige the owner currently has and is happy with as far as quality goes. The layout OTOH is absolutely stellar for a 66' MY.

So a brief mention of some others. I mention only new, but most have similar in the last couple of years.

Princess F62. I'm admittedly not a fan of Princess, but a nice layout. Volvo engines which don't bother me like they do some. Good performance. I haven't been on this boat but in general haven't found the Princess ride equal to Sunseeker.

Pearl 62. I love the layout but not comfortable with the builder yet. Comes only in IPS, not my choice, but may be for a Prestige owner. Still I can't recommend based on my limited knowledge.

Ferretti 670. Nice layout. Draft pressing the limit for east coast and loop cruising although not prohibitive. I love the bow seating. Not as fond of the flybridge. Like the engine choice and the performance. I haven't had a close up but likely worth one.

Sirena 64 and 68. Lacks speed and so if that's on the list a fail. Even if that isn't an issue, I'd go for a more established brand.

Fleming 65. An incredible boat if 18 knots WOT and 14 Cruise meets your need. Again slow by comparison to the Prestige. Also, if a new Prestige is too costly, would likely need to go many years back in Fleming but would still get quality.

Outer Reef Yachts. Slower but a tremendous assortment of boats in the size range. Would be one of my favorites if I could live with the speed. Some of the designs bore me but then always other options. Quality build.

Offshore Yachts. I'm not familiar enough to comment. Slower so not my style.

Horizon Yachts. V68 comes with twin CAT 1165's so decent speed although I doubt up to the Princess or Sunseeker. Having not seen one in person I really can't say yes or no, but I can say I find it quite intriguing. At first glance it looks so plain and boring but then the spaciousness gets your attention.

Azimut 66 Fly. I was shocked by the design. Really more like a sport bridge than fly and I 'd reject it for lack of a decent bridge. I'd give far better marks to the new 68 even though both the main deck and bridge are a bit far back for me. While I'm not an Azimut fan, it's largely due to their US dealer and find one that surveys well then ok. Just feel like these are a bit too stylish and not quite as practical.

Grand Banks 60. Rivals the 65's and 66's in size as it's 66'10" LOA. This boat shows the Palm Beach engineering with 34 knots WOT with 1000 hp Volvo shafts, 28 knots cruise. Oh and claims 2000 nm range at 10 knots and if you go for pods even a bit more speed. 4'3" draft. I know an early owner who loves his boat. I don't love the sleeping arrangements. And I really hate that they and their sister, Palm Beach, fail to provide any use of the bow. Palm Beach 70 has the same issues.

Hatteras 60. Not many recently built and likely also out of the OP's price range but might be worth going back further. Incredible quality and good performance although I do not like it with the 1000 hp engines, only the 1135. I rejected it and would continue to do so based on it having no lower helm, only on the bridge.

Riva 66 Ribelle-A sportfly, not a full fly so I reject for that reason. MAN 1550's for WOT of 37 knots and cruise of 33 knots. So you see what I like about it but in addition to the fly, the draft is nearly 6' and that's more than I'd want in a boat for this purpose. As an owner of two Riva's and maintainer of 4 it really hurts that they don't build what I'd like.

Those are a few that quickly come to mind. Anyone have other suggestions, I'd love to hear them since about to look ourselves.

Just wondering what you all think of MCY 65 or the 66.....can be had with 4 staterooms + crew quarters......1200MAN's, and supposedly the largest flybridge in class....also the main deck is single level.....