Review: Affinity Yachts 90' Luxury Sportfish

Guest heads are ensuite as well, with custom-fitted, glass door showers, Grohe shower fixtures and exhaust fan. The countertops echo her stone coloring, as does the stone flooring. There are stainless steel port lights with screen and storm covers.

A third guest stateroom at the forepeak offers two options; a double bed on a raised pedestal or as pictured below; staggered singles. Either way, the design scheme follows with rich mahogany veneers on a copious amount of cabinet space, contrasting against light ecru fabrics.

The single berth cabin also sports richly finished veneer cabinetry; a single sink in the marble countertop, and a private shower.

Affinity’s engine room houses her mammoth twin MTU 16V200, 2400 hp engines, with Twin Disc MG5135A gears, while still allowing plenty of headroom for servicing along the central walkway. They turn a pair of 6-blade bronze Nibral props, on 4” Aquamet shafts. Rudders are stainless steel w/ 3” shafts. Her full electronic controls are duplicated in the Pilothouse, Fishing Tower, Aft Pilot House deck and cockpit. She also sports Racor fuel/water separators and filters for main engines & generators; plus an outstanding list of essential gear. Her watermakers deliver 1800 gallons per day. Other equipment includes Northern Lights 30 kW generators, bilge pumps, etc.

The Affinity 90’ is the initial launch in a projected series of up to the minute sportfish concepts that promise a new and exciting succession of ultra-luxurious, tournament sportmasters on a superyacht scale. For adventurers eager to snatch up the gauntlet, Affinity's gloves are off and ready for a good fight.

Welcome Brand "A"!


(see "Details" following the specs for more info on the A-90)


by Capt. Chuck Gnaegy and Carl Camper​

Specifications:

LOA: 90’
Beam: 23’
Draft: 4’11'
Weight: 145,000 lbs.
Speed: 30-33 knots
Fuel: 5,000 gal.
Water: 400 gal.
Holding tanks: 400 Gal. & 100 Gal.
Berths: 4 Staterooms / 5 Heads
Crew: 2 Staterooms / 1 Head

Mechanical:

Engines: twin 2,400 hp MTU 16V2000
Transmissions: Twin Disc MG 5135A
Propellers: six-blade bronze Nibral
Generators: 2 x Northern Lights 30kW
Bow thruster: 65 hp American hydraulic
Power Cords: 2 x Glendinning Cable Masters

Navigation & Electronics:

Northern Furuno 1964CBB/NT 25kW radar/plotter vx2
Furuno 1944CBB/NT 6kW radar/plotter vx2
Furuno CH250BB/88/340 sonar
Paxcom Cube marine computer dual video
Nobeltec VNS 9 software
4 (four) AmbientNAV 17" monitor
Gyration GC1105 wireless mouse and keyboard
Furuno ARP11 ARPA option
Furuno BBFF1 sounder option

Design:

Naval architect: Howard Apollonio
Structural engineering: Gurit USA
Interior designer: Sylvia Bolton
Builder: Cheoy Lee for Affinity Yachts


For more information contact:

Affinity Yachts
877-777-9279
www.AffinityYachts.com

***​

Details:​

The tower was built by Palm Beach Towers. According to Benkelman, they were very pleased with the results. By the way, all that is white is Awlgrip and the finish is excellent.

Looking up from the skylounge aftdeck, the spreader lights are mounted in a dedicated bulbous area. Notice one of the lateral support braces passing through the crows nest floor. This is a well conceived tower.

It's the details that count and here's an example. The backrest on the crows nest is designed to drop away to aid line-of-sight while backing down a slip or bringing up a fish.

There are two rod storage lockers on top of the skylounge. This is the port side locker with the lid being held up by Jef for a capacity shot. These lockers can hold 100's of reels. Notice the struts to aid in lifting the lids. You'll find these struts on every lid throughout the boat, no matter how small the door/lid.

There are two convenient ways to adjust altitude on the Affinity 90; the staircase in the salon or this ladder that descends from the California Deck. The salon door to the left is an electronically operated slider. One push to get it in and it closes behind you.

Like score cards rating a performance, this group of strut supported lids reveals the AY90's aft controls, sink & freezer. When all the lids are closed, they line up like the original Lexus commercials; where a marble rolls along each seam to show the exacting tolerances of hoods and quarter panels.

The Jennaire is conveniently located next to the baitwell... in case your lures were playing hooky that day. To the right, yet another strut assisted lid, this one granting access to the engine room's waterproof door.

A Furuno auxiliary radar & fish finder display is located in the cockpit, to let you know what you're doing wrong. Again, cleanly hidden away behind it's own door with requisite strut. Notice this is a NavNet equipped boat. To match Affinity's hardware, they chose great software.

Storage and amenities abound at every turn. The panel to the right is a salt water wash down and hot/cold shower hose. The port side panel is the aft-tank, long range fuel fill. And for annoying guests, their door is located in the middle...

And for those annoying power cords, here's a door with a molded cord outlet. Nice detail. One step up is access to the ice maker. Both power cords and icemakers are located to port and starboard, underneath the steps.

On the day of our sea trial, Affinity brought two boats. This picture was taken while onboard the new A90 while watching Ed "Cookie" Murray bring the original Affinity "El Lobo" alongside. Cookie is well-known in the tournament world, running a variety of sportfish boats spanning a 20 year career. To see him "throw" these boats around is surprising, until you take the wheel and feel how nimble and light they are. These are 90 foot sportfish boats that handle much like a 50-footer.

This is the staircase that runs from the main salon to the skylounge. It's welded aluminum, ground smooth and appears to be powdercoated, but could just as well be painted. It's a real piece of art that adds nominal support to the deck above, however most of the strength is derived from carbon fiber, which spans the entire skylounge deck.

While most boats have a fancy chandelier, sourced from a specialized, elite supplier, Affinity found these unique frosted tulips and built a recess into the ceiling to house them.

For those of us who sit behind multiple computer screens, keeping an eye on our world, nothing beats grouping them together to form one continuous glass display. And while it's nice for a wheel to jettison out to the helm chair, it tends to make the throttle/gears hard to reach. This was the only alteration we had in an otherwise beautiful helm.

One of several electrical panels found throughout the vessel, they are all neatly hidden behind doors, even inside the back of closets.