Euro Cruisers

Wavecruiser,

Each one of the manufacturers you have listed offer very high quality products that are becoming more well known in the United States. I can't answer your question with regards to the public percieved image, as each person's perception varies based on exposure & experience. Although I can tell you this... some of them are more receptive to new mediums than others.

Your list included Hatteras, which is an American based manufacturer who's recent motoryacht releases have a European design influence. Of the manufacturer's you listed, I would expect Hatteras has the highest percieved image in the US, as they are probably the most well known.

Of the European manufacturers you mentioned, I would suspect Sunseeker is currently enjoying the higher percieved image in the US market, which can partially be attributed to an aggressive marketing effort in conjunction with modern design elements that are appealing to new buyers.

For me, all of the European companies you outlined are recognized for their level of quality and craftsmenship, although there are many other factors to consider, such as equipment, price, performance, dealer support, resale, etc.

I'd say Sunseeker, Azimut, Viking, Fairline, and Ferreti/Pershing/Riva are the most recognized Euro style in the US. Probably more or less in that order. As Carl says Sunseeker is much better planted in the public eye from all their top notch marketing.

Riva (and Pershing) seem to position their products higher from a cost perspective in portions of the product range (i.e the low and middle if you will).

Having actively looked in this space and purchased a "Euro Cruiser" last year, I can tell you I wasn't even aware of: Neptunus, Astondoa, Horizon, Maiora, Posillipo, Uniesse or Vitech.

The Hatteras looked interesting but looks like an Americanized Euro Style. The interior is still all straigh lines. I looked at this boat, but not too hard.

The other company you didn't mention is Lazzara.

check out Baglieto, Cantieri di Pisa and San Lorenzo

This are reputed to be the best boats at the moment.

Having opperated most of these boats as deliveries and knowing about the others , I'll leave it at this go out in a minimum of 3-5 ft, run all the boats and then go on the Uniesse. Youll like it!!!

no one has mentioned hargrave capri series. they have come a lllloooonnnnngggg way in the past couple of years. aside from the shape of the hull, you can **** near fully customize the whole boat. i'm not talking a hatteras special, where you get to pick your fabric. you can move walls, the engine room, pumps, helm layout, any options you can think of, plus let your old lady pick out the fabrics!! the newer ones also have a great ride, and although horizon is close, no one can touch the price. i'm not saying these boats are feadships, but they are a **** nice all around yacht!!

I agree with Bob regarding Hargrave's. They HAVE come along way in the past few years. Hargrave's have always been top-notch in engineering and interior craftsmenship, but the exterior design left a little to be desired in years past. You must keep in mind, because these were custom built yachts, the designs were meant to accomodate the owners who originally commissioned them.

The recent designs have made them much more attractive and better represent the overall quality that is associated with Hargrave. All together, I think Mike Joyce has done a remarkable job with this line and I'm sure that if Jack Hargrave were still alive... he would agree.

Although I am a member of the Sunseeker family, regarding flybridge i'd say RIVA and after Uniesse/Ferreti and perhaps Sunseeker after them.

i have owned an azimut and my last two boats are ferretti's and i have researched extensive on most of these brands.

cantieri di pisa (akhir) builds 85 to 140 feet. they build around 6 boats a year and they may be the best production boats. however, they were not keen in upgrading their style, thus loosing market and might be having difficulties especially in smaller sizes.
riva after coming under ferretti improved a lot, they also build limited boats, but they are better in smaller sizes. they had serious quality problems before ferretti acquired them. in my opinion they are not any better in production quality then ferreti but they use a lot of high end interior products and ferretti is tyring to position the brand as a prestige brand.
among the others ferretti has the better quality for fly bridge boats (they only produce flybridge boats). all the material and work is first class. but it is a reality that they have increased their production drastically. when i bought my 1st ferretti in '98 they were producing only 40 boats, when i purchased 2nd boat in 2001 they were already up to 80 boats and last year believe they had more than 100 boats. no doubt this effects the quality.
sunseeker produces good sport cruiser type boats, but i hear from a lot of friends who own sunseekers that there are quality problems. however, thru strong marketing they were able to position themselves above fairline and princess.
fairline and princess owned by same company and fairline could be regarded as a better quality boat both in materials and build.
azimut might be selling more boats than all the others, but then altough they have attractive interiors, both the build quality and seakeeping is not as good as the others. production methods are also geared for higher numbers, thus quality is negatively effected.

there are also the other italian builders like san lorenzo, falcon, antago, possillipo. my personal opinion is san lorenzo and possillipo are the better ones.

Any more info on Uniesse What about Lazzara?

Who is best in in quality and how about resale value?

in my opinion the best in quality is cantieri di pisa, they are building their boats as larger vsls, like ships. the systems and sound insulations are very good.

among the others, like ferretti, english boats and azimut, i would rate ferretti to have an upper hand both technically and also build quality. among the english boats, although sunseeker seems like and marketed as the better boat, i think technically they are not so attentive. i would prefer fairline. princess as once told to me is like ford. middle class, reliable. i have seen sunseeker 82 last year in monaco and have noticed that they have installed two gensets on the wings of the engines, where maintanance will be a big headache, thus no good technical planning. for the azimuts, i had problems with my 40' boat, there was hull blistering and my problem is being confirmed by others that i have come across as well. the reason might be attributed to the fact that azimut as to my knowledge is using automated process for laying the fibreglass and apoxis, whereas ferretti and fairline still using the old method of hand laying.

my personal experience with ferretti was very satisfying. both the boats and aftersales services were good.

Kelly Cook

What about baglietto?
Or the dutch build Neptunus...
http://www.neptunusgroup.com/

Neptunus is Canadian

Although Neptunus did start in Holland it is now Canadian owned. Any boats built in Holland now are done under license from Canada. the proper website is.

www.******************

The dutch version is that they opened a canadian plant to serve the american market...

that was the case till 2001.. then things changed