If they are building to order you could have the chance to semi-customize it and end up with a great yacht
That is what I would be doing. And for the reason of my thread. To get this boat here in the states it would be around $3.3m with taxes paid. I feel like it is a high price for a 68 foot boat.
If you were to build that boat custom it would be more than that, that pricing seems pretty good to me.
It is a high price as a 60' Hatteras MY new and nicely equipped with even nice electronics was going for $2.4 mil at the show and a 72' Hatteras MY could be had as cheap as $3.8mil new, and the 72' is a heck of a lot larger all around(can sleep 12 in actual beds in staterooms) and more equipped than the 68'
Captain J, That is a very good point. But I would have to spend some time on a 72'. My goal was to have something that I can use on my own. I'm coming out a SeaRay 550 and would still like to be able to operate the boat my self. That is one reason why I like the idea of the Hunt 68' with pods. However she has a large draft for a boat of her size.
If you can get the boat acceptably to the dock with traditional drives and a bow thruster, the pods aren't going to do anything additional for you. The 72' is a very big yacht, and either way, it's the maintanence and having a good line handler to keep up. The other question is do you really want to spend several hours rinsing and chamoising the boat down after a long day at sea. I do know of an owner that did go exactly from your boat (55' Searay SB) straight to a 72' Hatteras MY that they're running themselves.
Have had great experience with Hunt I built a 29 Surfhunter with Hunt and had a great experience both during the build and with follow-up service. This was a much simpler build then you would be going through, but I found them easy to work with and willing (interested even) in customizing our 29.fit and finish were excellent. I moved up to a larger boat this year, but really miss that sweet Hunt ride. They really design a great hull. I have been through the 52 extensively, which was also built by Global and was highly customized for the client. I felt that there were a number of small design flaws that I would want addressed (eg, no door off helm station, oddly placed storage boxes on aft deck, poorly laid out salon), but overall really liked the boat. Fit and finish looked as good or better then what comes out of the yard in RI. Hope that helps.