Opinions on 85ft +- Motoryachts

I suggest you check Moonen 94alu.

No clue how they price out against Azimut. But there sure isn't any shortage of choices. Ferretti, Hatteras, NorthStar, Sanlornezo, Sunseeker, Symbol, and Viking all offer great eye candy in that range. Please keep us posted on your search!

Kelly Cook

I agree with Nilo, if you like quality, have a look at the Moonen.

Another yacht that caught my eye is this Northcoast. If she isn´t sold already, she might be worth looking at.
http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/m...-87-northcoast-2006-miami-boat-show-07-a.html

Hi,

Are you looking for a new build or used? Series or Custom?
How fast? What hull material (steel, alloy or even plastic?)

This info will help finding the right yacht for you.

new build

My sugestion is make out a list of important qualities your looking for and rate them from 1-10. You will HAVE to compromise on some issue's on the list but in the end it's your money.

Take the list to you favorite broker or find the right one willing to keep quiet and listen!!

Start searching and consider if you don't like what you see out there you can find a builder to your custom specs.

I've been (past) a broker and back to working as a captain. More fun!! If you need help, advice or just general questions I can help. Just PM me.

I agree with Nilo and AMG Moonen is a very good choice. It has the stability that is needed in bad weather and the speed is about right for what you are looking for. Good Luck

There's a Northcoast 82 for sale in Newport Beach right now. It's listed on yachtworld. Very nice boat.

Not so big, but how do you like this boat?

http://www.********************/_vti_g2_miss_aspx_idM_664-nameM_Dolphin 74-rpstry_23_.sphtml

The smaller Dolphins are becoming popular in the Med, and they are already copied by other builders...

The range can probably be increased, or you reduce the speed..

A hardtop would probably ruin the looks on this kind of boat.

Did you see the aft deck awning..?

The garage is pretty big, but of course still limited as the door is also the platform.

You are right that 80 feet is often the line between mickey mouse and heavy duty equipment...

Well, you can say that, but with a fast boat you can go any speed, with a trawler just slow...

The problem is that if you increase your tankage, the cruising speed will go down and the wear of the machinery will increase, so most fast boats have a formula of speed and range that is the best for each package.

I'm quite fond of the 74 Dolphin as well, although it doesn't really sound like what you're looking for. Overall though, it's a beautiful boat and a nice layout, even in the engine room. One exception in the engine room, though - did ya'll notice the genset access in this sucker? Talk about tight, especially on the lower one (they're stacked). I like it though.

A shameless plug, but I happen to know of a nice 84' Sunseeker for sale. The range is only about 350 miles at 24 kts, but that can be doubled if you drop it down to about 10. I can vouch for the captain, too.

You have a lot of options in that size range!

Gentlemen, on a planning boat you cannot increase the range by dropping speed down to displacement speed. This is only theoretical, because the boat just does not behave well even if there is very little disturbed seas. My opinion, for defining the range of a planning boat, one should look for the most economical planning speed. This should be high 10's, say 18-19 or low 20's, depending on the design of the hull. Otherwise, if you are looking for speed and range on the same boat the solution is a semi displacement hull. But then at higher speeds, close to top speed level you will burn more than a planning boat. When I mention semi displacement hull, this is a hull with a keel and somehow a rounder bottom and not a semi displacement hull like some builders pretend, which are basically planning hulls, and the boats are equipped with lower engine powers for achieving a better range.

The real Mochi

I agree with Nilo that for serious cruising a real semi displacement hull is a good option between smooth cruising and occasional high speed cruising. I know an owner of a Mangusta 108 that faces the same problem. He uses the boat for cruising from Monaco to Nice. At top speed this means he would arrive in about 15 minutes so he usually cruises at about 10 knots. His cylinderheads however are not very fond of these speeds and are in need of serious rebuild. Take in account that the yacht has 800 hours of service this is not very nice.

Series or custom is more than a simple matter of budget. Since you have some experience with series yachts, that will help developing a custom yacht. You should however reserve some time in your calendar because designing a custom takes slightly more time than going to a broker and simply order a yacht. I have noted that custom owners are likely to use their yachts for a long time. This is mainly because the yachts are exactly tailored to their own requirements. Because of the better build quality and materials used the factor of depreciation is also a lot smaller. With a series yacht there will also be other people that have the same yacht as you have...

Coming back to the Mochi. I have produced a virtual tour of a 74 last year.
The build quality and finishing simply brings tears to my eyes. The yacht had been used for about 100 hours and was 1 year old. I can list a couple of remarks that I have noted onboard.
-ceilings gave way.
-electrics that didn't function
-poor joinery work
-indeed a very cramped engine room
-engine room floor made of vinyl with diamond plate design instead of real diamond plate
-torn upholstery
-bent doors in staterooms which causes them not to close properly or to close at all.
-cracked fiberglass on the transom hatch
-cracked joints in the bathroom tilings
-malfunction in the port side hydraulic door.
-cracks in the caprail

Considering this yacht costs as much as a semi-custom dutch built yacht, I definitely would not buy one. Things as bow-thrusters and satnav are not standard on a mochi. There are a lot of options that will run up the price severely. Having visited several other Ferretti products I regret to say that this is not only a Mochi specific issue. Italians simply look awesome...if you do not look to close.

Instead of starting out with compromises, I would suggest to imagine the perfect yacht for you and shop around to get a god quotation. If it doesn't work for you, you can always order a series that comes close to what you want...but it will never be exactly what you want.

How about a Sanlorenzo 88 ...?

An Italian timeless classic with contemporary minimalist interior decor options.

I'll concede that a planing hull (specifically my Sunseeker) doesn't behave as nicely when it's not on a plane, and if you're planning on cruising at slow speeds most of the time, a planing hull is likely the wrong choice. At the same time, I think it does a good job considering - not exactly the most stable though.

I'll have to disagree with your statement that range cannot be increased by dropping the speed on a planing hull (if it's dropped low enough). You're right that there is most certainly a most economical planing speed, and if you're on a plane, there's no reason to go any faster or slower with regard to efficiency. However, dropping the boat off a plane significantly reduces fuel consumption. For example, my two speeds are about 10 kts (at 1000 RPM) and 24 kts (at 2050 RPM). When I drop the speed down to 10 kts, that's a 58% speed reduction. My fuel consumption at 10 kts, however, is reduced by 79%. So, yes, it takes over twice the time to cover the same distance, but I can run for 5 hours at 10 kts and burn the same fuel I do in one hour at 24 kts. Therefore, my range effectively doubles if I cruise at 10 kts vs. 24.