Palm Beach Motor Yachts

I do. I am a broker but have none to sell just sharing experience
I sold a 50 Palm Beach 18 months ago. Traded by GB/Palm Beach. This was my first experience with Palm Beach.
The bilge glass work is a work of art. Finished like a grand prix ocean racer in black to show any tab failure
We ran out Port Everglades in 20-22 knots from the NE and did a long wide open throttle loop for the Volvo techs. The ride is crazy nice never loosing contact with the water.
The 50 rides dry as a bone
My neighbor has had all kindsof exotic S/F boats and he just bought a PB52 with shafts
I own a 49 Eastbay so I thought deep draft/heavy boats were the ticket. Palm Beach rides better and dryer.
The motors under the saloon floor with the long jack shafts is a head scratcher but I understand why they did it.
The driver is a little cramped at the helm but I guess you get used to it
I am not a pod experienced driver and never felt comfortable in marinas and docking but that's me.

I can hook you up with the 50 pod and 52 shaft owners if you are interested. They (like most of us) love to talk about their boats. Both are Annapolis based

One of my family members owned a PB 50 and now owns a 55 PB. Took the 50 up and down the ICW, cruised it frequently around the northeast. Great boat, ran flat and smoothly, he had pod drives. I helped him bring it from Atlantic City to RI via NY and LI sound, and we flew along in fairly mild seas at 20+ knots, quiet and smooth. Left Atlantic City around 8:00 AM, arrived in Narragansett bay around 4:15 with one 25 minute fueling stop. Also excellent efficiency for a 50-footer. Very few issues with the boat, PB after-sale service has been first class.

He hasn't cruised as much on the 55 yet, but so far so good. The workmanship on the boat is terrific from what I've seen. The 55 is also a Volvo pod boat.

If I knew any criticisms I'd let you know, but from my somewhat limited experience, PB builds very good boats.

I'm very impressed with Palm Beach and, accordingly, with the new Grand Banks. They've come around to the cruiser who wants speed. From everything I've heard, their quality is excellent. I'd rate their performance of their larger models as excellent. I do find the WOT of 32 knots and cruise of 26 knots a bit disappointing for their 42-50'. Rather pedestrian when I'd expect more from them. For instance, the 65' has WOT of 40 knots and cruise of 32. Now, I realize that speed on the 42-50' would not bother most and certainly they ride and perform better than many of their competitors.

I wish they had flybridges on the smaller models. Then I have one design criticism across the board. There is a lot of bow space as the helm is well back. Yet, they don't use the bow for seating on any of their boats. They use the bow to allow light through to the cabin below, which is nice, but I'd love to see some seating on the bow. That gives you when docked or at anchor more outdoor space. While I believe the Palm Beach build quality to be superior to Sunseeker, I compare that to a Sunseeker Predator 50 which makes excellent use of bow space in a similarly sized boat.

Still, all in all, I'd put Palm Beach near the top for quality builders in their size range.

I am not of fan of the trend to use bow space as an entertainment zone, just for the fact that you are completely exposed to the sun and UV rays and any attempt at a soft canvas shade looks like a disaster.

Over-rated imo.

On the 66' Sunseeker I manage there are always people up there when we're underway. Yes, to be in the sun which is why half of the people are on a yacht to begin with. Underway you get a nice breeze. I had one guy sit up there all of the way from Nassau to Fort Lauderdale.....155NM at 25 knots. In the intracoastal you have a breeze and nothing in your way as far as view goes.

Sun pads are a nice thing to have forward. I am talking about settees, tables, raised seating, etc. they add bulk to the profile and increase the height of the bow, driving the profile lines vertical.

We did those details in the 90’s with mixed results. As far as the sun exposure goes, bridge decks have been extended aft to cover cockpits and aft decks, bridges have went through soft bimini’s to hard tops to being fully enclosed, the human body can only take so much sun.

155nm fir 6 hours either in an open bridge or on a foredeck is just plain dumb. The bow/foredeck has the highest level of vertical accelerations which translates to the single most uncomfortable spot to be underway in open water at 25 knots, kind of like an all day roller coastal ride. His view may have been nice but yours wasn’t !

Yes, the boat I am speaking of is a 66' Manhattan, it has a bow pad, settee, table etc. And yes, people sit on the settee everytime I run the boat it seems, even at cruise speed. Yes it does effect forward visibility from the lower station a hair. Nobody ever uses the sunpad up there, or rarely. Depends on how the boat rides. We had someone up there in 5-7' seas off of our starboard beam/stern and they were comfortable up there at 27 knots crossing the gulf stream for 50 NM. Had to sit on the port side so as not to get a little spray. The lower station is on the stbd side so didn't block my view. That person owns a 52' Princess flybridge so it's not like he doesn't know boating. You wouldn't catch me up there, or on an open flybridge for 155nm at 25 knots.......but well, everyone's different. You have to understand that here, where the ocean temperature is 85F and air temperature 90F, it's not cold up there like in CA.

Our Manhattan 65 has the same design and doing the loop it was a wonderful area. It was used constantly in the canals and on the TN Tom. It was also used at marinas. It just gives you another social area and another outdoors area.

Sunseeker is a modern design. I do not think a lobster inspired design should have a settee, or something of that sort. My 2 cent.

Palm Beach may be lobster inspired but is so far from lobster, I can't see why now. There's just so much utility to be gained with bow seating and the flybridge is small. I guess ultimately it depends on how many people aboard. If run with two people 90% of the time then fine without. But if frequently with 5 or 6 people then I'd want the space.

I am coming out of a 39' Tiara Open and going into a PB 50', first off I have nothing negative to say about the Tiara brand at all, been an amazing boat the last 6 years. The PB 50' will have pods which is much different than the Tiara. I will say the PB is like driving a Porsche with the IPS vs. Tiara with the straight drives is like driving a boaty, no pun intended, Lincoln. If anyone can give me some feedback about the IPS's, I would appreciate that. I've heard they are not good to run on the pins, like I do the Tiara, I heard the IPS system does better at 805