Boat of the Week: This 72-Foot Fast Cruiser Delivers Compact Style and Big Performance on the High Seas
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Blustery winds at 25 mph, gusting to a feisty 30. Frothy, confused seas running at five to seven feet. Everywhere, big swells topped with foaming white caps. Not what you’d call a great day to be out on the water.
As we poke our nose out of Fort Lauderdale’s deep-water cruise ship channel into the big, blue Atlantic, we brace for the steep rollers marching towards us. The first one, a breaking six-footer, hits us bang on the quarter, sending salty spray cascading over the bow.
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Time to power up. Push forward on the throttles, feel the thrust of 3,200 horsepower, and in seconds we’re slicing and dicing the waves at an impressive 37 mph, water cascading off each side of that towering bow.
Our ride for the day was the sleek Pearl 72 from Britain’s boutique builder Pearl Yachts, a high-luxury, design-focused express yacht brimming with style and innovation.
Pearl has been around since 1998, and today builds a line of flybridge motoryachts that includes a 62, 80 and 95 from its yard in Xiamen, China. It pulled the wraps off this all-new 72-footer at the recent Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, and a few weeks later, we had the chance to put it through its paces in the ocean swells.
Moored stern-to at the dock, the 72 exudes high style. Long-time Pearl naval architect Bill Nixon did the running surface and exterior design, filling the superstructure with huge swaths of dark-tinted glass.
From massive floor-to-ceiling salon windows, huge, twin panes of windshield glass, mile-long windows along the hull, to glass-filled cutouts in the bulwarks, the profile looks to have as much glass as fiberglass.
And the hull is full of cool innovations. Like the cavernous transom garage—extremely rare in a 72-footer—that’s big enough to swallow a Williams 345 jet tender plus a jet ski. That, and the hydraulic swim platform, plus powered, drop-down side terraces, for easy access to those water toys.
Best seat in the house? That would be the big comfy sofa on the oversized foredeck, with a sunpad in front that’s big enough for sun worshippers. Second best seat? Up on the flybridge behind the wheel.
Smart organizational design has gone into the flybridge layout, with its full outdoor kitchen, big wooden dining table, a U-shaped sofa alongside the helm, and sunpads at the back with the option of a jacuzzi tub. And one really cool feature is the industry-first, multi-position, powered sunshade built into the flybridge.
With louvers like those of an oversized Venetian blind, it can go from fully closed to fully open at the press of a button. But the party trick is the angle of the blinds can be adjusted to let in the desired amount of sunlight.
It’s inside, however, where the style really shines. The whole interior is the creation of British interior designer-to-the-stars Kelly Hoppen, who has given the yacht the vibe of some hip, urban Manhattan loft.
In the salon, that means a central, full-beam open galley with the dining area forward under that huge glass windshield, which has a slide-back section for al fresco dining. To enhance the indoors/outdoors feel, there’s an oversize sofa and chairs close to the aft deck, accessed through big sliding doors.
Take the stairs down to the staterooms and here’s another surprise: twin master cabins. Perfect for when two couples are cruising together and neither wants the smaller cabin. Add two more en-suite double cabins, plus crew quarters, and the 72 squeezes a lot into its dimensions.
Away from the docks is where this boat really distinguishes itself. Throw off the lines, ease into the narrow canal leading out into the Intracoastal Waterway—made easy thanks to standard bow and stern thrusters—and we’re gliding under Fort Lauderdale’s 17th Street Bridge for the ocean.
Standard power for the 72 is a pair of 1,400 hp MAN V12s, though most buyers will likely opt for the twin MTU V10s packing 1,600-hp apiece. Their desirability is shown when you pour on the power and feel the surge of acceleration.
Flat out, they’ll punch the Pearl to that 37mph top speed, and cruise serenely, and near-silently at 28, giving a range of around 250 nautical miles from its 1,100-gallon tanks.
The mastery of that new Bill Dixon hull design comes into its own when you spin the wheel hard over for a series of figure-eights. Even in those big swells, the 72 feels solid and responsive to the helm. We stay out for about a half hour, playing in the swells.
Pricing starts at $3.4 million with the 1,400 hp MANs. With the big MTUs and a few options, such as a Seakeeper gyro stabilizer and second generator, it will be closer to $4.6 million. The yacht comes with a five-year warranty.
After our Atlantic escapade, it’s clear that this is a fast cruiser, with great style, design, and lively performance. But our favorite feature is its impressive big-water handling.
Click here to see all photos of the new Pearl 72.
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