Boat test for the 2004 Cheoy Lee 68 Sport Motoryacht with boat pictures, boat specifications, and boat test results. Includes pricing, videos, engine test reviews, and ratings for the 2004 Cheoy Lee 68 Sport Motoryacht.

Let’s talk about the turns first. Although the 68 possesses a substantial, lobsterboat-like keel, she banks smoothly and comfortably into turns, even tight ones, showing no tendency to lean precariously outboard. This latter condition is a disconcerting one for most people, including me, and results from the unhappy combination of top-heaviness with a keel that has so much broadside surface area that inboard pressure during turns tips the vessel outboard. The 68 avoids these pitfalls via two simple measures, according to the folks at Tom Fexas Yacht Design, the firm that designed the 68. First, Core-Cell coring was employed throughout the entire superstructure to cut weight aloft and obviate top-heaviness. And second, the surface area of the keel was reduced “just enough

Now about following seas: With her transom squarely to weather, the 68 tracked down-sea with wholehearted conviction—her nose seemed glued to the tall stacks at Port Everglades. Moreover, she evinced only the slightest tendency to yaw, a rare occurrence in large, modern, flat-transomed vessels, which typically slue back and forth in following seas to shed the momentum of on-rushing waves. I suspected a deep, lengthy keel was at the bottom of the phenomenon, as well as LCG (longitudinal center of gravity) balanced with mathematical precision, and the Fexas folks confirmed these impressions when I telephoned after the test.

The skipper and I drank hot, black coffee all the way back to Lauderdale. To repay him for his hospitality, I suggested I do deckhand duty as we eased through our marina preparing to tie alongside a pier, starboard-side-to. Cheoy Lee bills the 68 as a large, comfortable motoryacht that can be handled by two people and, based on the short but sweet docking experience that ensued, I’d say the company’s absolutely right. With the skipper at the lower helm and the pantograph-type door on the starboard side thrown open to offer fast access to the wide side decks, the two of us berthed the boat in short order. All I had to do was debark through the doorway in the cockpit bulwarks, and he passed the lines over to me on the dock.

We began touring the interior immediately. While the 68’s large, roomy layout is conventional—with a big, open saloon, sizable U-shape galley, and dedicated (albeit dinette-equipped) wheelhouse on the main deck, and three spacious staterooms as well as an engine room below—a couple of features stood out. There was the cherry woodwork, for example—much of it consists of veneers molded over lightweight Nomex honeycomb coring. Besides helping to cut weight, it looks great. Solid wood or veneer? I found it hard to tell for the most part. Then there were the structural details the skipper pointed out. Engineered to save weight as well as add strength and resiliency, they included fully cored fiberglass bulkheads, stringers, transversals, and soles throughout. “And not only is the hull resin-infused,

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