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I’d just finished testing the Pershing 76 and was walking down the dock at Miami’s Bayside Marina when I was approached by a couple who’d just stepped off a rather boxy-looking 50-some-foot motoryacht. Noticing the Power & Motoryacht logo on my shirt, they introduced themselves as long-time subscribers. We exchanged pleasantries about the weather, the marina, and their boat, and then the gentleman put his hand on my shoulder, inclined his head to me, and, sotto voce, asked, “Can I ask you a question?” “Sure,” I replied. He pointed to the 76 I’d just left and asked, “Who buys a boat like that?”
A fair question. For moored amidst a sea of white sameness, this sleek silver and black bullet stood out like Britney Spears at an AARP meeting. I could easily imagine boaters abuzz as she (the Pershing, not Britney) pulled in that morning, wondering what movie star or media mogul might be aboard.
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Unfortunately for me, no august personage could claim ownership of the 76; she was the property of the Fort Lauderdale MarineMax dealer (the MarineMax dealer network has a marketing agreement with the Ferretti Group, of which Pershing is a part), and she’d been brought here so I could conduct my test in the protected waters of Biscayne Bay, well away from the eight-footers that roared outside. The reason, explained the folks from Ferretti of America, was not fear of the elements but rather insurance limitations. Part of me was thankful I’d be saved from what would no doubt have been a raucous ride, but part of me was disappointed that I wouldn’t see the 76 in the conditions for which this deep-V-hulled, Arneson-driven sportboat had been designed.
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Want to stand out in a crowd? The Pershing's 76-foot silver bullet is for you. |
Which brings me back to that reader’s question: Who owns—or more specifically, would own—this boat? Would it be the kind of person who would be outside on a day like today, challenging the best Mother Nature could devise? Although I judged the 76 capable of doing just that, I suspected not. Then who?
The question took on added interest when I stepped aboard. The first thing I noticed was that the galley was down a semicircular, eight-step companionway in the saloon’s aft port corner. Galley-down is not an arrangement that American boat buyers are generally enamored with. Moreover, well equipped though this one is, the galley is actually part of the crew quarters, which includes a double-berth stateroom and a single-berth stateroom, a head, and engine-room access via a watertight door aft. (There’s also access via a cockpit hatch.) It was pretty obvious to me that the 76 had been designed to be operated by a crew, and a crew of three at that.
A tour of the main deck offered a number of clues as to who actually would own this boat. It would have to be someone who appreciates stylish, modern design. The interior is a bright and airy combination of finely crafted, light Austrian pear (finished with a slightly orange stain and satin lacquer); a dark, wide-plank teak sole; a beige, open-weave area rug; brushed stainless steel accents; and a dark-brown, alligator skin-like vinyl, L-shape sofa to starboard. A translucent panel just forward of the retractable flat-panel TV on centerline separates the saloon from the helmsman.
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