If you’ve never made a run along the Miami River when it’s busy, put the experience on your bucket list. Not for the scenery—however fascinating the mix of skyscrapers, boatyards, bungalows, and mansions is—but rather, for the river (and radio) traffic. Between bikini-clad bachelorette parties, cranky sportfishing captains, clueless JetCar jockeys, and harried yacht skippers imploring equally harried drawbridge operators to open up, it’s a curse- and eye-candy-filled feast for the senses.
Even better for your bucket list, though, is experiencing the mayhem from the ultra-luxe flybridge of a Pardo Endurance 72. I had the chance to not only barely duck under spans while cruising with witty captains Juan Soto and Gustavo Michelin aboard the Italian builder’s newest release, but to put this build through her paces atop a sporty Biscayne Bay. With her burly-yet-sleek design, courtesy of a plumb bow and reverse-raked windshield, the blinding-white GRP-hulled beauty garnered plenty of waves and a few whistles from passing captains and crew.
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The “Endurance” in this $5 million yacht’s name comes from Cantieri del Pardo’s goal of a yacht that’s capable of long Mediterranean and Caribbean runs. With twin Volvo Penta IPS 1050, 1200 or 1350 propulsion at 12 knots and 1,585-gallon fuel capacity, the Forlì, Italy-based builder claims a cruise range nudging 1,000 nautical miles.
Stepping aboard, my first—and most lasting—impression is just how open this glass-ensconced boat feels. A natural point of comparison for the E72 is Pardo’s flagship GT75, a yacht I had the chance to board back in January. Pardo bills the GT75 as “a luxury villa at sea,” but it could be argued that there’s even more “villa” to the E72. Her salon is bigger by a third. This means rear socializing space that’s open to the sky is necessarily smaller, but the E72 makes up for that, and then some, with huge dual fold-down gunwales. When deployed, they run halfway to the front of the salon and lend an extra 400 square feet for entertaining or just dangling your feet above the sea. Combined with floor-to-ceiling doors and a panoramic power galley window, the E72 can also be very tightly sealed—as we would see—and hear—on Biscayne Bay.
Boarding occurs via a 5-plus-foot-deep swim platform that lowers about a foot into the water. That platform serves a substantial garage that can easily swallow a 10-foot tender and other water toys. The rear deck is reached via a pair of gate-protected stairs to either side and lies at the same level as the salon. Between the stairs sits a four-person sunpad with middle cushions that raise to create backrests for a power-awning-shaded six- or seven-person teak dining table. Cool and practical touches include durable (and repairable) Flexiteek outdoor flooring throughout.
That wide, portside window highlights an interesting salon configuration. The portside galley, with its four-burner cooktop and full-sized fridge/freezer, runs fore to aft. It’s not the biggest, but pull-out shelving gives surprising storage space. The power window also creates an outdoor bar setup on the port deck. A galley-down layout option replaces the forward guest cabins with kitchen space and a small four-top dining table—creating even more alfresco dining and entertainment space off the salon.
In the yacht’s interior, soothing, indirect lighting, walnut-veneer trim, and sand-colored resin finishes, by Italy’s Burdisso and Capponi Yacht Designs give this boat a highly refined, but casual and very Italian vibe. It’s an air of loose khakis, a white linen shirt, and bare feet versus an Armani suit with Ferragamo loafers. In this galley-up iteration, Pardo opted to split the living arrangements. Aft of the bow, eight amidships stairs lead to a pair of small but functional and identical en suite twin-bed guest cabins. The amidships VIP and master are reached via portside salon stairs. There’s a separate day head, with the en suite VIP to starboard amidships. The full-beam master is seriously comfortable, with substantial hullside windows to port and starboard and an amidships king-size bed. The bath features twin sinks with a separate head and rainshower to either side. I could see two families with kids happily occupying this boat for a week. The two-person crew quarters in the bow is a small, but private two-berth cabin with a wet head.
On the E72’s walkaround design, starboard and port walkways are wide and high enough to be safe, with grab points clear to the bow. Forward of the salon, a rear-facing bow lounge sits opposite a huge six-person forward-facing sofa and a four-person sunpad—with optional hot tub beneath. A separate party could be held on the T-top- equipped flybridge. It’s anchored by an eight-person portside teak table and a five-person L-shaped settee. At the two-seat helm, the captain could chat with guests from a two-seat lounge to starboard while the chef works a fully equipped galley that includes a hibachi-style cooktop. Overhead, louvered shutters turn the flybridge into a skybridge.
Performance-wise, Cantieri del Pardo has been building serious sailboats—particularly its world-championship-winning Grand Soleil line—since 1973. They’re thus well-attuned to efficient hullforms. This E72’s “Eco-Speed” semi-displacement hull was propelled by twin 1,000-horsepower IPS 1350s (Pardo also calls the boat “hybrid ready,” meaning she’ll be able to run Volvo Penta’s hybrid IPS system, which begins production in late 2025). Capt. Michelin demonstrated the Quick Gyro amidst jumbled three- to four-foot waves coming from every direction. At the helm, I found her rock solid and incredibly quiet when navigating from her salon helm. With tanks two-thirds full and a crew of six, we didn’t see a 1,000-mile range at 12 knots in the breezy, choppy conditions, but we did see that figure at 10 knots. At the all-important 20-knot fast-cruise, she consumed 63 gallons per hour, giving around a 503nm range. Top speed was 26.7 knots. With her Volvo Interceptor automatic trim system engaged, the E72 didn’t set the world on fire with jet-ski handling, but she devoured the chop, delivering a ride that, at 25-plus knots, felt like 12.
Back on the Miami River, the passage to our covered mooring was less than twice as wide as our 19-foot beam. To starboard lay a day boat owned by billionaire Jonathan Rothberg. Forward and to port was Cielito—a priceless 1930 Stephens gentleman’s cruiser. Deftly nudging the joystick, Captain Michelin eased her in like she was a Mini Cooper.
Indeed, put the Endurance 72 on your bucket list, too.
Pardo E72 Test Numbers:
Pardo E72 Specifications:
LOA: 72’2”
Beam: 18’7”
Draft: 5’
Displ.: 127,810 lb.
Fuel: 1,585 gal.
Water: 317 gal.
Power: 2/800-, 900-, or 1,000-hp Volvo Penta IPS 1000, 1200 or 1350.
This article originally appeared in the October 2025 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
