Magnum Marine Bestia

First Look: Magnum Marine Bestia. Arneson Surface Drives and twin 1,925-horsepower MTUs give this gleaming gold 49-footer a cruising speed of more than 50 knots.

By Kevin Koenig

April 1, 2013

I just finished up a week of walking back and forth (and back and forth and back and forth) on the docks at the Yacht & Brokerage Show in Miami Beach. The show this year was huge—the second largest ever—and there were boats as far as the eye could see. However I kept finding myself ogling a select handful of them. And one of those boats was the Bestia.

Now, this is not a boat for everyone. And I do admit that from time to time my aesthetic tastes drive my fiancée to gently point out, “Kevin, your Jersey is showing.” (I’m from the Garden State.) But man, there’s no better way to put it—as they’d tell you in Essex County, this boat has some balls. (Which makes sense if you read the story about Magnum founder Don Aronow on page 52.) Aggressive, retro-looking lines, and an in-your-face, gold paint job make the Bestia fit for a Bond villain.

To call the Magnum’s swim platform “beefy” would be like calling Chris Christie husky. But there’s a purpose there. The platform protects bathers from the razor-sharp props that work best with the boat’s Arneson Surface Drives. With optional twin 1,925-horsepower MTUs, the Bestia can hurdle across the water at a cool 65 knots—certainly fast enough to back up her über-macho looks.

Now back to that owner with the cinematic flair. He’s got to be willing to shell out for a boat that looks and performs like this, to the tune of $2.6 million for a single-berth, 49-footer. And that may be a price tag that’s hard to swallow for some. But then again, the show in Miami is one of the glitziest events in the world. How much would you pay to stand out in that crowd?