The newest and smallest in the Hunt Yachts fleet, the new 56—set to debut next year—is designed to “drive like a boat but feel like a yacht.”

Hunt Yachts has just announced that a new, smaller sibling will be joining their fleet late next year: the Hunt Ocean 56, which is available in express and flybridge versions.

The 56-footer was conceived and designed, in part, in response to feedback from current and prospective owners of the 63. That yacht boasted a LOA of nearly 70 feet, an 18-foot beam, a massive freeboard, and a displacement of 87,000 pounds—in short, she was a small ship. In comparison, the 56 has an LOA of 63 feet (including the swim platform), a 15-foot-7-inch beam, and a 61,000-pound displacement. All that adds up to the difference between a small ship and a big boat.

“For many of the people who looked at the 63, it was more boat than they needed,” says Peter Truslow, Managing Director of Hunt Yachts. “We’re finding that the first owners of the 56 are a little younger, and they want to do extended cruising. They’re active—they want a versatile boat.”

Versatility in the 56 comes in many forms. Its smaller footprint is one element, but it’s also reflected in performance and interior options. On the power side, the boat is equipped with twin Volvo Penta IPS 950s, which reportedly give the flybridge version—a choice made by the owners of hulls one and two—a top speed of 30 knots and a 315-nautical-mile range at a fast cruise speed of 27 knots.

“They’re designed to run,” says Truslow. “They’re designed from the keel up, not the top down. This boat in particular offers so much for an active boater. If you want to run places quickly in rough water, this is a great boat.”

Size and performance aside, the real calling card of this boat is its striking good looks. The express model (base price: $3.3 million) resembles a modernized version of the brand’s iconic Surfhunters. The flybridge version (base price: $3.6 million) is, in my opinion, especially easy on the eyes. Down East yachts with flybridges have all but gone extinct in recent years, so offering a new sub-60-footer with a flybridge is kind of like the Dire Wolf coming back from extinction—I never thought we’d see the day, and it sure is exciting. I’m clearly not alone: the owners of hulls one and two both chose the flybridge version.

A traditional-meets-modern theme continues inside the 56’s fully custom interior. “If you look at the market today, the trend is to make the interior more spartan and connected to the cockpit, but the 56 is more yacht-like. It drives like a boat but feels like a yacht.”

The first hulls will feature a two-stateroom layout with a full-beam master amidships, a VIP in the bow, and a galley down—but a three-stateroom, galley-up layout is possible if an owner twists the builder’s arm hard enough. “We’re truly a custom builder—we can do different interior layouts—but we think variations of our galley-down design work best,” says Truslow. “The galley-down makes your salon big and open. We can do a full galley-up design if a customer wants it, but we think this design works well.”

The first 56s are currently in build, with hull one expected to be delivered to her East Coast owners next fall.

Combining a legendary Hunt deep-V hull, Down East styling and the quality construction the brand is known for, this may be the smallest sibling in a lineup that includes the 63, 68, and 76—but she’s poised to make a big splash.

Have a closer look in the gallery below: