Prestige is scheduled to stage the world premiere of its M8 powercat at this year’s Cannes Yachting Festival from September 7-12. The unveiling will come a year after the French builder debuted its M-Line of multihull motor yachts at the same show with the M48, a model set to arrive in this region this year through Asia Yachting.
Designed by Italy’s Garroni Design with naval architecture by Frenchman Marc Lombard and interior decoration by Italian Valentina Militerno De Romedis, the new 65ft flagship of the M-line has a 64ft 6in hull and a beam of 29ft, offering over 2,900sqft of living space across its three levels.
Fitted with two 600hp Volvo Penta D8 V-drives, the yacht is expected to reach 20 knots and is particularly economical from eight to 18 knots, consuming just 20 litres/hour at eight knots. As an option, the Silent Boat Pack integrates a large surface area of solar panels on the hard top, flybridge forward overhang and foredeck, as well as a lithium battery bank.
Rosalie Le Gall, Product Manager at Prestige, said: “The M8 offers the space and luxury equivalent to that of an 85ft monohull motor yacht, with much greater comfort and connection with the sea, plus half the fuel consumption due to her lighter, less-powerful engines.
“The systems on board have also been optimised to reduce energy consumption by 50 per cent. With this, we can operate the yacht at night and several hours during the day, using only the batteries, affording a gentler lifestyle for all on board.”
The model, which is being built at the Groupe Beneteau Italia shipyard in Monfalcone, was designed as a motor yacht and, like the M48, is taller and thinner than sailing cats of a similar length, with a 5ft 5in draft.
Exterior features include a 4.2m-wide mobile central platform than can descend under the water to facilitate launching a tender, be level with the transoms to form a full-beam beach club, or rise to the same level as the aft cockpit.
Between the hulls, steps deploy automatically to facilitate access to the water and boarding, while a vast storage locker enables the storage of equipment and water toys.
The 345sqft cockpit is dressed in modular furniture, while there are two sliding doors to the saloon, either side of a central bar.
The port side of the cockpit has external ‘floating stairs’ to the 540sqft flybridge, which has a central twin-seat helm station, an eight-seat dining table to port, a large sunpad to starboard, and loose furniture aft. The foredeck has fitted sunpads and a sunken area forward surrounded by seating on all four sides.
Inside, the main-deck interior is laid out on a single level and starts with a lounge area and flybridge stairs to starboard, while both sides feature lower-deck stairs as well as sliding doors providing a connection to the outside and side decks.
Forward is the dining area to port, while the starboard area has the option of a helm and a U-shaped galley, although the space can otherwise be used as a coffee corner.
Forward steps lead down to the 320sqft master suite, which is full beam and split into four zones. To starboard is a lounge with sofa, coffee table, chairs and TV. The central area is dedicated to the bedroom, which has a starboard-facing bed. Beside the bedhead is a dressing area, storage and cupboards, while further to port is the en-suite bathroom.
There are three lower-deck layouts including a five-cabin version with four similar-sized guest cabins, three with window-facing double beds and the forward starboard room containing a forward-facing double and a Pullman bed.
A VIP suite can occupy the two rooms in the port hull in the four-cabin, galley-up layout, while the four-cabin galley-down layout has the galley aft in the starboard hull. The two forepeaks can be configured as en-suite single crew cabins.
The M8 offers a variety of decors with new materials and colours, while free-standing furniture offers possibilities for personalisation.
Camillo Garroni of Garroni Design, who also designed the M48, said: “The new M8 represents a concentration of innovation. Her contemporary lines, high-performance hull design, and innovative layouts place this new model at the top of the multihull motor yacht category.”
This article first appeared on Yacht Style.
For more yacht reads, click here.