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Best Large Multihull 50ft and above

This dedicated cruising catamaran from South Africa boasts an amazing list of standard features – including all sails, electric winches, a genset, a watermaker, air conditioning, a huge 900-watt solar array and a washing machine, to name just a few – all for the remarkable price of $1.2 million, an extremely competitive sum for a boat that is so well fitted out. What most impressed our judges, though, was the quality of the boat and how well-thought-out it is.

Construction is top-notch, with the fully foam-cored hull and deck set in epoxy and vinylester resins. All interior components and furniture are likewise foam-cored to reduce weight. To save pounds in the wiring department, the boat features a cutting-edge digitally controlled distributed power network that helped the X5 score another Best Boats nod in the systems department (see page 33).

Touring the boat in detail you’ll find a plethora of carefully considered features. The gutters on the coachroof, for example, lead into rain-catching water fills. Foot switches for the electric winches at the helm station leave hands free for handling lines. The touch-screen electronics have backup button controls for when conditions are snotty. The unique cantilevered bimini top over the helm is rock-solid and can be quickly folded away when desired. Solid handrails all around the deck allow for maximum security when moving around the boat. The belowdeck running-rigging network can be quickly accessed via removable panels when necessary. There’s even an overhead shower-head built into the targa arch so that you can bathe on deck in style.

All in all, our judges were unanimous in deciding this boat, which is billed as a turn-key luxury global cruising machine, more than delivers on that promise. xquisiteyachts.com

December 2016