Prestige 750 review

Jeanneau enter luxury Big Boat market in a BIG way

French builders like Jeanneau’s Prestige brand are increasingly becoming global in their collaborations. So it was no surprise when Prestige extended its long running relationship with Garroni Design and chose Trieste in Italy as the base to build its flagship motoryacht, the Prestige 750.

PRESTIGE BOATS

The striking feature of the saloon on the Prestige 750 is the airy and open-plan layout that leans more towards apartment in style, rather than the nautical – as found on, say Princess or Riviera boats.

The Alpi oak finish felt smooth to the touch and there’s lighter oak or walnut available. The Prestige maximises the usage of the sheltered aft deck space as a dining area thanks to the galley being at the back.

Here an island bench gives the cook storage and support when at sea. There’s a four ring ceramic Miele hob, chest-high fridge and deep sink along with a dishwasher. The washing machine is down in the crew quarters.

Opposite is the glass dinette table with six chairs – although eight are required if all guests are aboard – and this area opens to the aft deck through the sliding doors to create a stylish inside-outside space for cocktail hour.

The midships lounge is comfortably laid out with surrounding soft furnishings and bench seating to starboard and those tall coachroof windows give lovely panoramic views. That is with the exception of forward where the deck level master cabin requires the main console to be elevated.

Here the skipper should be comfortable on the wide seat which can be electrically elevated and all controls are easily to hand – twin throttles for the MAN 1200 engines to the right, joystick for the Xenta docking system, twin Raymarine GS 15/12in screens at a good viewing angle and in case of mal de mer, the Seakeeper stabiliser.

CABINS

The interesting feature chosen for the Prestige 750 is the positioning of the main berth forward on deck level. This allowed a deep-vee to be incorporated in the GRP hull by naval architects J&J Design.

Reached by two steps down from the right of the main console, this layout gives privacy to an owner. Using the full beam of the Prestige yacht there’s elevated views from the king-sized island bed through rectangular portlights and a set of opening coachroof side hatches.

Natural light falls from the opening skylights as well and privacy blinds are fitted but you’d need to stand on a chair to reach them as headroom is about 8ft. There’s plenty of space for shoreside attire in the walk-in wardrobe, along with the under-bed storage and surrounding lockers.

Both the wardrobe and starboardside bathroom are located in the forepeak but remain spacious. The rectangular bathroom has a large shower cubicle with longitudinal composite stone sink/bench which oozes style, although the shallow sink would be impractical at sea.

Access to the guest accommodation is from the same corridor as the owner’s – down a flight of steps are three cabins comprising two twin singles and the main guest double aft. In addition there’s a crew cabin as part of the engine room which has two singles with washing facilities.

Stepping into the double cabin I can clearly see why it’s earned the ‘VIP’ tag because on many yachts in this class – including the Riviera 75 I was on recently – this could very well be the master cabin. It’s spacious, with king-sized island bed, walk-in wardrobe, large vanity and equally roomy ablutions.

Over in the two double cabins the guests aren’t slumming it either thanks to long single beds that extend into the space below the master cabin to maximise their length; just watch that hidden step as you walk between the beds. Two portlights, with one opening, and a 22in LED television on the bulkhead should be sufficient to keep teenagers amused.

DECKS

Usable space is at a premium on the Prestige 750 and this begins with the wide teak swimplatform which can use hydraulics to wet your feet or launch the tender – the garage space inside the engine room has been allotted to crew quarters so you have the choice of storing the tender aft or on the flybridge where the optional Opacmare davit can hoist it.

Stepping onto the deck, using either of the aft steps brings you under the sheltering hardtop –an ideal place for alfresco dining thanks to the transom bench and six-person teak table.

Moving forward is safely done with knee-high bulwarks, sturdy guardrails and grippy teak underfoot. There’s more reason to venture up here than merely mooring thanks to the comfy bench seating that safely lets the wind blow through your hair as the tall bows surge over the swells.

Mooring and anchoring practicalities are taken care of with a 50kg galvanised anchor and 100m of 12mm chain pulled by a 24V 3000W windlass. There’s also a deep fender locker here as well. Anchor controls are via a Quick remote unit and from the main helm/flybridge –there are twin capstans aft as well and the fairleads and bollards are large, chromed fittings.

Climbing the wide and shallow angled teak steps brings you up to the large flybridge where a hardtop bimini with canvas centre shades the U-shaped dinette with wetbar opposite.

ENGINEROOM

Power choices with the Prestige 750 are 1000 or 1200hp MAN V8 shaftdrives – our test boat was fitted with the latter and I found needed all of this horsepower.

Access to the engines is through a heavy-duty, watertight door in the transom that leads into a vast space with twin crew cabin aft then a corridor leading to the two turbocharged MAN engines that are accessible from all sides.

Having worked as an engineer on a superyacht, I’d be more than happy to do the maintenance work down here thanks to 6ft of headroom, plenty of lighting, filters located up high and easy access to the twin Kohler generators. Fresh air and a second access point are via a large deck hatch as well.

For extra assurance there is some duplication of systems, so there’s two 20kVa Kohler generators along with double filters plus separate electrical connections (the main electrical panel is at the helm). There are even sight gauges on each of the 2200lt fuel tanks. The large Seakeeper stabiliser system was part of the factory build but the next hull, destined for Hong Kong, will allow for it to be fitted later. The large diameter plate requires a significant amount of space but more about that later.

PERFORMANCE AT SEA

The Prestige 750 is 74-foot boat weighing 48t fully loaded — is not a boat to be handled by the inexperienced.

Its Xenta joystick system uses the existing bowthruster, gears and propellers and turns them into a single system, controlled by a joystick that is moved in the desired direction of movement and accelerates when twisted. Ideally, an aft cockpit control would be good as well on this size of yacht. Using this system from the flybridge we left the dock without scratching the surrounding multimillion dollar superyachts in Cannes, before heading out to a calm Mediterranean – not my preferred choice of weather (the tail end of Mistral wind is often the best test as it leaves lumpy seas in its fading path).

Sitting at the main console I clicked down the trim tabs before pushing the throttles forward, then pointed our bow towards an empty horizon. Acceleration was more sedate than startling, as you’d expect with this type of cruiser, but most importantly it felt comfortable. Noise levels also sounded fine, allowing us to talk unhindered with the aft doors closed.

Clear views forward gave me the confidence to increase the revs on the MAN 1200s before glancing behind – without any furniture in the way to impinge on the view – to check for other speedboats. The Prestige 750 glided over the calm waters without a judder from any furniture as the revs rose and settled at their maximum of 2380rpm, which equated to 27.4kts on the Raymarine GS screen and 430lt consumption (for both engines) on the MAN fuel meter before easing back to a fast cruising speed of 22kts which spun the motors at 2000rpm and required 290lt. This would give a range of 334nm.

Seeking bumps I chased my own wake which demonstrated how well the Prestige 750 dug her tall shoulder in as we circled, before sedately changing her heel as I spun the wheel to drive into a figure of eight at cruising speed. It was all completed in a stable and predictable manner, the fine entry bow gripping the water as we straight-lined it back to shore, the decks remaining dry with the spray glancing off.

The final test was to go astern, which the Prestige 750 did without fuss, then generate some wake before clicking the Seakeeper on – which can operate in up to 15kt winds. It had been idly spinning for 40 minutes in warm-up mode, so it was interesting to watch its effect on our rolling decks which it did pacify to an extent, yet leaving me slightly unconvinced about its merit.

THE VERDICT

The venture into the large motoryacht arena is a bold move for Prestige that has largely paid off with the launching of the flagship Prestige 750. This stylish craft combines an innovative layout that may surprise the traditionalists, as well as competitors.

PRESTIGE 750 SEA TRIALS

Prestige 750 with twin 1200hp MAN diesel engines.

* Sea-trial data supplied by author, as tested (60% fuel load and 90% water with five aboard). Fuel burn figures are for both engines combined.

PRESTIGE 750 SPECIFICATIONS

Prestige 750 price: $US4,000,000 approx.

OPTIONS FITTED

Upgraded 1200hp MAN engines, Seakeeper stabiliser, second Kohler 12kVA generator, Xenta docking system, Raymarine electronics, crew cabin, hydraulic swimplatform and davit, entertainment system and flybridge hardtop

GENERAL

MATERIAL GRP infused

TYPE Semi-displacement

LOA 22.58m

BEAM 5.46m

DRAFT  1.59m

WEIGHT 41,400kg (dry)

CAPACITIES

PEOPLE (NIGHT) 8

FUEL 4400lt

WATER 840lt (plus grey water 300lt, black water 300lt)

ENGINE

MAKE/MODEL 2 x MAN

TYPE V8 turbo-diesel

RATED HP 1200 (each)

GENERATOR 20kVa Kohler

FOR MORE INFORMATION

PRESTIGE AUSTRALIA

WEB prestigeaustralia.com