New motor yachts from the Ferretti Group: Pershing 70 boasts slim design and spacious interiors
Say hello to the Pershing 70 in Asia, which looks fast when standing still, and seems to be tugging at the dock lines even before anyone has thought about starting the engines
Pershing, a member of the Ferretti Group, was founded in 1985 and has established itself as a premier builder of elegant and superbly engineered fast motor yachts. A combination of imaginative design and the ingenious application of available technology sets the marque apart from the pretenders and delivers high-performance boats that are just as suitable for a family cruise for a week or two, as they are for an exhilarating adrenalin-fuelled run to a nearby destination. Making a fast boat comfortable, and making a comfortable cruiser fast is a subtle skill that Pershing has honed to perfection. “Revolutionary” is a substantially over-used word when it comes to motor yachts, but please believe that the Pershing 70 really is, well, revolutionary.
The Pershing 70 is a relatively slender boat that seems to have more space inside than it really ought to. Designer Fulvio di Simoni has excelled in this regard, drawing together a combination of generous headroom throughout, huge hull windows on the lower deck, acres of glazing on the main deck, a powered sunroof over the saloon and a vanishing aft saloon wall (which is glass anyway). Together, these features contrive to achieve that which all designers are trying to do today: bring the outdoors, in. Few have done so as successfully as di Simoni.
An elegant and stylish interior created in-house by the Ferretti Group is nothing but good taste from bow to stern. Light wood panelling, exquisite fabrics and leather, and discreetly coloured fine wool carpets below make this easy on the eye, with visual accents supplied by polished metallic highlights. A yacht is above all, a place to relax, so busyness is not called for. Rather, this should be a place from which to appreciate the surrounding maritime scenery, and to retreat to at the end of a day on the water. It’s all of that. There’s also plenty of “tech” installed of course. All environmental controls, from the sun blinds to the onboard entertainment system, can be controlled from a tablet or an iPhone.
The Pershing 70 comes in two or three cabin versions: it just depends on how many friends you want on board for that weekend getaway. In the two-cabin version, and if you like to cook for your guests, you’ll enjoy the well-appointed galley opposite the saloon which allows for sociability whilst whipping up the hors d’oeuvres.
On the main deck, the saloon features more luxurious seating than you can imagine and, with the sunroof open and the aft “wall” lowered, becomes as much an outdoor space as an indoor area. The effect is expansive, to say the least.
The Pershing 70’s real party piece, however, are the “wings” that swoop from the cabin top to the side decks, enfolding and protecting the cockpit and even giving heightened security to guests moving forward on the side decks. They are not merely ornamental: the wings streamline the flow of air past the cockpit and the stern, preventing exhaust and spray returning to the cockpit, and provide an acoustic barrier at the same time. Visual elegance and perfect function, combined.
So much for luxury and styling, what does this silver beauty do when she’s fired up? This hull is a development of the feisty Pershing 64, featuring a deep-V 23-degree deadrise amidships running out to 17 degrees at the stern. Armed with two MTU V10 engines, the Pershing 70 will plane at just 21.4 kts at 1,550 rpm, and delivers 46 kts with the throttles wide open. Most importantly, the Top System automatic trim software keeps the engines operating at a constant 80 per cent load, lowering and raising the surface drives to deliver more or less power as required. In hard turns the drives are aligned asymmetrically (outboard, lower; inboard, higher), quickly, and perfectly accurately. This is close to genius stuff, allowing any owner or captain to easily extract from this glorious boat the sort of performance previously achieved only by Pershing’s own test crews. And to cap it off, the Naviop trim display tells you, all the time, the precise angling, elevation and load on the engines. When everything is perfectly “in the zone,” you get two green lights. Welcome to a video game that travels at 46 kts. I’ve just found the “Ultimate Silver Machine.”
“I just took a ride
In a Silver Machine
And I’m still feeling mean… Do you wanna ride,
See yourself going by,
The other side of the sky?”
“Silver Machine”, Hawkwind (1972).
For more information, do visit Pershing Yachts and Starship Yachts.
This article was first published in Yacht Style 37.
