We know what we want: head-turning style, trip-shortening speed, spacious well-appointed accommodations, family-friendly features and reliability-enhancing, maintenance-reducing design and construction — but how many yachts have it all? Precious few, but the Ferretti 720 is one that delivers all that and more.
The favorable impressions began even before I boarded the 720 at Miami Beach’s Sunset Harbour Marina. The tide had ebbed, so I couldn’t easily access the swim platform from the fixed dock, at least not with the reality of 60-something knees punished by a lifetime aboard boats. No problem, as there’s a side gate in the bulwark that swings inward to provide an easy step onto the wide side deck. It sounds like no big deal until you realize that many yachts of this size have no gate at all, or one that swings outboard because the side deck isn’t wide enough to hinge it inboard. Outboard swinging gates are better than none, but I find they’re too often blocked by a piling or spring line.
Once aboard, I immediately noticed another nice feature. There’s an unobtrusive recess in the house side at the deck level, making the side deck — already comfortably wide — even more walkable by providing a few extra inches of toe space. Like the bulwark gate, it was just another of the many convenience and safety features I would find that were designed with the human body and the realities of the sea in mind (see “Design for Manufacturing” in the May 2012 issue of Yachting).
Click here to see a full photo gallery of the Ferretti 720.
I can’t cover them all, but one of note is the comfortable stairway from the main deck to the flying bridge, topped by a clear-glazed weather-tight hatch and surrounded by a stainless-steel railing that provides a convenient hand-grab and prevents anyone from falling. Again, it doesn’t seem like much unless you’ve stepped backward or lost your balance at sea, only to face an unguarded opening waiting to swallow you.
Once on the flying bridge, I happily noted another little feature, the too-frequent absence of which is a pet peeve of mine: The Gaggenau grill was fitted with a safety interlock to shut off the grill when the lid is closed. So what, you say? Well, I’ve seen the aftermath of fires caused by such installations without the interlock, and it’s not pretty. Fiberglass, after all, is mostly solidified petroleum.
