Horizon EP69 Main

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A mere six years after CEO John Lu founded the Horizon Yacht Co. in 1987, the business was in the throes of Taiwan’s nasty recession. Lu, who has a degree in naval architecture from the National Taiwan Ocean University, determined that he had to adjust his company’s target markets. With Europe, Asia and Australia showing up on Lu’s radar screen, he also decided to enter the large-yacht arena by launching an 80-footer in 1995.

What followed over the next few years and continued into the next decade was a series of high points. Lu established the subsidiary companies of Altech Composite and Premier Yachts. Altech manufactures hulls and superstructures, and Premier is dedicated to building megayachts. When Premier launched the 132-foot Miss Rose, the yard used the resin-infusion molding process, SCRIMP, making her the largest one-shot SCRIMP-hull vessel in the world. And it is with that same progressive attitude that the company now offers its EP69, an expedition yacht with much more than a rugged exterior.

From my first sighting of her on Seattle’s Lake Union, the EP69’s big red hull, Portuguese bridge and bulbous bow rekindled my nautical wanderlust.

“The EP69 began life as the company’s Bandido 66,” said Lex Mitchell of Horizon’s Seattle dealer, Emerald Pacific Yachts, “but as the design team tuned it up, they added more space so that now she serves as the entry-level vessel to our lineup of expedition yachts — the 77, 110 and 148.” We talked as he led me onto the swim platform. Getting aboard from the stern was safe and easy. And once there, surrounded by all that beefy safety railing, I found convenient access up to the main deck using the wide stairways on either side or through the dog-latching door to the crew quarters on the boat’s centerline.
 
“One of the many aspects we really like about what we are able to offer is the yacht finish, both inside and out,” Mitchell said as he opened the door and ushered me inside.

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If this was the start of being impressed with Horizon’s ability to finish off the EP69’s interior to yacht standards, the Taiwan-based builder had my attention. Even with the space’s functional layout, its decor favored the elegant. The fully found galley, seating area with dining table and plenty of stowage space lie to port. A head with a shower and a two-berth stateroom are to starboard, all surrounded by beautiful cabinetry featuring outstanding joinery.

A duck into the engine room just forward confirmed that Horizon’s workmanship parallels the vessel’s mission: cruising in the open ocean, where the need to get things done in the most practical and time-sensitive way demands quick and easy access to all critical maintenance and machinery areas. I could not find any knuckle crunching, elbow smashing or forehead denting spaces that would prevent me from getting the job done.

Topside, the mood definitely changes from practical elegance to tasteful sophistication, and on this particular EP69, that was reflected in contemporary touches to the decor. Entering from the sizable afterdeck area — outfitted with a proper transom seat, finely finished table and teak sole — the salon offers wide-open spaces for creative decorating. “We’re a completely custom builder, and owners can furnish the boat out to individual tastes and needs,” Mitchell said.

The spacious salon has room for creative seating and entertaining areas and is available in a variety of woods and finishes. The galley offers an area with the kinds of culinary equipment and facilities that make food prep as basic or elaborate as the situation demands. And the pilothouse is as professional and well equipped as any, with fine woodwork all around, large windows forward and to the sides and a comfortable seating area to port. Below, there are three staterooms, three heads, a spacious forepeak and full-beam master stateroom, all with ample stowage, superb cabinetry and a roominess typically found on larger vessels.