Prestige 500S

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I saw a lot of great design ideas aboard the 500S, but one that really captured my imagination is the 36-square-foot sunroof, which slides open at the touch of a switch. Starting just behind the brim of the windshield, it opens the area above the helm and dining table to fresh air, and a pair of windows on each side of the salon roll down electrically to add some breeze. What a delight it would be to enjoy a pleasant dinner inside, yet with the stars overhead!

The joinery throughout the Prestige 500S is Alpilignum, which is a reconstituted material with multiple veneers of dyed woods. (And I thought only the gods made wood!) It is absolutely flawless, which is the good news and the bad news. Real wood has flaws, and some people might mistake this as some version of wood-grained Formica. On the positive side, if you take a chunk out of the finish on a locker door, the replacement from Prestige will match exactly.



With only one helm station, it’s no surprise that it is comfortable and thoughtfully arranged. The entire dashboard is finished in a rubbery coating that doesn’t reflect into the steeply raked windshield. Our test 500S had a pair of Raymarine E120/Widescreen displays and the Volvo Penta electronic panel, but for old fuddy-duddies like me, there is a pair of analog tachometers just below the line of sight forward. I also found having a rudder angle indicator to be a thoughtful addition, even with pod-drives.

One dashboard item that surprised me was a bow-thruster joystick just behind the expected joystick for the Volvo Penta IPS pod-drives. But I have to say that, while pod drives are the answer to maneuvering in many cases, there are a few times (strong winds, for example) when you’d like to shove just the bow around. Prestige gets credit for a sort of belt-and-suspenders approach that you will appreciate.

The guest quarters are forward and down from the salon, and the steps on which you descend hinge upward on gas lifts to reveal a wired and plumbed location for an optional washer and dryer. A guest or kids cabin to port has twin singles, with stowage bins under the bunks and a surprisingly large hanging locker. The day-head is opposite, with a Vacuflush MSD toilet and Euro-style vessel sink.

The shower was a puzzlement to me at first, until I realized that Lucite panels hinge from the bulkheads to enfold you, origami-like, in a self-draining stall shower that doesn’t soak the entire head. Vastly better than those dreadful shower curtains that want to stick all over you, it also allows for a larger-than-expected shower area.



Forward, the larger guest cabin is very cleverly designed so that what appears to be a pair of single berths scissors together easily to become a queen-size berth, providing flexibility for couples or kids to use the cabin. There is a private entry to the day-head, and, thanks to the large windows in the hull, every cabin (including the head) has a view.