You can’t say this about many boats, but the new Arcadia Sherpa is truly unique. When I stepped aboard at the Miami Yachts Show with my Cruising Odyssey colleague Scott Akerman, we both stopped and said some version of Holy Smoke. And it’s a happy-making boat. When you step on board, you want to take off, to head for parts unknown. And you want to take a whole lot of your friends with you. Take a look at the Sherpa’s open main deck; a whole lot of your friends will fit there, and if they all don’t have a great time, well, then it’s time to find new friends.
In almost every aspect, Sherpa is different, in the best sense. The aft deck, the upper deck, the amount of space, the profile, are all brand-new iterations of a 60-foot boat. The Sherpa is new, creative, both energy- and fuel-efficient, and comfortable. “We want to be the thought leaders in yachting,” said Francesco Ansalone, the marketing manager of Arcadia Yachts. “This is all new.”
Powered by twin 435-hp Volvos with IPS600 pod drives, the Arcadia Sherpa cruises in the upper teens and tops out at over 20 knots, certainly fast enough to get you and your crowd of friends from Miami or Fort Lauderdale over to the Bahamas by lunchtime. Then, enjoy.
The Sherpa certainly looks different from anything else out there. The tall forward section holds the helm, galley and staterooms. The low aft half is for sunning and socializing, and it’s huge, with sunbeds, sofas, a dining table, bar, a fridge and sink, and lounging areas all around. A supersized storage area, with 247 square feet, is under the deck, opened by a hydraulic hatch, and it comes with its own custom crane to lift up a tender or jet skis or whatever else you want to put down there. All the way aft, the swim platform deploys like a transformer, with ever-smaller teak sections extending out into the water – way out.
Up six teak steps, the helm station, with a large destroyer wheel, is forward, with a full galley to starboard and seating to port. Arcadia calls this a sky lounge, which is fair enough, and you can enjoy it in any weather. The side windows open all the way up at the push of a button, retracting into the overhead, so that you can enjoy the ocean breezes. Put them down and you can cruise in air-conditioned comfort.
The helm is way forward, but there’s still room for a small settee on the bow, providing a great view underway or another quite private social area at a mooring or a dock.
In this boat, two cabins, the master on the port side and the guest to starboard, are below, both with en suite heads, but the boat can be ordered with one, two or three cabins, depending on the owner’s preference. The interior design is clean, minimalist and light throughout the boat. Teak and holly soles are everywhere for a traditional look.
Solar panels on the hardtop provide enough electricity to power most of the ship’s systems underway, so you don’t have to rely on the generator. The lights are all LED to keep the electrical requirements down.
Specs.: LOA:60’0”; Beam: 18’3”; Draft: 3’10”; Disp.: 56,000 lbs.; Fuel: 660 gals.; Water: 190 gals.; Power: 2×435-hp Volvo IPS600.
