The new Palm Beach GT60, with the same low profile, long sheer and elegant tumblehome as other Palm Beach models, will debut at the Miami Yacht Show, starting Feb. 13. It follows the launch of the GT50 Open at Miami last year, and the GT50 Salon Express at the Newport, Rhode Island, show in September, 2018. The GT50 Salon Express was named Best New Powerboat at that show; the judges said the beautiful, fast and light Palm Beach motoryacht was just plain “sexy.”
The new GT60 has all the same lines and heritage as the GT50, except it’s ten feet longer. It’s the latest manifestation of Palm Beach Founder Mark Richards’ stated aim: “To build the fastest and most fuel-efficient luxury motoryachts in the world.”
Powered by twin 1,000-hp Volvo IPS1350 diesels with pod drives, Palm Beach estimates that the new GT60 will top out at more than 40 knots, and will have a range of 400 nm at 40 knots. “To achieve speeds of this nature with so little horsepower is truly remarkable,” Richards said. “To be able to cruise long distances at these speeds, using minimum fuel, opens up a whole new set of destinations for the adventurous boater.”
Palm Beach says the new GT series is aimed at new buyers who want a more contemporary design, with a combination of speed and fuel efficiency that come from the boats’ lightweight, high-tech construction and their warped hulls. The boats have vacuum-infused, carbon-fiber decks and superstructure for strength and light weight. And they have closed-cell, foam core as the main structure of the bulkheads, for the same reasons. The company uses vinylester modified-epoxy resin for all its infusion.
One of the best sailors in the world, Richards has won the grueling Sydney-Hobart race a record nine times. He founded Palm Beach in Palm Beach, Australia, 28 miles north of Sydney, in 1995, making sailboats, and changed to powerboats a few years later. In 2014, Grand Banks bought Palm Beach and named Richards CEO of both companies. Palm Beach now builds motoryachts from 42 to 70 feet in its Classic Series, and the 50 and now the 60 in its GT Series. A GT70 is in the works.
In the cockpit, the GT60 has a rear L-shaped settee, with a highly varnished teak table and a wet bar. A dinghy fits in the garage under the cockpit, just forward of the teak swim platform. The salon has an L-shaped settee on the port side, also with a teak table. A three-person lounge is opposite, to starboard. The helm station has two matching seats, while another seat is on the port side. The salon is filled with natural light from large windows aft, on both sides, and forward.
Down two steps, the galley is to port with a large L-shaped counter. The master stateroom is amidships, with a vanity/desk and an en suite head and shower. The VIP cabin is forward, also with an en suite head and shower. Read more:
http://palmbeachmotoryachts.com
