Prestige Yachts 620 (2015-)

Brief Summary

The Prestige 620 is one of the most exciting cruising yachts that we have seen come along in ages. "Exciting" because we think most everything in her has been executed so well to suit a number of purposes, with styling that can appeal to most anyone who has a trained nautical eye, and with an interior layout that is hard to beat in a 60-footer or in even most boats 10' longer.If you have been thinking of a trawler, a Downeast cruiser, or a Euro-styled express in the 60' (18.5 m) range, then we've got a boat for one's short list.

Test Results

Specifications

Length Overall	63' 11'' / 19.50 m
Beam	16' 9'' 5.12 m
Dry Weight	50,706 lbs. 2,300 kg
Draft	4' 3'' 1.32 m
Deadrise/Transom	17 deg.
Max Headroom	N/A
Bridge Clearance	N/A
Fuel Capacity	740 gal. 2,800 L
Water Capacity	211 gal. 800 L

Acceleration Times & Conditions

Time to Plane	N/A
0 to 30	N/A
Ratio	N/A
Props	N/A
Load	5 persons, full fuel, no water, minimal gear
Climate	87 deg., 65% humidity, winds: 0 mph, seas: calm

Engine Options

Tested Engine	2 x 700-hp Volvo Penta IPS900
Std. Power	2 x 700-hp Volvo Penta D11 IPS900
Opt. Power	Not Available

By Captain Steve

I got a chance to test this boat that I had become so enamored with, the Prestige 620, and see if she really was the ideal cruiser that I had made her out to be. Would she be as captivating in reality offshore as she was in my daytime reveries?

Handling Characteristics

Before I get into the handling characteristics, I have to point out that the Prestige 620 was powered by the IPS900 drives. It's important to know this, and to understand that there are particular characteristics of pods that directly affect how a boat handles, most notably, in the turning performance.
At full speed, the range of motion of the pods is limited so that one doesn't suddenly bolt off at a 90-degree angle at full speed. This assures gentle turns that don't send the dishes and crockery tumbling out of the cabinets and your guests will appreciate that as well. This is yachting, and not the time for a heavy hand.

With that said, the Prestige 620 is still quite responsive to the helm, thanks to the 2-1/2 turns from lock-to-lock at the wheel. The operator will still get very agile handling, and that's an important feature to someone like me from New England where someone can't swing a rudder without hitting a lobster pot.
Even off the south coast of France, we were testing in an area littered with trap buoys, and regardless of how quickly they managed to "pop up", the quick but gentle response to the helm made dodging them a non-event. The 620 exhibits roughly a 3-degree roll into the turn at full speed, and I find that to be quite comfortable.
There's really no bow rise to speak of upon acceleration. Once on plane the 620 seems to settle into a roughly 3-degree bow high attitude, so there's no concern about loss of visibility. That means that whether operating from the lower helm or not, the skipper can see what is in front.

Wake Me Up

One of the sad realities of boat testing is that one can't pick their weather, and on test day with the Prestige 620 we had clear skies and calm winds. That's great for getting fast speed runs, but for testing the handling characteristics… not so much. However, we did manage to come across a few megayachts that were kicking up sizeable wakes for us, so we made the best of them.
Hitting the wakes head-on had us slicing through nice and cleanly, with the water being thrown well off to the sides. When doing that the spray stayed very low, so while we had no wind to prove my observation, the 620 appears to be a very dry boat.
On the beam, we stuck to our 3-degree roll and simply rode up and over with no deviation from our heading. Again, try as I might, I failed to get any spray onto the windshield. With a following sea, I expected to get at least some plunging with the 620's heavy 56,000 lb. (25,401 kg) test weight, but again we stayed level and stable, but granted the conditions were mild.
While this wasn't a rough-water test, I get the feeling that she can handle lumpy seas as well as most any boat. And remember that in following or quartering seas that this boat has no rudders, and the boater can rely on the thrust of the two big IPS900s to keep the boat's bow going where they want it.

Test Numbers

So now we get to the meat of it. Our test Prestige 620 had an empty weight of 50,706 lbs. (23,000 kg), and with full fuel and five people onboard, we had a test weight of 56,021 lbs. (25,411 kg).
The twin 700-hp Volvo Penta IPS900 drives reached a top speed at 2350 rpm and a respectable 30.0 knots. At that speed we were burning a combined 69.5 gph while getting .4 nautical miles/gallon for a range of 287 nautical miles.
Best cruise is subjective as we were getting virtually the same MPG from 1500 rpm all the way up to WOT. Technically speaking, her best cruise is at 17.7 knots turning 1750 rpm. That is a good speed to run a motoryacht like this and there she was burning 39.4 gph/149 lph. That's pretty efficient fast cruising for a boat that is nearly 60,000 lbs./27,272 kgs.
But if I had to choose a comfortable best cruise, particularly if I was driving the boat from the flying bridge, it would be at 2000 rpm and 22.2 kts. At that speed we were burning 52.8 gph for a range of 280 nautical miles, just 20 less than our technical best cruise.
To see the complete set of data points on our test, click on the "Test Results" tab at the top of this page…

The Walkthrough Starting with the Flying Bridge

Here is a sun worshipper’s dream boat. The center console helm on the flying bridge is surrounded on three sides by sun pads and an aft facing sun lounge to port. The helm seat is double wide, and the forward sun pad hides a storage locker and even storage for a life raft -- something that you see on most large European-built yachts.
The radar arch not only looks great on this boat, but it serves its primary function to support the antennae array as well as a Bimini top. Abaft the helm seat is what looks like a leaning post on a fishing center console, but here it conceals a grill and sink. The refrigerator is to starboard, and farther aft is the L-shaped lounge with dining table and storage below including storage for another life raft. (Remember, in entertainment mode this boat can carry quite a number of people.)

The Main Deck

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a saloon that is this open and uncluttered. In the Prestige 620 glass is everywhere, making visibility from the lower helm, and for the onboard guests, stunning.

Prestige took the galley up or galley down argument in a better direction... galley aft. I’ve seen this on other boats and it works very well, more so here as the galley is nestled between the two dining areas both in the main saloon, and the aft deck. I love the island in the galley, and the woodwork is well-done. Notice how the overhead cabinets are hinged at the top and open from the bottom.

The Accommodations Deck

There are comfortable accommodations for six plus crew, all staterooms are ensuite. This is exactly how a yacht of this stature should be arranged, and we think that motoryachts 60' (18.3 m) or larger that have shared heads are not using their space properly.
The master is full beam and the master head features dual basins. The berth is located on the centerline, where it should be for maximum comfort in a seaway. A desk/vanity combo lies to port, and a sofa lies to starboard, directly in front of the large hull side windows. The berth, and deck to either side, is a mere step up from the main deck as one enters. This makes it that much easier to get into the berth, and improves sightlines out the hull side windows, while still providing ample storage underneath.

The VIP stateroom lies forward, and features a centerline mounted island berth with storage to the sides and beneath. There are two hanging lockers and direct access to the private head.

The third stateroom features twin single berths that easily convert to a large double. This stateroom also has large windows, with opening portlights and access to a private head.

The 620 is the first in the large Prestige motoryachts line, and the goal of combining cruising and luxury has been met.