Versatile by Design
DON’T BE FOOLED BY THE SPORTY LINES OF THE PRESTIGE 630 S. SHE’S BUILT TO CRUISE AS WELL AS ANY MOTORYACHT, AS WE FOUND OUT ON A RUN ALONG THE ITALIAN RIVIERA. BY JASON Y. WOOD
The Italian Riviera is the perfect place to test the cruising prowess of the new Prestige 630 S.
IIt’s hard not to expect great things when you’re working from the best-laid plans. For this boat test, the details were carefully coordinated by Adrien Berton, sales manager for Prestige Yachts. He had invited us to Liguria in Northwestern Italy to cruise on a Prestige 630 S, and he had ironed out most of the specifics by the time I arrived. We had a very short window to explore the area and experience the boat, but he had a few inspired ideas on how we could maximize our time aboard. We would cruise along the coast from Lavagna to Portofino, where we would then tie up, stroll the cobblestone streets, drink the coffee, sip the wine, eat the fish and peer into the mists that hang from the steep hillsides.
The Prestige 630 S is based on the same hull as the builder’s 630, yet it’s a different boat in some ways. The S stands for Sport Flybridge, which means this iteration features a shortened version of the full-sized flybridge on the 630. That more compact bridge moves the helm farther aft, and also makes for a more raked and aggressive profile. The rest of the boat, though, is similar to the 630. It too has an aft-galley arrangement on the main deck, and a three-state- room, three-head layout below. More of a motoryacht than a sleek express-style boat, I was interested to see what this new model could do.
The 630 S is one of five boats in the company’s Yachts line, which ranges from the two 630s up to the 750. Each model boasts a roomy layout that showcases the company’s skill with fit and finish. Prestige also builds the Coupé and Flybridge lines (10 models total, ranging from 41 to 59 feet). Genoa-based Garroni Design has made substantial design contributions to each model. You may remember that Prestige is the motoryacht division of Jeanneau, which also makes sailboats and sterndrive- and outboard-powered cruisers. (Jeanneau is a division of Beneteau Group, a giant in French boatbuilding with many brands under its corporate umbrella.) Perhaps because of its sailing heritage, Jeanneau has made a point of paying strict attention to center of gravity and weight distribution, weighing components prior to assembly to make certain all stays within tolerances. I’ve toured the factory and seen the weights scrawled on each part before it was added to the hull. The consistency ensures no surprises in the finished boat.