Think you know what a trawler yacht is all about? After test driving the Absolute Navetta 75, Alex Smith reckons it might be time to think again...
There’s something delightfully Italian about Absolute’s new flagship, the Absolute Navetta 75. On the one hand, it adopts the classically upright form of a Nordic or American-style trawler. And on the other, it tweaks and cajoles that traditionally workmanlike form with remarkable aesthetic finesse.
Vast, seemingly mullion-free side windows wrap around the superstructure, dividing the flybridge from the hull sides with unbroken reflections of sea and sky. And unlike the outgoing Absolute Navetta 73, the new boat adopts some very attractive design elements from the Coupe line too.
While the 73 uses a rugged, squared-off back end with imposing aft bulwarks and swept fibreglass struts, the Absolute Navetta 75 augments the connection between the cockpit and the sea by means of an open transom design with a clear glass balustrade, alongside a bulwark that dips as it leads aft, extending the deep midships cutaway right back to the aft cockpit’s seating zone.
Absolute has revised the hull sides too – taking its trademark concoction of square and circular hull windows and gathering them together into just two large tinted panels. As on the Absolute 60 Fly, these elegantly raked sections eradicate the clutter, making the boat feel much slicker and more cleanly resolved.
In fact, despite the fact that the new Absolute Navetta 75 retains all the voluminous vertical elevation you would want from a trawler-style yacht, there’s a strong argument to suggest that this is the loveliest looking boat in the entire Absolute Yachts fleet.
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£2000000
When you step on board, that sense of design clarity is fully backed up by the intelligence of the deck layout. As far as possible, Absolute has used single-level decks, alongside a mix of fixed and freestanding furniture, to provide all the storage and work surfaces you need while retaining plenty of flexibility in the way the day spaces can be arranged.
At the aft end, the cockpit’s freestanding six-person dining station is framed within the wraparound glass of the central balustrade and serviced by a starboard wet bar, which is particularly handy on a galley-forward layout like this.
In addition to twin side gates, there are also symmetrical steps down to the swim platform on both sides and, as you would expect of a trawler yacht, sheltered side decks lead you safely to the sunbeds at the bow.
Read Alex’s full review of the Absolute Navetta 75 in the March 2023 issue of MBY, which is out now.
Absolute Navetta 75 specifications
LOA: 74ft 8in (22.8m)
Beam: 18ft 4in (5.61m)
Draft: 4ft 7in (1.40m)
Displacement: 52.4 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 4,000 litres
Test engines: 2 x 1,000hp Volvo Penta D13-IPS1350
Top speed on test: 25 knots
Fuel consumption: 270lph @ 20 knots / 33.5lph @ 8 knots
Cruising range: 237nm @ 20 knots / 783nm @ 8 knots
Noise: 66.6 d(B)A @ 20 knots
RCD category: B for 18 people
Starting price: €3,680,000 (ex. VAT)
