Pardo GT75 review: Fabulous 4-season party machine

Is the Pardo GT75 a dayboat? Is it a cruiser? Is it a superyacht in miniature? Alex Smith heads for Monaco to find out…

Nestling by the pontoon at Port Fontvieille in Monaco is a Pardo with a difference, the Pardo GT75. Launched at the Cannes Yachting Festival in 2024, this new flagship is designed to combine the style and openness of a P-series walkaround boat with the extra shelter, four-season ability and cruising credentials of Pardo’s pilothouse-equipped Endurance line.

The idea behind that, of course, is to upgrade this boat’s recreational potential. They want it to function properly for dedicated cruisers while still delivering the calibre of dayboating experience that has helped make the brand’s powerboats so desirable.

In truth, given that this Italian builder has only actually been making motor boats since 2017, it’s remarkable how recognisable its core formula has become but certainly, from the outside, the aesthetic of the new flagship could hardly be more ‘Pardo’…

There’s a reverse bow with a fine entry and a long, flat sheerline with rail-free gunwales. There are three impudently angular low-level hull windows and the pilothouse is a compact low-slung affair with a reverse screen that looks as though it’s built, for the most part, from tinted glass. Resplendent in metallic silver, this is undoubtedly a great-looking boat – but despite the presence of a sheltered main deck saloon, it’s clear that the external day spaces continue to dominate the conversation.

Access to the elements

Step on at the aft end and a cascade of steps tumbles freely down on either side of a vast central sunpad from the cockpit to the swim platform. It’s an interesting triple-tier design and although there are four steps from swim platform to sunbed level and another two from there to the cockpit, it all feels pleasantly softened and graduated by the furniture itself.

The drop-down terraces also play their part. They’re not especially long but they are quite wide, which means you get plenty of extra beam on either side of the central sunbed. That sunbed itself is easily big enough to accommodate six or eight people at a time and the huge C-shaped cockpit dinette also comes with ample deck space for additional freestanding furniture, so you could happily seat ten on the upper level too.

When you also factor in the hydraulic central aft platform that folds down into the water or up into the air as a raised dive platform with integrated steps, this is about as lavish a beach club as you will ever see on a boat of this size.

As if to prove the point, the skipper cuts the engines and insists on an impromptu break for an espresso and a swim. With the side terraces down, the aft platform raised and the central sunbed littered with oiled-up bodies, all 14 journalists and crew are easily swallowed up with plenty of space to spare.

In spite of the fact that this boat runs triple IPS drives, there’s plenty of space beneath the sunbed too for a fully inflated 3.7m jet tender. And if this aft arrangement feels like a triumph, the fit-out here also hits the mark. The natural untreated teak, pleasantly silvered in the Mediterranean sun, feels superb underfoot and the stainless steel work also looks a cut above. There is slightly less of it than you might expect because the teak gunwales are lined with removable carbon-fibre poles for the sun awning instead of guardrails, but that aside, the practicalities also look good.

There are multiple outlets for fuel and black water so you can fill up or pump out from either side of the boat. The anchor set-up is practical as well as pretty, because the chain is set aside in a dedicated compartment, enabling you to make great use of that plumb bow for lines and fenders. And while space is hardly at a premium, the walkaround deck layout with twin side doors and a second helm in the cockpit makes this a very easy boat to operate for self-drive owners.

The fact that there’s a two-berth crew cabin in the V of the bow, accessed through a hatch in the sunken forepeak, means you can leave that job to a professional if you prefer. But of course, as a Pardo, the bow is much more than just a work zone. It comes with a C-shaped dinette nestling neatly beneath the brow of that reverse screen, plus a forward sunbed with weighted backrests so you can relocate them wherever you like. As in the cockpit, there are slide-out fridges beneath the seats and once again, the scale of everything feels so gratifyingly magnified that there’s space up here for 12 or even 14 people.

Internal retreats

When you step back aft into the pilothouse, you might be surprised at how little space is lavished on the internal saloon. Between that long bow and that expansive beach club, there’s really not a lot left, even on a 75ft boat. But what’s here is very attractively used. A port dinette faces across to a starboard galley; and further forward, a trio of central helm seats is separated from this aft space by a chunky transverse cabinet. There’s a wine cooler and a chart table to port of the helm, plus a pair of handy side doors, and visibility, which is very good, could become even stronger if you chose to omit the saloon’s high-level cabinets.

That said, the general calibre of detail here is very strong. For instance, the L-shaped dinette extends out toward the centre, enabling you to face back across the single-level threshold to the cockpit guests without blocking the walkway. And the louvered overhead skylight is also worth a mention. We’ve seen it on flybridges and foredeck lounges before but rarely in a saloon and it manages the light and ventilation a treat.

As for the ‘standard’ layout you see on this test boat, the fact that we have the galley up on the main deck means you get three cabins down below as well as a large lower lounge. But there are some really useful alternatives.

You can do away with that lower lounge and have four cabins instead; or you can swap out the starboard twin and use the entire central lower section between the forward and mid cabins as a huge open-plan galley/lounge with a massive kitchen island operating as the lower deck’s social hub. In that case, the upper saloon’s starboard galley is replaced by some extra lounge seating and the transverse cabinet behind the helm seats gets an optional sink, fridge and ice-maker so you can service the main deck guests without having to head downstairs.

We actually saw the two-cabin layout on the Cannes show boat and if you can afford to do without the extra cabins, it’s a monumentally enjoyable way to manage the space. But even here, on the standard boat, while things are less dramatic, they continue to tread a lovely balance between practicality and restrained opulence.

For instance, the fact that the crew cabin occupies the forepeak, shifts the forward VIP cabin a little further aft, reducing its taper and lending it the feeling of a full-beam owner’s suite. As elsewhere on this boat, it uses high-level cabinets and shelving units with ambient LED lighting and glass and stainless steel partitions so your gear is displayed rather than locked away.

Symmetrical cabinetry on both sides also includes a pair of hanging lockers; and the VIP’s starboard ensuite comes with a toilet and bidet plus a shower compartment big enough for two, with a rain shower that features LED lighting built into the flush-mount showerhead.

As you head aft, past the port utility and laundry room and into the central lounge, the twin cabin is to be found on the starboard side with direct access to the day heads. And if you step beyond that, you find yourself in the owner’s full-beam mid cabin.

The bed is offset to starboard, behind a neat little dressing table built into the forward bulkhead. This helps free up a huge section of floor space to port that you could easily use for exercising or stretching in the morning.

There are more fridges in here (we counted 14 in total as we wandered around on this boat) and there’s also a settee for two on the port side, flanked by handy storage tables, plus another large, high-spec bathroom. In here, as elsewhere, it’s clear that Pardo has avoided attempting too much with the space. The principle instead seems to have been to deliver a true sense of superyacht quality on a 75-footer and it absolutely works.

The clean-cut Nauta Design interior feels so very balanced and harmonious that, even without the cathedral-like lower lounge of the spectacular two-cabin arrangement, this boat has all the cool, cathartic vibes of a wellness retreat.

Enjoying the drive

When you take the wheel, the position of the helm is delightful. Perched on the middle of a raised plinth with perfect views through that one-piece reverse screen, it feels almost theatrical, as though you’re on stage, front and centre, about to deliver a performance for the ages. But actually, the performance here couldn’t be less dramatic. Yes, it shifts a treat with those upgraded IPS-1350s, responding to the throttles with very decent urgency and carving hard in the turn with all kinds of heel you don’t really expect. But it’s the refinement of it all that really hits home.

With naval architecture from Zuccheri Yacht Design, the hull has been specifically optimised for Volvo Penta’s IPS system and when you get it underway, this boat is both brilliantly flat and extraordinarily quiet. With that huge 4,300L fuel tank sitting deep down and central, ahead of the engines, as well as a secondary daily tank siphoning off what’s required in the engine bay itself, the weight feels supremely well distributed – so much so that you don’t actually feel the need to transition to the plane at all.

You can sit at 11 knots, burning 6L per nm for a 570-mile range, enjoying the flat running attitude and the softness provided by that knife-like stem. You can also raise that to 20 knots (for 12L per nm and 287 miles) or to 30-34 knots (for 16L per nm and 205 miles).

But in all cases, we’re running flat and comfy and seeing decibel readings in the low to mid 60s, which is truly extraordinary. In fact, even as we’re conducting our sea trial at 30 knots in a 2ft chop, several people make their way onto the foredeck lounge seating and chill out as though we’re at a standstill. And if that isn’t a tacit recommendation for the Pardo’s confidence-inspiring ride, we don’t know what is.

Of course, there’s not a lot of bow flare to this boat so it might get a shade wet in a lively sea; and because you’re in the centre of the boat and there’s lots of heel in the turn, you do have to dip down a bit to retain visibility if you change course with any great vigour.

As the skipper, your company on a long passage is also limited to a couple of co-pilots too; and because of our heavy load, we’re topping out at 34 knots on the test day, instead of the 37-38 knots you might expect with these upgraded engines.

But with its generous fuel and water tanks, its long range, its unerring refinement and its ability to run flat and soft at a broad range of speeds, the GT75 proves itself to be not just a proper cruising boat, but also a remarkably user-friendly one for those who like to operate without crew.

Pardo GT75 specifications

LOA: 75ft 0in (22.85m)
BEAM: 19ft 8in (5.99m)
DRAFT: 5ft 5in (1.65m)
DISPLACEMENT: 48,300kg (light)
FUEL CAPACITY: 4,300 litres
WATER CAPACITY: 1,100 litres
ENGINES: Triple D13 IPS-1050s / 1350s
RCD: B20
CONTACT: pardoyachts.com

Pardo GT75 costs and options

From €3.89M ex VAT Test boat includes the following options…
Triple D13 IPS-1350s
Hydraulic aft platform
Drop-down terraces

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