Nick Burnham picks out four of the best modern classic motor yachts on the market right now, from a Dale Classic to a Riva
There’s no easy way to say this, but the truth is that many recent new models from mainstream production boat manufacturers aren’t very pretty. And, to be fair, with good reason. There is no doubt that space sells – each new model has to offer more room, more facilities and more features than its predecessor, and the only way that can be achieved is by making them taller, fatter and more bloated.
It’s simple physics, and it’s no different from the car world where big ugly SUVs are taking over from the svelte saloons and estate cars of the past. But outside of the mainstream there are niche builders who are not chasing volume (in either sales or onboard space).
These companies are building modern classics for the buyers who are prioritising good looks and great seakeeping, the kind of people who back in the 1970s would have prized a Fairey Huntsman over a Princess 37. Here are four of the finest…
4 of the best modern classic motor yachts
Dale Classic 37
Built: 2022
Price: £815,000
Dale Motor Yachts is the very epitome of niche boat building. Rather than competing with the mainstream manufacturers, Neyland-based Dale Motor Yachts hand builds attractive, high quality, semi-custom motor boats for clients who want a craft that not only looks the part but also offers an exceptionally sea-kindly ride.
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Twin bi-fold doors open up to allow easy access between the cockpit and saloon
Interior
A combination of a relatively narrow beam, low profile and shaft drive engines (which positions them further forward in the hull than IPS or vee drives would) inevitably means the interior is smaller than many production 37-footers, but this was never intended to be a floating caravan. That said, although the headroom in the guest cabin is a little tight, the owner’s cabin in the bow is surprisingly good, aided by a tall, full-width foredeck that extends the generous standing headroom right out to the edges. Both cabins share a single heads/shower-room to port.
The fully enclosed saloon has a dinette to port, which can be made larger by motoring the helm seats forward at rest, and a well-equipped galley to starboard.
Exterior
Payback is on the outside because this is a glorious- looking vessel, well outside the sphere of anything a volume (in both senses of the word) manufacturer is likely to come up with. That high, wide, flat foredeck links via a couple of steps to low profile side decks that run past the cockpit to the transom. Add a flat-topped wheelhouse roof that extends both back over the cockpit to provide shelter for its occupants but also forward over the windscreen like a small visor and the result is an incredibly elegant-looking vessel. Beautiful hand-crafted woodwork inside and out is the icing on the cake.
Performance
Twin Yanmar 6LY 5.8-litre diesels fire 440hp each down those straight shaft drives, pushing the Classic 37 toward 30 knots.
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The owner’s cabin and heads compartment both feature full standing headroom
Seakeeping
Arthur Mursell of TT Design fame was coaxed out of retirement to fashion the 37’s semi-planing hull. It prioritises a soft ride and secure sea-keeping over pure speed enabling it to punch confidently through big seas without slamming.
Dale Classic 37 specifications
Length: 37ft 5in (11.4m)
Beam: 12ft 2in (3.7m)
Draft: 3ft 8in (1.1m)
Displacement: 10 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 1,280 litres
Engines: Twin Yanmar 6LY 440hp diesels
For sale: Dale Motor Yachts
Chris-Craft Launch 28
Built: 2023
Price: £225,000
Founded by Christopher Columbus Smith, the original Chris-Craft Boats dates back to 1883. The Michigan-based company built elegant wooden runabouts so beautiful that they inspired Carlo Riva to manufacture similar vessels in Italy. Famous Chris-Craft owners included Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
In the 1990s, Chris-Craft was owned by Outboard Marine Corporation and was building generic GRP cruisers before sliding into bankruptcy in 2000. Florida-based Stellican bought them out and returned to making beautiful, and expensive, dayboats and weekenders that harked back to the marque’s golden era, albeit out of fibreglass.
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Swivelling helm seat allows the skipper to join in the party when the boat’s at rest
Interior
The description of the 28 Launch interior is going to be the shortest ever, because there is none, this is a completely open day boat. However there is a small, very useful, heads compartment hidden beneath the helm.
Exterior
A bow rider layout with a walk-through windscreen means that almost every inch of this vessel is easily accessed day space. From the outside it looks fantastic; long, low and lithe, and finished in cream offset by lustrous navy topsides. The simple curved stainless-steel windscreen frame has shades of vintage Corvette about it.
As you get closer, the news just gets better. The Heritage Trim upgrade adds teak trim to the foredeck and bathing platform. The high-quality cream upholstery has dark contrast piping, the dashboard looks like it’s out of a 1960s sportscar and there are polished wood accents dotted discreetly around the place.
Performance
You can order this boat new with a Mercury Verado 400hp outboard, but somehow the inboard petrol V8 suits the style better. Volvo Penta and Mercuiser are both options, each offering 350hp, 380hp or 430hp. The 5.3 litre 350hp Volvo Penta V8-CE 5.3L fitted to this boat has more than enough power, with a top speed of just under 40 knots.
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Exquisite detailing adds to the appeal of this stylish day boat
Seakeeping
We tested one of these in the Solent and discovered that whilst the beamy hull doesn’t have quite the incisive slice of a Cormate, it does feel solidly put together and it’s an impressively dry ride, particularly valuable given that it is a bow rider.
Chris-Craft Launch 28 specifications
Length: 28ft 6in (8.7m)
Beam: 8ft 6in (2.6m)
Draft: 3ft 0in (0.9m)
Displacement: 3.5 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 322 litres
Engine: Volvo Penta V8-CE 5.3L 350hp petrol engine
For sale: Argo Yachting
Fairline F Line 33
Built: 2021
Price: £349,950
A few years ago, and by enormous coincidence, the UK’s three big production power yacht builders simultaneously decided that they needed an image boosting ‘superboat’ in their ranges. Princess launched the R35 in 2018, featuring hydrofoils that gave it incredible cornering abilities, which would have been handy had there been any corners out at sea.
A year later Sunseeker launched its 70mph Hawk 38 but omitted to include any sort of cabin in the design. And the same year, Fairline came out with something every bit as cool as its competitors, but cleverly made it rather more useful as a boat too.
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Swing-out doors on both sides of the cockpit give easy access to the side decks
Interior
You expect to find a converting dinette under the foredeck of a mid 30ft sports boat. The R35 had one, the Windy 34 Alizé has one, and sure enough, the F//Line 33 has one. But what you don’t expect is Fairline’s party trick, another cabin running back beneath the cockpit with a double bed. Yes, headroom is low in here, this is a sportsboat, but it’s still a game changer. It means that a couple doesn’t have to keep converting the dinette to sleep, and a family of four can stay aboard. It’s just a pity there aren’t any windows on the lower deck.
Exterior
Alberto Mancini penned this one, and it is a corker! The tent-like canopies don’t do it any favours but once removed it looks lean, muscular and modern. The foredeck is flat (this boat has the optional pulpit rails) and there’s no radar arch to ruin the lines. The helm is in the centre with a wet bar behind it. Walkways either side run past two bench seats that face each other either side of a table that drops to turn this area into a sunpad. A later cockpit layout puts a C-shaped dinette to starboard instead.
Performance
Twin 240hp petrol engines were standard, with the option to upgrade to twin 430hp petrols or twin 220hp diesels. Circa 50 knots and big bills with the most powerful option, 28 knots and parsimonious fuel costs with the diesels.
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No hull windows below deck but there is a separate mid-cabin and heads compartment
Seakeeping
The deep- vee hull rides and corners like a thoroughbred and offers some spectacular cornering heel too!
Fairline F Line 33 specifications
Length: 32ft 9in (10.0m)
Beam: 11ft 6in (3.5m)
Draft: 2ft 10in (0.9m)
Displacement: 7 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 680 litres
Engines: Twin Volvo Penta D3-220 220hp diesel engines
For sale: boats.co.uk
Riva 63 Virtus
Built: 2014
Price: €1,500,000
Launched in 1962, the Riva Aquarama is arguably the coolest boat of all time. So it’s a great relief that Italian builder Riva never lost that magic and has been building beautiful boats ever since.
In 2001, a year after the Ferretti Group bought Riva, the Aquariva was launched, a beautiful homage to that first Aquarama. The Rivarama 44 followed, then the Rivale 52 and Virtus 63. Many customers of the Virtus came through the ranks of each of those previous models, upgrading as larger versions became available.
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Like an open sportsboat but bigger, flasher and with sleeping space for six below
Interior
Like its smaller sisters, this is very much an open Med-based sportsboat, it just so happens that at over 60ft long, there’s actually very decent accommodation forward on the lower deck. Drop down the companionway and the first thing you’ll find is a generous saloon with a galley to port completely concealed within a sideboard, and day heads to starboard. The owner’s cabin is forward in the bows. Back aft, you’ll find a small, perfectly formed cabin with cross-over single berths and a spacious VIP guest cabin, also en suite.
Exterior
Good though the interior is, it’s clear that on-deck living is what this boat is about, with a monster cockpit that has seating on all sides plus a decent sunbed aft with a tender garage beneath it.
But above all, this is a really great-looking boat with a wonderful sweeping curve to the topsides and a central spar rather than a goalpost arch for radar and communication domes. Even the bimini and frame retracts completely away into a covered recess around the front half of the cockpit.
Performance
Only one engine option was offered, twin MAN V12 1360CR shaft drive diesels that punt the top speed up to about 40 knots and allow a swift 35-knot cruise.
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The lower saloon and galley is surprisingly big for such a lean-looking speed machine
Seakeeping
63ft of hull combines with shaft drive and rudders to create a long-distance GT machine rather than a highly nimble sportsboat. This is a boat that you ease out of Palma after an early lunch, wind up to that fast cruise and arrive looking fabulous in Ibiza in time for dinner.
Riva 63 Virtus specifications
Length: 64ft 3in (19.6m)
Beam: 15ft 9in (4.8m)
Draft: 5ft 3in (1.6m)
Displacement: 32 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 3,300 litres
Engines: Twin MAN 1360CR 1,360hp diesels
For sale: Ventura UK
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