If you want a show-stopping party platform at under 40ft, the Galeon 325 GTO is a boat you need to see. Alex Smith takes it for a test drive...
Galeon doesn’t tend to do ‘ordinary’. It was one of the first mainstream manufacturers to bring us brave new features like reversible waterfront settees, expandable bars, fold-down balconies and rotating aft dinettes.
In fact, if you’ve been lucky enough to go shopping for a 40ft-plus flybridge cruiser over the past ten years, you’ve probably witnessed firsthand how imaginative Galeon’s design ingenuity can be.
But what about the rest of us? What about day boaters with smaller budgets? Why doesn’t that uninhibited creativity ever seem to filter down to more affordable open boats.
Well in the form of the Tony Castro-designed Galeon 325 GTO, it looks like Galeon’s trademark innovation is set to become more widely accessible than ever before…
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It’s clear from the outset that this is a boat unlike any other. With its big beam, its expansive forward hull shape, its wide-open deck, its semi-concealed outboards and its high-spec hardtop, it feels like a boat that transcends established categories.
Is it a deck boat with bow rider styling? A pontoon boat with coupé-style shelter? Or perhaps a day boat with cruiser-style cabins?
Whatever it is, the 11ft beam means that, in spite of twin outboards, there’s still plenty of space on the aft end for a pair of very substantial integrated swim platforms.
And actually, when you’re on board, the back end of this boat feels more like an authentic Mediterranean beach club than a straightforward cockpit.
Read Alex’s full review of the Galeon 325 GTO in the November 2022 issue of MBY, out October 6.
Galeon 325 GTO specifications
LOA: 32ft 9in (9.99m)
Beam: 11ft 0in (3.34m)
Fuel capacity: 850 litres
Water capacity: 120 litres
Test engines: Twin Mercury Verado 350hp outboard engines
Top speed on test: 35.1 knots
Cruising speed: 20 knots
Cruising range: 111nm
Fuel consumption: 123lph
Noise: 87.4 d(B)A
RCD category: B for 10 people
Design: Tony Castro
Starting price: £392,783 (ex. VAT)
Price as tested: £530,940 (inc. VAT)
