Reporting from the 2023 Palm Beach Boat Show, Elliott Maurice takes us on a full tour of the Mystic M5200 and interviews Mystic Boats founder John Cosker...
Miami to funky Nassau in the Bahamas is a straight-shot 180 miles. At the new Mystic M5200 rocketship’s top speed of 80mph – that’s 70 knots – you’d be there in just over a couple of hours. Arrive there for lunch, be home for dinner.
Fuel bill? What fuel bill? The tank holds 650 gallons – over 2,400 litres – though most pilots will likely run more efficiently at the boat’s 40-knot cruise speed.
This is the latest speed demon from Florida’s Mystic Powerboats, a needle-nosed 52-foot center console with a quartet of 600hp Mercury Verado V12s hanging off the transom. Yep, that’s 2,400 horsies in total.
It’s Mystic’s biggest center console to date, and joins the go-fast boat builder’s smaller M4200 and M3800 models. While this one is built for speed, it’s also built for comfort.
Here there’s more diamond-quilted, contrast-stitch upholstery than a Bentley Continental, individual seating for 24, a roomy cabin for overnighting, and more cupholders than a Dodge minivan. Yes, it would make a great fishing boat, but who’d want all that blood and guts messing-up the cushy, faux-teak flooring?
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Best seat, make that seats, in the house? That would be on the forward deck where you’ll find three, stretch-out loungers, with armrests, headrests, and bolstered sides. A surprising omission? Seatbelts. At 80mph across the Gulfstream, you might need them.
Protected by that swoopy-looking carbon fibre hardtop and tall, wrap-around windscreen are three rows of racecar-like seats – three by the helm, and two rows of four. Then on the back deck there’s a stand-alone unit with eight more pews. That’s a lot of life jackets to carry.
And the quality and craftsmanship throughout is remarkable. Enjoy the tour…
Mystic M5200 specification
LOA: 52ft 6ins (15.8m)
Beam: 14ft (4.3m)
Engines: 4 x 600hp Mercury Verado V12s
Top speed: 70 knots
Starting price: Available on request
