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Pearl is a brand unfamiliar to most Americans, yet here is its boat among

the large yachts at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, at the stand for Asian

builder Heysea. One thing locals do recognize is the name of the naval

architect – Bill Dixon. He’s holding forth on the attractive stern of this

78 footer, the new flagship for British builder Pearl. “I’ve been doing

boats for Pearl for nearly 10 years, since the 50 footer,” he says. “This is

Pearl’s biggest boat so far. The next, already in production, is 95 feet.”

Now the Floridians are paying attention.

From the nicely appointed aft cockpit, side decks stretch forward port

and starboard, and, at the touch of a button, full height steel and glass

doors slide open to an inviting salon where a white gloss overhead

redistributes the light from outside. With a large L-shaped sofa, big

square ottomans and a sit-down bar at the forward end, this is like a

chic, grown-up apartment. But what really grabs attention is that you

can see out of the forward windows from nearly anywhere.

On starboard a short run of steps beckons up to an aft-facingL-shaped

banquette with a table under wraparound windows. It is much nicer to

see this upon entering the boat than all the gauges and gizmos of the

pilothouse. The aft wall of the galley between worktop and cabinets

slides down electrically to open it up to the bar and, by extension, to the

salon. The light and views this admits are admirable, but what you don’t

see is again equally notable: there is no formal indoor dining area. “We

don’t think most people will use a formal indoor dining area on a boat of

this size so we have decided to use the space to make a really great,

LOA: 78' 5"

LWL: 63'

Beam: 19' 6"

Draft: 5' 3"

Gross tonnage: 98GT

Fuel capacity: 1,385 gallons

Water capacity: 340 gallons

Construction: Vacuum infused GRP

Engines: 2 x MAN V12 1800

Max speed: 35 knots

Cruising speed: 28 knots

Guests: 8

Price: From $3.89 million

w: pearlyachts.com

Pearl 80

WORDS Marilyn Mower

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PHOTOGRAPHY: MARTIN BRENT