Absolute 60 FLY

The 60 FLY runs 61' 3" overall on a 16' 2" beam, carries 740 gallons of fuel and 193 gallons of fresh water, and is certified CE category B for 16 people aboard. Those last two numbers are the ones to hold on to: this is the point in Absolute's flybridge range where the boat stops being sized for a family and starts being sized for a party that stays the weekend.

The design decision that defines it is subtraction. The cockpit carries no fixed elements or furniture at all and is fitted out to the owner's brief; the flybridge is arranged the same way, as a second outdoor living room with galley, dining and relaxation zones and a helm station rather than one long moulded bench. Glazed parapet balustrades replace solid rails on both, so the view from either deck runs to the water instead of stopping at a wall.

Two side stairwells lead down to the large swim platform, and a fixed corridor beside it gives direct access to the crew cabin - crew come and go at the waterline rather than through the accommodation. The bow is set up as a third outdoor space, with a sunbathing zone and a sofa and table.

Below, the owner's quarter is forward, full beam, raised and high-ceilinged, with a walk-in closet, a sea-view vanity and large side windows. The VIP carries the same character, open and bright with its own head. The hardtop can be specified with integrated solar panels.

Two engine packages are published: twin Volvo Penta D11-IPS950s at 2 x 725 hp, and twin D13-IPS1200s at 2 x 900 hp. Both are pod drives with joystick control, and the gap between them is the single biggest specification decision on this boat.

Take the D13 package seriously if you load heavy, run in company, or cross open water on a schedule rather than on a weather window. Take the D11 package if your season is coastal and your cruise is unhurried. Either way, ask for observed burn at your intended cruise rpm, in writing, from a boat rigged the way yours will be, and work your own range arithmetic off the 740 gallons the boat carries.

Handling was designed around one person doing the work. The main-deck and flybridge helms both have double seats, and a third mooring station can be fitted astern, so whoever is on the lines can also be on the controls.

Certification is CE category B with a maximum of 16 people aboard. Confirm the people-aboard figure on your own build documents, along with anything you plan to size a slip, a travelift sling or an insurance policy from. Solar panels in the hardtop are worth pricing at order: at anchor they are the difference between a generator that runs all afternoon and one that does not.

The owner's quarter is forward and full beam, and it is raised - high ceilings, exclusive furniture, a large walk-in closet, a vanity set to look out rather than at a bulkhead, and side windows large enough to make the room feel like part of the anchorage. It is the best cabin on the boat and it is given to the owner, which is not how every builder in this size resolves that argument.

The VIP has the same character rather than a diluted version of it: open, bright, en-suite, and with enough room to put guests somewhere they will not count the days. A continuous design line runs the lounge, galley and cockpit together on the main deck, so the room reads as one space from the helm to the transom, and the lighting, entertainment and air conditioning are laid in as part of that rather than added to it.

Fresh water is 193 gallons with the water heater included. On a boat certified for 16 people that is the number that sets the rhythm of your week at anchor, so plan showers and pump-outs around it rather than around the guest count.

The crew cabin is reached by a fixed corridor from the swim platform. A mate or a captain lives aboard and works the boat without ever crossing your saloon - the detail that decides whether crewed use is genuinely available to you or only theoretically.

The 60 FLY sits between the 56 FLY and the 70 FLY in Absolute's flybridge range. The step up from the 56 is measured, not dramatic: 53 more gallons of fuel, 21 more gallons of fresh water, five more inches of beam, two more people aboard, and an engine list that opens up from 725 hp a side to 900. The step up to the 70 FLY is the big one - 951 gallons of fuel, 240 of water, 17' 8" of beam - and it is a different class of boat and berth.

The more interesting comparison is across the ranges. The Navetta 62 shares this boat's 61' 3" length overall and spends it entirely differently: 17' 7" of beam and 898 gallons of fuel against 16' 2" and 740. Same slip, same length, two very different weeks aboard. Buyers who reach this size in the Absolute range should look at both, and the choice usually comes down to whether the boat is an entertaining platform or a distance machine.

Against the wider market, a 61-foot flybridge for 16 with pods and a platform-entry crew cabin puts a buyer alongside the Azimut Fly 62 and the Galeon 620 FLY. Where the 60 FLY separates itself is the two unfurnished decks - most of this set arrives with the outdoor furniture already decided, and this one does not.

The 60 FLY fits the owner who knows exactly how they use a boat and is tired of paying for someone else's idea of it. Two decks arrive with nothing fixed on them. If your cockpit is a dining room, specify it that way; if it is a dive platform, specify that instead. The flexibility is real, and it asks something of you in return - you have to know what you want before the order goes in.

It fits a couple who cruise extensively. The forward full-beam owner's quarter, raised with a walk-in closet and a sea-view vanity, is the cabin that makes a long trip feel like living rather than camping. It is a less natural fit for families with young children, where a midship master keeps everyone on the same level and within earshot.

It fits an owner who wants the crew option without the crew commitment. The cabin is there, entered from the platform, and it can hold a captain for a delivery or stay empty for a season.

It is the wrong boat if what you want is volume for a long-range rhythm rather than an entertaining platform. The Navetta 62 measures the same 61' 3" overall and takes a very different view of what to do with it - 17' 7" of beam and 898 gallons of fuel, against this boat's 16' 2" and 740. That is a conversation worth having before you configure, not after.