Benetti B.NOW 60M

Nine crew cabins, and nine crew is the practical minimum to run the boat properly. Tony's caution is that the visible costs are not the ones that catch owners out: salaries, benefits, insurance and training all scale together, fuel at 11 knots runs into six figures a year if you genuinely use the boat, and dockage in major ports can reach $10,000 a night in high season.

The offsetting argument is that the 60M is sized to be manageable. It does not need a shoreside support team, and Benetti builds these in series, so parts availability and service networks are established rather than one-off.

Take the 60M if 12 guests in six cabins is your ceiling and you want the smallest boat that still delivers superyacht deck space. At 196 feet 10 inches it gives you a 170-square-metre Oasis Deck and nine crew cabins. The 67M steps up to 14 guests in seven cabins, 17 crew in ten cabins, and an owner's deck with a private terrace and pool.

The real dividing line is crew and cost, not length. Tony's view is that the 60M rewards owners who want the space without a full superyacht programme behind it, while the 67M assumes you are already running one.

Yes. Benetti offers its E.MODE hybrid system as an option on the B.NOW 60M. It pairs electric motors with the main diesels for low-speed manoeuvring and for anchoring without running the generators.

It is not a full diesel-electric propulsion package and Benetti does not present it as one. What it does is cut noise and emissions at rest, which is the difference between a quiet evening on deck and a constant background hum. If you plan to spend weeks at anchor in the Bahamas or the Greek islands, that is where the option earns its cost. If you are mostly transiting, the case is weaker.

The infinity pool sits in the middle of the Oasis Deck and can be covered with a flush deck panel, which turns the pool area into open floor for an event or a yoga session. The flexibility, rather than the pool itself, is what makes the deck work.

The deck is at sea level and opens directly off the main salon with no step, no door frame and no threshold to negotiate. You walk from climate-controlled interior onto teak without registering the transition. RWD drew the exterior, and Benetti's in-house interior team carried neutral tones and natural materials inside so the aesthetic does not stop at the glass.

The Oasis Deck alone is 170 square metres, about 1,400 square feet, and with the rest of the main deck you are at roughly 2,200 square feet of usable living space. That is why a 197-foot yacht behaves like a considerably larger one.

The owner's suite sits forward on the main deck with a private balcony. Six guest cabins are split between the main and lower decks, all with en-suite heads, for 12 guests. Crew quarters run to nine cabins. Above, there is a sky lounge, exterior dining and a sun deck with room for tenders, toys and proper seating without the layout feeling squeezed.

The B.NOW 60M covers 4,500 nautical miles at 11 knots, its cruise speed, with a top speed of 15.5 knots. It carries 87,500 litres of fuel, 23,115 US gallons, and 20,000 litres of water, 5,283 gallons, which is enough that nobody is rationing showers or running the watermaker constantly.

That is Miami to the Med with one fuel stop, or the Bahamas to the Pacific without playing range roulette. The point of a steel displacement hull at 1,080 gross tons is not speed. It is that you can plan a route without obsessing over fuel docks, including places where diesel is not available on every corner.