Prestige F4.3

The Prestige F4.3 is the new-generation F-Line at its smallest: 42' 11" overall, 13' 5" of beam, 3' 11" of draft, and 24,488 lbs light - 33,984 lbs at full load. Fuel is 309 US gallons and fresh water 87 US gallons. Prestige rates it CE category B.

The idea the whole boat is built around is the OceanView Galley. Prestige turns the galley toward the cockpit and puts sliding glass doors in the side of it, so the cooking happens facing the water and connected to the people outside rather than behind a bulkhead. It is the single decision that separates this boat from the 420, which is within an inch of it on length.

Above, the flybridge seats six around a U-shaped bench, with a refrigerator offered under the table and modular furniture that rearranges into a full-width sundeck. Aft, the cockpit saloon runs a C-shaped bench facing the sea, and a hydraulic swim platform drops to water level. An exterior galley with a sink and a grill is on the options list.

Garroni Design drew the hull; Valentina Militerno de Romedis did the interior. Power is a pair of Volvo Penta D6-440 V-drives.

Prestige quotes a 22-knot cruise and a 30-knot maximum for the F4.3, and adds the sensible caveat that performance depends on how the yacht is configured and on the water. Plan the day around 22.

Power is twin Volvo Penta D6-440 on V-drives - 440 hp a side, conventional shafts. The D6 is one of the most widely supported diesels in the recreational market, which is worth as much on a Tuesday in a strange marina as it is on the spec sheet.

Draft is 3' 11" and maximum air draft is 19' 0". Check the air draft against your boathouse, your fixed bridge and your marina approach before you commit to a berth; it is a foot taller than the shorter-flybridge boats in the range and it is the figure people forget.

Light displacement is 24,488 lbs, with a full-load figure of 33,984 lbs. Use the full-load number when you are pricing a lift, a trailer or transport.

Fuel is 309 US gallons. On sea trial, hold the boat at 22 knots, and have the observed burn and the sea state written into the trial report. That number, on your hull with your load, is what turns 309 gallons into a cruising plan.

Two suites, and Prestige draws the lower deck two ways - one bathroom or two. That is the layout decision to settle before anything else, because it changes what the boat is for.

The master sits amidships at the center of the yacht, where the motion is smallest, with a generous closet, brass hardware and subtle lighting. The VIP is forward and is a genuine second suite rather than a bunk room, with hull windows at the right height to see out of. For extra guests the saloon converts to a large double, which is how Prestige gets to a published accommodation of four plus two.

The OceanView Galley is the room that sells the boat. Turned toward the cockpit and accessible from both sides, with sliding glass doors connecting it to the exterior living space and a wine fridge on the options list, it makes the cook part of the afternoon instead of a service function. If you have ever spent a weekend on a boat where whoever was making lunch missed the whole anchorage, you already understand the argument.

The practical fittings are better than the length suggests: air conditioning, natural ventilation, a wardrobe, a washer-dryer and real storage. Fresh water is 87 US gallons, holding 32, and the calorifier 11. Those tanks, not the fuel, are what will decide how long you stay out.

The F4.3 is the entry point of Prestige's new-generation F-Line, which runs F4.3, F4.9, F5.7 and F6.7 alongside the numbered 420, 460, 520 and 590 in the same line.

The comparison that matters most is inside the brand. The 420 is 42' 10" against this boat's 42' 11" and carries the identical 13' 5" beam, so on paper they are the same size of boat. They are not the same proposition. The 420 is the enclosed-wheelhouse, Cummins shaft-drive boat, quoted at 25 knots cruise, and offered in two- or three-stateroom versions. The F4.3 is the newer design language: Volvo D6-440s, the OceanView Galley, a 22-knot cruise, and two suites with a one- or two-bathroom choice. See them on the same day and the decision usually makes itself in about ten minutes.

Against the wider market at this length, the Galeon 440 FLY at 45' 10" comes at it with volume and fold-out balconies, and the Princess F45 at 47' 1" is the British benchmark. What the Prestige leads with is the galley position and the amount of glass, and that is a preference a buyer can test in fifteen minutes aboard.

This fits a couple who cruise as a couple most of the time and take another couple along some of the time. Two suites, four berths plus two in the convertible saloon, and 309 gallons of fuel is a package sized for long weekends and the occasional week, not for a crossing.

Take it seriously if the galley position is what you actually care about. Facing the cockpit through sliding glass is not a detail - it changes who talks to whom for the whole time the boat is at anchor, and it is the reason to choose this over its own sibling. Take it seriously if you want a flybridge that seats six properly, with a fridge under the table and furniture that turns into a sundeck.

Look elsewhere if you need three separate cabins - the 420 offers a three-stateroom version at the same length, and the 460 offers two or three with crew space. Look elsewhere too if you need pod drives and joystick docking, which start at the 460 in this line.

Before you commit: settle the one-bathroom versus two-bathroom lower deck, confirm whether the exterior galley and the under-table refrigerator are fitted, check the 19' 0" air draft against your own berth, and get observed consumption at 22 knots in writing at sea trial.