In our Powercat A-Z series, we pick some of the biggest and best powercat producers in the world. Today we look at Prestige
Prestige Yachts’ first ever boat was a 41ft sportscruiser. Launched in 1989 by parent company, Jeanneau, it was the result of what would become an enduring collaboration with celebrated Italian studio, Garroni Design.
In the year 2000, shortly after its acquisition by the Beneteau Group, Prestige then moved into flybridge cruisers, becoming astonishingly successful with its cleverly conceived layouts and its ability to make motoryachts feel as much like floating homes as boats.
Having achieved pre-eminence in the 40-75ft flybridge sector, it then responded once again to market trends by introducing a line of powercats. It began with the M48 in 2022, before following that up with a pair of larger cats in the form of the M8 (a 65-footer with the volume of an 85ft monohull) and the M7 (a 59-footer with the volume of a 75ft monohull).
And the fact that Beneteau ownership enabled these larger cats to be built at the same Monfalcone factory as Monte Carlo Yachts brought higher levels of finish and customisation than ever before.
The Prestige range
The Prestige M48 provides lots of day boating flexibility, alongside a set of cabins that makes great use of the space beneath the bridge deck. Ideal for large parties or for three couples on an extended trip, it enables you to cruise in comfort at 2L per mile while enjoying home comforts that you wouldn’t expect from this sector.
Further up the range, Prestige’s M7 and M8 models are also now reconfiguring what’s possible in the sub-70ft market. The M7 features a huge flybridge that spans virtually the full beam, with an amazingly sociable helm and a large configurable deck.
Like the M48, it also features a dramatic full-beam owner’s suite, but it adds a fourth guest cabin and crew quarters as standard, as well as the option of an extra crew cabin aft. And at the top of the fleet, the M8 feels particularly special.
With its high-end flourishes, its striking design ideas, its custom-ready approach and its sheer volume, there’s more than a hint of superyacht about this boat. The sunken foredeck seating, the light-drenched flybridge stairwell, the saloon’s glass-lined central serving hatch and the owner’s cabin are all particularly impressive.
The Prestige M48
Our pick
The Prestige M48 was designed to deliver the space of a Prestige 590, the price of a 520 and the running efficiency of a 40-footer – and remarkably, it achieves all of that. Though a beam of just under 20ft is quite moderate by cat standards, it makes good sense in terms of the aesthetic, the performance and the logistics of ownership; and the space is extremely well used.
Even if you opt for the compact lower helm pod, there’s still plenty of room in the saloon for a big galley to starboard, a ten-man dining zone to port and a starboard side door. There’s also space for three private staircases – one for each of the guest cabins and another for an owner’s cabin, which spans the entire 20ft beam, thanks to the M48’s deep-chested bridge deck.
And the fact that the owner’s heads and shower room inhabit opposite hulls also adds to the cruising comfort. Conceived less as a multihull and more as a novice-friendly cruiser with acres of deck space, lots of stability and favourable running efficiency, its success, both with monohull and multihull fans, should come as no surprise at all.
See our complete A-Z guide to Powercats
