2019 Lexus LY650 review

Instead of trying to make its cars seaworthy, it is launching its brand – along with its Japanese ethos of quality craftsmanship and design – into the elite superyacht segment with its new flagship Lexus LY650, a 65-foot flybridge ocean cruiser created in partnership with US boat-builder Marquis Yachts.

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It is a bold move for the Japanese car-maker, but one it claims is only the tip of an iceberg as part of a plan by parent company Toyota to transform itself from conventional car company to a full mobility provider “on the land, the sea and also in the air”.

This indicates it is also evaluating a move into executive jets like its rival Honda, which has spent billions developing a lightweight, fuel-efficient seven-seat business plane called the Honda Jet.

“The LY650 symbolises the challenge taken by Lexus, which aspires to be a true luxury lifestyle brand, to venture beyond the automobile,” Toyota global president and Lexus chief branding officer Akio Toyoda said.

“A collaborative team between Toyota and Marquis Yachts introduced the Toyota production system to the boat-manufacturing facility to improve productivity and quality.

"This allowed the Lexus ‘Crafted’ philosophy of anticipatory hospitality and meticulous attention to detail to become a reality in the form of a luxury yacht.

“I am truly looking forward to seeing the advanced, high-quality LY650 display its beauty on the oceans across the globe," he said.

The Lexus LY650 isn’t a one-off, either, as Lexus will become the top tier brand of Wisconsin-based Marquis Yachts, which also owns the Carver brand and builds Von Dutch yachts under licence in the US.

Lexus and Marquis have plans already in place to increase the model range with both smaller and larger hull options, as well as different variations, including a coupe body that replaces the flybridge with an opening sunroof.

Boatsales.com.au was given a preview of the Lexus LY650 this week, cruising the canals between Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton in Florida ahead of the sports yacht's world debut at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in October.

This isn’t the first time Lexus has hit the high seas, nor its first collaboration with Marquis Yachts, but it is the real deal.

The Lexus LY650 follows in the wake of the Lexus Sport Yacht concept, revealed in 2017 with a distinctive bronze and grey colour scheme and sleek silhouette.

But this is an altogether different type of boat. Where the Sport Yacht concept was a 42-foot open-air, offshore powerboat driven by a pair of Lexus’ high-revving 5.0-litre V8 petrol engines and capable of reaching a top speed of 43 knots, the Lexus LY650 is a 65-foot, three-level flybridge open-ocean supercruiser, with three staterooms, three heads and a full-beam captain’s quarters.

The Lexus LY650, in its most basic form, will cost from $US3.7 million ($A5.4 million). But you do get a lot of boat for that kind of outlay, with standard features including twin Volvo Penta D13 IPS 1050 inboard engines, a large swim platform, teak decking throughout, a fully digital control system with three 17-inch Garmin touchscreen displays in both the main helm and on the flybridge, an automated anchor-deployment system, 29kW Onan generator, air conditioning and an interior designed by Italian firm Nuvolari and Lenard.

The Lexus LY650 features a full galley, soft-touch luxury finishes with a mix of sustainable leather, linen and wood, walk-in closets and bathrooms in each of the staterooms, a 43-inch TV with a 5.1 surround sound audio system in the main owner’s cabin, and a retractable 49-inch TV with a similar audio system in the saloon.

Similar to other yachts in this class, you can also tailor it to your own desires with myriad options, such as more powerful twin Volvo Penta IPS 1200 or IPS 1350 inboard engines, an anti-roll stabiliser or dynamic stabilisation with active ride technology, underwater lighting, cockpit joystick controls, a cockpit wet bar, washer and dryer, wine cooler, vacuum system, an upgraded Mark Levinson audio system (just like the ones you’ll find in a road-going Lexus), and TVs and audio in all other quarters.

Apart from the exterior design and production processes, Lexus wanted to bring new building methods to Marquis Yachts in its quest to reduce weight, and therefore improve range and handling, as well as demanding levels of comfort and refinement that matched the brand ethos.

As such, the Lexus LY650’s hull is built from a mixture of carbon-fibre and glass fibre-reinforced plastic, which it claims is lighter and more rigid than before, while a sandwich-layering technique reduces noise infiltration in the cabin for a more peaceful ambience.

The hull design itself is unique in this class, with Marquis’ design and engineering vice-president Josh Delforge telling boatsales it is more like a sports fishing boat, with a greater level of deadrise up front than any Marquis Yacht before it, in order to improve ride quality.

“We had to develop the hull bottom to meet their specifications,” Delforge said. “It’s not a typical cruiser hull bottom. It cuts through the waves rather than riding on top of them.”

Overall, it measures 19.94m with a 5.76m beam and 1.7m draft, and has a bridge clearance of 6.68m. It weighings in with a 33,339kg displacement.

In its top-spec form, with the twin Volvo Penta IPS 1350hp engines, it can reach a speed of 33 knots and cruises comfortably at around 25 knots. A fuel capacity of more than 4000L means the Lexus LY650 can cruise for more than 10 hours, easily travelling between 250-300 nautical miles – perfect for a week-long jaunt from Florida to the Bahamas, or around the Whitsunday Islands.

Surprisingly for a car brand that isn’t renowned for making bold or beautiful cars, the Lexus LY650 is both. The bronze, silver and black colour scheme of the first yacht built (owners can choose from five different colour schemes) certainly makes it stand out among the flotilla of white cruisers moored around it in Florida – and, most likely, in every other marina around the world.

Its sleek silhouette is equally as striking, from the long glass windows that run almost the entire length of the hull to the rounded edges of its deck and the sweeping cabin profile and rear-mounted flybridge. It looks fast just standing still.

Step aboard, and the Lexus LY650 has a genuine ambience of quality in its craftsmanship and design, and a greater sense of airiness to its cabin than its exterior dimensions would suggest.

For starters, the main cabin is wide and open as you enter through sliding glass doors into a cocktail bar furnished with exquisite eucalyptus cupboards (a nice Australian touch) complete with leather strap handles and chrome finishes.

In between that and the two-seat helm is a pair of lounges clad in high-quality white linen, while the Lexus L-logo is subtly embossed in the carpet. It’s a nice touch that is only obvious when you know what it is.

The big glass windscreen and mirrored side windows provide sufficient light, and amplify that sense of space. But they also feature automatic sun blinds for added privacy.

Heading downstairs, the galley isn’t huge but the living quarters are more than generous.

With almost 2.0 metres of headroom in the main cabin, it looks and feels like a luxury hotel room, with a double bed, separate lounge, desk, a walk-in wardrobe and a full ensuite with shower, toilet and vanity unit.

The two staterooms in the bow are just as classy and convenient, while the heads ensure it can accommodate a full party load of people, or a few families, in reasonable comfort.

In any case, there’s plenty of space to lounge around during the day, with a large couch on the rear deck, another on the flybridge and a four-seater with table on the bow, plus two reclining sunbeds.

No matter whether you’re driving the Lexus LY650 from the cabin or on the flybridge, the captain has all the latest technology at their disposal.

Both helms feature three 17-inch Garmin touch screens mounted in a beautiful carbon-fibre dash, with a single-spoke Lexus-branded steering wheel and Volvo’s latest digital controls, including a joystick with cruise control, autopilot, fixed-point positioning at sea and an auto-flap function for infinitely variable trimming.

The main helm has two custom chairs that look like they’re lifted straight from Lexus’s stunning LC grand tourer, while the flybridge has just one, with a daybed next to it so others can soak in the sun.

Our preview of the Lexus LY650 was restricted to just being a passenger among media colleagues from all across the globe, and limited to a three-hour cruise at no faster than 5.0 knots – and often sitting idle waiting for drawbridges to open – on a canal between Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. We can’t tell you how it performs and handles at cruising speeds, but it certainly feels luxurious going slow.

We look forward to a more fulsome test on Australian waters.

What we can say is, the Lexus LY650 feels pretty special. It is supremely well built, stylish on the outside and just as classy as it is spacious in the cabin.

Sure, at just under 20 metres long, it’s probably not going to be the biggest yacht in the marina and there might be issues of size envy, especially in Florida where anything less than 100 feet (30 metres) means you’re only rich, not super-rich. But it definitely stands out from the fleet, and looks a million bucks. Or even five million bucks.

The well-deserved reputation that Lexus has for perfection and meticulous detail in all things can only be a good sign for its boating future.

Specifications
Model: Lexus LY650
Length: 19.94m
Beam: 5.76m
Draft: 1.7m
Weight: 33,339kg (dry)
Engines: Twin Volvo IPS 1050 (standard), 1200 or 1350 (optional)
Fuel: 4012.5L
Water: 851.7L
Passengers: 10

Priced from: $5.4 million

Price as tested: $6.9 million