Prestige reveals all-new M-Line catamaran range

The first of the new twin-hull models, and the smallest planned, is the M48, a 20-knot, 15-metre liveaboard long-range cruiser with a surprisingly narrow 6.0-metre beam.

The long, narrow design allows the Prestige M48 to feature a full-width master suite forward, with other accommodations spread across three or four suites in total. All the suites, which include ensuites, are designed so that the beds face out towards the water.

The Prestige M48 is built around deep and narrow hulls with a wide, deep tunnel creating a huge amount of internal volume given the size of the catamaran.

Prestige managing director Erwin Bamps said the Prestige M48 was conceived after the boat maker had talked with clients to see what they wanted in a catamaran.

“In interviews and discussions with our clients worldwide, we noticed that people never have enough space onboard that they wanted even an easier circulation, even more stability, even more connectivity to the water,” Bamps said.

“We started thinking how can we take this private island concept to another level – to the next level?

“And almost naturally, we fell on to the multihull platform, technical platform, rather than a monohull. 

“And it's one that we decided to design from scratch, truly with the spirit of a motor yacht, and still in line with that same DNA of Prestige,” he said. 

"We're looking for ever more conference space, and when we understand that today [that] people are compromising, very willingly compromising on speed versus the use of space onboard.”

Prestige has tapped into Beneteau’s catamaran building experience to create the M48.

Prestige product manager Rosalie Le Gall Bernard said there were three key elements in the design of the M48; that it had to look like a motor yacht rather than a catamaran, it had to tap Prestige’s design DNA, and that it had to be the most attractive catamaran on the market.

“It's a bit less than 15.0 meters length overall and the beam, which is the important data here, is 6.0 meters, so right under 20 feet. So that makes her … less wide than what the market average is doing,” Le Gall Bernard said.

“But as you may have guessed, the space is in any case even better.”

The focus on space in the Prestige M48 starts with a flybridge that’s as large as a 60-foot monohull, with 20 square metres of living space. It contains a large seating and lounging area, with a table large enough for eight people to sit down at once.

Downstairs, the aft cockpit with a label large enough to accommodate up to 10 people backs onto a large swim deck that acts as an extension to the cockpit when up, and a water-level swim deck when lowered.

When it is down, the swim deck reveals a garage space large enough for a collection of water toys, or a 3.5-metre tender.

The side decks are deep and wide, leading to another 5.0-metre-wide forward cockpit with an aft-facing U-shaped lounge space looking onto a large sunbed.

In the main deck’s saloon, the galley is located centrally to the port-side lounge space and the cockpit.

Below the main deck is the accommodation space, designed to take full advantage of the Prestige M48’s 6.0-metre beam.

In the three-cabin layout, the owner’s suite is forward and runs the full internal 5.0-metre beam. The space includes a king-size bed, office, and a sofa, and separate his and hers showers.

Both guest suites, which have beds that can slide together or split to form two singles, have dedicated access stairways and ensuites.

When it is built, the Prestige M48 will hit a top speed of around 20 knots via its twin 320hp Volvo Penta V-drive propulsion system, and draw 80.0L/h of fuel at 17 knots – this is a displacement rather than a planing hull design.

At 8.0 knots, the range is expected to be around 600 nautical miles – about the distance from Sydney to Rockhampton – meaning the Prestige 48 will be able to travel far if asked.

Prestige marketing director Eric Stromberg said Prestige had tried to reinvent the catamaran so that it was not just a sailing platform adapted for power.

“What we wanted to do was to say if you take a catamaran and build it only for a motor yacht use, how do you do it, what do you change? What do you evolve in order to meet that need?” Stromberg said.

“One of the key things we were able to do was to put the owner's cabin full beam across the front of the yacht, which again is not at all possible in an architecture based for a sailing catamaran, and we use in the mid cabins the entire width of the boat itself so you really get a ton of interior volume out of this type of design. 

“It is overall narrower because it doesn't need to hold a mast up or anything like this. So we have different stability constraints,” he said.

“So it was really about optimizing the space onboard, giving over 130 square meters of living space and really giving that experience down below the true feel of a motor yacht.”

The world premiere of the new Prestige M48 is scheduled for September’s Cannes Yachting Festival. A larger as-yet-unnamed model is soon expected to join the range.

Specifications
Model: Prestige M48
Length overall: 14.79m
Hull length: 14.37m
Beam: 6.0m
Draft: 1.08m
Air draft: 4.8m
Weight: 17,480kg (light)/23,029kg (heavy)
Fuel: 2x 1200L
Water: 2x 600L/60L (hot)
Holding tank: 176L
Accommodations: 6 people/3 cabins/1 crew