Home Away From Home
The Horizon PC60 is built with comfortable cruising in mind.
“We have owned and operated six boats in the last eleven years, all power, mostly monohulls,” recalls one owner aboard his new PC60. “Like Goldilocks searching for the perfect mattress, we have gone through five different brands, sizes, and styles. But one day, we struck up a conversation with a Horizon Power Catamaran owner, saw his beautiful vessel, and signed to build our own a month later. Love at first sight!
“A year of intense planning, measuring, technical drawings, photos, floor and wall samples, fabrics, tiles, batteries, generators, pumps, systems, floor plans, and more completely consumed our life while we went through the ‘Christmas List’ of choices and options for our newly planned vessel,” he says. Christened in a private ceremony held in Florida, this latest PC60 was commissioned by experienced owners who knew exactly what they wanted on their sixth boat.
All Hands on Deck
The semi-custom Horizon Power Catamarans are designed by both the builder and the owner to make their boat a dream come true.
When I became a charter captain in the BVIs awhile back, it was on a sailing monohull. I was then transferred to a sailing catamaran and entertaining six passengers became a lot easier, not because of personalities, but because of the room—everyone could have their own space if desired. When a beam goes from 16 feet to 24 feet, the boat becomes a really comfortable platform from which to explore the islands or the coast in any location.
Boating around the Virgin Islands is pretty benign, but what about sailing farther afield? When I spoke to Richard Ford, CEO and founder of The Powercat Company, the exclusive distributor for Horizon Power Catamarans, he mentioned that one purpose in the design is to withstand tough, irregular sea states.
“What is different about the Horizon is the highly refined and efficient semi-displacement symmetric hull designs that are developed from extensive tank testing and offer an unmatched stable, soft, and smooth ride on a level platform, particularly in rough conditions,” he says.
The PC60 has symmetrical semi-displacement hulls with “planing wedges” aft that produce lift. The keel begins in the middle of the hull to enhance tracking and protects the prop and rudder. The result is performance and seakeeping so that it can outrun a storm that moves at 15 to 18 knots average.
Different Designs
The PC60 is not new, but with each build, The Powercat Company and the new owners continue to improve the design and create interior layouts that keep the yacht fresh and innovative. New materials, new techniques, and the latest technologies along with the engineering, craftsmanship, and quality of Horizon Yachts’ construction methods, make the powercats a solid investment and a boat that has the volume of much larger yachts.
Ask the owners of Mangata, who took delivery at the 2021 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. They transitioned from sportfishers to the powercat to cruise in the Bahamas and beyond. The design showcased an open salon and an expanded enclosed flybridge. The PC60 also has an open flybridge option as well as a main-deck master, but these owners chose two large staterooms in the portside hull and a master suite that utilizes the entire starboard hull. That leaves a huge main-deck entertainment area with a spacious raised “living room” under the big windows that look forward over the bow.
In this open plan, the galley is to starboard while a long settee is to port along with a service bar aft and additional countertop space forward atop a refrigerator. Speaking of which, the galley’s Miele 30-inch refrigerator/freezer has a satin wood finish to match the interior design.
On Mangata, accommodations are luxurious, and with the master occupying one hull, the king-size walkaround berth, dressing area, head with double sinks, and separate shower offer plenty of space to call it a night. To port, an ensuite VIP cabin with a king berth is forward and a queen cabin is aft. A large head with shower serves the aft cabin as well as a day head.
The open aft deck is protected by the flybridge above and large curved steps access the swim platform on each hull with enough room for divers, snorkelers, swimmers, and the toys as well as hot and cold freshwater showers recessed into the aft coaming. The aft deck includes a high-glass, fixed-height wood table that seats six, and a comfortable curved settee along the transom is a perfect spot to watch swimmers off the stern.
On the Fly
Teak treads line the circular stairs to port that lead up to the flybridge. When Magnata took her test ride after the Fort Lauderdale show, it was understandable why everyone was on the flybridge—the perch with a 360-degree view. The enclosed portion of the bridge has large windows, and the aft section is fitted with vinyl windows that zipper closed or roll up depending on the weather. Then there’s the comfort—raised double bench seating on each side of the STIDD helm chair face forward with the starboard side able to configure into a large lounge/daybed to stretch out. An L-shaped sofa offers room for at least eight along the starboard side aft, and a wet bar is to port.
The flybridge continues aft with a large deck that has an entertainment center with a barbecue and refrigeration and plenty of room for sun lounges or a 17-foot tender with a 100-hp outboard, of which a davit is positioned to starboard.
The PC60 is comfortable for an owner-operator, and there are multiple layout options to personalize the boat for comfort and lifestyle, in which case the PC60 easily becomes a home away from home, or in the case of one owner, just home.
