Pershing GTX80 (Ferretti Group), Vallicelli Design, triple Volvo Penta D13-IPS1350, 34-knot top speed, 28-knot cruise, 301-sq-ft beach club, LOA 78’8”.
Pershing’s GTX80 blends the style and sophistication the builder is known for with the comfort and livability Americans demand.
There’s just something about a Pershing. When you see a bullet-gray 90-footer screaming across the waves, kicking up a rooster tail visible from miles away, goosebumps are a common and understandable response. The classic X series from the Ferretti Group’s sportiest brand is fast, gorgeous, and more than a little impractical. They are purpose-built for dayboating in the Med, where spending time aboard is less important than how fast the boat can get you where you’re going. But Americans boat differently. We enjoy our time aboard and seek to extend it—and that requires more onboard space. Seeing this soft spot in the market, Pershing launched its GTX line two years ago in Cannes with a 116 (the GT, if you couldn’t have guessed, stands for Gran Turismo). That yacht proved so popular that Pershing decided to unleash its more compact sister upon the world—the GTX80 that I recently took for a spin off Montauk, Long Island, New York.
Stepping aboard the 80, there are immediate signs that this is not your daddy’s Pershing. First is a massive beach club, encompassing not only a hydraulic swim platform, but also a spacious stationary deck forward that sits flush with the swim platform when it is raised. Fold-out terraces to either side drop down to create 301 square feet of usable space. Carbon fiber poles can be popped into stands on the terraces to hold up a sunshade over the proceedings, and there’s also enough room for a PWC and a Williams 345 SportJet tender. The entire deck is a very strong indication that this is a boat meant to be enjoyed, not just the world’s most expensive Uber.
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Galley-Up Main Deck: Entertaining That Flows Inside/Out
Moving up into the cockpit, there is the requisite alfresco dining settee, but as the eye gazes forward into the salon, there is something that would have given hardcore Pershing fans heart palpitations just a few short years ago—and that shocking development is a galley up. Taking inspiration from a trend that began with the Australians (of all people), there is an aft galley on the main deck. Before the GTX line launched, Pershing had always, always, always put the galley down below. After all, cooking aboard a Pershing was nearly incomprehensible to the Italians—it’s a small wonder they included a galley at all.
Why the GTX80 Exists: Americanized Pershing, Same DNA
But Americans like to entertain, and to entertain properly, you need a proper space to prepare food and drinks. The portside galley here has everything you need. There’s a full-size fridge covered in painted and lacquered wood, which is then hand-distressed to give it a metallic-looking patina. A bar at the aft portion of the galley serves directly outside where two stools wait patiently for thirsty guests. The cockpit and salon are flush and the door between them opens nearly completely creating an entertainment space that can handle a crowd. When I was aboard, there was a cognac tasting for Remy Martin Louis VIII, as if this $8 million(ish) vessel needed any more classing up.
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Exteriors and interiors on the GTX80 were done by Michelangelo Vallicelli and his Rome-based studio Vallicelli Design. However, Newport’s Kimberly Pucci, who was brought in to help Americanize the project, also gave major input. The interiors are about 70 percent customizable, according to Pucci, with soft goods, color schemes, and woods all chosen by the customer. My test boat was done in cool and muted shades of gray with occasional pops of color on the green, pebbled-leather pillows tossed effortlessly about the sofas. The interior, and particularly the salon, is also notable among Pershings for having ample headroom. The yacht’s somewhat boxier profile makes for living spaces that are actually livable—all by design for those who would like to take the 80 to the Bahamas for a week and stay aboard.
Belowdecks, the amidships master is the star, with a king-size berth facing a flat-screen television, and an ensuite head with a shower large enough for Americans shoulders (and I hate to say, bellies, too). Forward is a shared area that acts as a second salon, if in miniature form. Low-slung sofas form a chic little lounge to starboard opposite another television in the central passageway. The forepeak cabin is slightly cramped by my estimation, owing I’d guess to the GTX’s truncated bow. But there is certainly enough room to sleep, and large hullside windows to either side provide lots of light.
Helm & Tech: Dual Stations, Triple Simrad, Easy Visibility
The GTX80 has two helm stations. The first is on the main deck where Poltrona Frau captain’s chairs add a dash of elegance to wheeling the boat while triple Simrad screens and unobstructed lines of sight allow the captain to keep an eye on everything at once.
However, for my sea trial, I made my way to the upper helm situated on the flybridge. The deck up here is another Americanized touch. When spending longer periods on a cruise, having that third deck up top can be a godsend for privacy and elbow room. There’s nothing revolutionary about the layout though. There’s a sunpad aft, a dining settee amidships, a helm forward, and a hardtop overhead. The helm has excellent sightlines both while underway and while docking, and will always be my choice for that wind-in-you-hair exhilaration, save for in times of uncooperative weather.
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Pershing GTX80 vs 8X: What You Trade for Volume
Pershings are typically fast jet boats. The 8X, for example, has twin 2,000-hp MTUs matched to Arneson jet drives and tops out at a sizzling 48 knots. The GTX80, on the other hand, trades out the burly MTUs and jets for a much easier to handle configuration in the form of triple Volvo Penta IPS 1350s rated at 1,000 horsepower each. You lose quite a bit off the top end—the GTX80 did 32.7 knots on the pins when I ran her, but she is oh-so-comfortable. Conditions were flat, but I was able to find some wakes to simulate waves, and she sliced through them cleanly and easily with pleasingly soft landings.
Overall, I think the Pershing GTX80 is a design that hits the mark. It retains enough of that sexy Pershing DNA to scratch some itches for people who have been longtime admirers of the brand, but the GTX line also gamely embraces a new chapter in Pershing’s story. This one is aimed at creating livable spaces for families and other guests that make time spent at sea even more enjoyable. In my mind, those barnburner boats Pershing became famous for were all about having fun anyway, and with the GTX80, the builder is simply showing willingness to indulge in another type of fun.
-by Kevin Koenig
Pershing GTX80 Specifications
LOA: 78′ 8″
Beam: 19′
Draft: 6′ 3″
Displacement: 134,482 lbs.
Fuel/Water: 1,374/343 U.S gals.
Power: 3x Volvo D13 IPS 1350 @ 1,000-hp
Top/Cruising Speed: 34/28 knots
Range: 300 nm @ 28 knots
Contact: Pershing
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