Horizon's New V77 CMY: The Ultimate Fishing Cockpit Yacht

Horizon Yacht debuts its first V77 CMY with a fishing cockpit.

I flew 36 hours (including layovers) from South Florida to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to see a fishing boat. Sounds crazy, right? But this wasn’t just any fishing boat. This was Hull No. 10 of the Horizon V77 CMY (Cockpit Motoryacht), a brand-new model and the world debut of this fishing cockpit concept boat for the U.S. market. Designed by Jonathan Quinn Barnett, she builds upon the proven V series platform with new features that meet an owner-operator’s desire for outdoor space.

The other nine hulls have motoryacht cockpits; the 10^th hull is the first fishing cockpit of the lineup, but you wouldn’t know it upon first glance. Modular furniture—in this case, two wide, cushioned chairs with a small cocktail table between them—adorned the center of the teak-floored cockpit, forward of the mounted aft-facing triple-seat mezzanine with ample storage space underneath. There are large storage cabinets to both port and starboard as well. The center seat doubles as a hatch door that lifts to access the private crew quarters below. What makes this a fishing cockpit are the port and starboard-side bait tanks with LED lighting, nine rod holders with two electric reel outlets, and the hydraulic fold-down transom.

“This is the first one we built with a fishing cockpit. I think this gives you more—more fun. You can try more,” said Austin Lin, head of Horizon’s Taiwanese-based Vision Shipyard, who was showing me around the boat. “Everybody can have a fishing cockpit easily. But then I thought, ‘How can I make this fishing cockpit more special?’ So we dropped the transom to create a nice big yacht.”

With the transom down, the area becomes a place for anglers to sit and fish from or a swim platform for family use offering easy access to the water. “This creates a huge difference because now you have wide open view,” Lin said. “So we call that your playground.”

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Customization

John Lu, CEO of the Horizon Group, pointed out the builder’s two strengths are customization and speed of construction. With four subsidiary shipyards in Taiwan, Horizon’s in-house design team partners with world-renowned exterior designers and naval architects to create a boat unique to every client. “I always say that the best designer is the customer because they use the boat,” said Lu. “They know what they want, what they need. So we use the feedback from the customer—they are the best designers.”

That is why the furniture in the cockpit is modular. Remove it, and you have a huge space to add outriggers, fishing rope, balls, or other fishing amenities. Roger Sowerbutts, director of Horizon Yacht USA, predicts a fighting chair will be the most popular option for anglers to include.

“The stainless steel manufacturer Aerotech used to have fighting chairs. And they used to make them for U.S. manufacturers,” he said. “You can easily get some, but I see this space is so big, if that’s necessary, of course, in the future we can [add fighting chairs].”

Ascend three steps up on either side to a cocktail lounge with a large forward-facing settee and a table. There is a small wet bar to starboard. The whole area is shaded by a hardtop making it the perfect place for alfresco dining. Stainless steel-framed glass doors slide open to the main salon and galley—leave them open for a seamless transition from indoors to outdoors on a nice day.

Black walnut wood is carried throughout the interior accented by cream-colored soft goods. Huge windows surround the salon to let in the natural light and make the space feel much bigger. A plush L-shaped sofa to starboard is opposite two comfortable chairs flanking an elegant end table and a 50-inch TV inside a full-height entertainment center. The spacious open galley is forward, fully equipped with a Fisher & Paykel refrigerator, Jenn-Air cooktop and oven, BOSCH dishwasher, GE microwave oven, and Summit wine cooler. Three barstools line the huge Hanstone quartz-topped island with the stainless steel sink. Under the vast windows forward is a U-shaped leather settee with a fixed-height wood table for guests to gather for casual dining.

Accommodations

There are two sets of stairs to port: One leads up to the flybridge and the other goes down below to the accommodations, which include a master stateroom, VIP stateroom, and two guest cabins. The full-beam master is aft with a king-size berth, vanity and stool to starboard, walk-in dressing room, and ensuite to port separated from the rest of the room by two sliding wood doors.

“The walk-in closet is very big,” said Lin. “The master head has its own door (with what) some people call switch glass. This is frosted glass. There is also a full-size stand-up shower.”

A stacked washer/dryer set is hidden behind a door that is seamlessly blended into the wall between the master and starboard-side staterooms. The forward VIP stateroom features a queen-size berth, hanging locker, and ensuite. The port and starboard cabins have twin berths, though the ones on the starboard side can be pushed together to become a double. Only the starboard cabin has an ensuite. Lin explained that by eliminating the head in the port-side cabin, they could make the ensuite in the VIP bigger. “Guests in the port-side cabin can share the head with the VIP,” he said.

Captain’s View

Up on the fully enclosed flybridge is the massive helm equipped with state-of-the-art electronics. Two large black Stidd captains chairs with armrests and footrests face three 22-inch Garmin MFDs that line the dash, along with a Maretron digital monitoring and control system, ZF joystick, and more. The captain gets excellent unobstructed sightlines from the extra-wide one-piece glass windshield.

Just abaft, guests can enjoy a light meal or play cards at the comfortable L-shaped sofa with hi-lo table that converts to a berth in the luxurious skylounge. To port, a small wet bar, fold-down TV, and dayhead are there for convenience. Big windows surround the room to brighten the space.

Open the sliding glass door aft to access the outdoor boat deck safeguarded by stainless steel removable rails. A U-shaped wet bar, complete with a sink, propane grill, and two barstools to starboard is a lovely area for an alfresco meal. Want to add a tender? There’s a hydraulic Steelhead davit in place that can lift up to 1,500 pounds.

And just when you think you’ve seen it all, there’s the huge bow with forward- and aft-facing seats surrounding a hi-lo table, as well as a large sunbed with storage, all shaded by a bimini top. Remove the backrests on the aft-facing seats to create an even bigger sunbed.

“You have a nice, big yacht now,” said Lin. “You can entertain so many people. You see, here you can have ten without question. You can put three there on the sunbed, and in the aft deck you can have eight. On the flybridge, eight. What (same-size model) can offer you space like this?”

The Horizon V77 CMY fishing cockpit version will please families and anglers alike, not only with the amenities, but with the brand itself. As Lu mentioned earlier, Horizon’s strengths are in customization and speed of construction. But there is one more thing he wants customers to know.

“I wish that when people look at Horizon, in the name Horizon, they understand that I tried to (convey) the image of reliability,” said Lu. “We are a reliable company. We give the customer a reliable product.”

-by Bonnie Schultz