Blue skies, 12 knots of breeze and a long ocean swell washing toward Miami’s famed South Beach delivered perfect conditions for a thoroughly enjoyable sea trial aboard Privilège Marine’s latest bluewater cruiser. I expect, though, even in driving rain and double the breeze, the new Series 6 cat would have fared just fine.
As it was, under full main and genoa, we danced along at a little better than 8 knots close on the wind, and then added a knot when we cracked off to a reach and eased the headsail and traveler. I could easily do both by myself while sitting atop the flybridge. Sheets, electric winches and control buttons were all within reach, a very well-planned layout for a shorthanded crew.
The 64-foot Series 6 was designed by longtime Privilège collaborator and naval architect Marc Lombard, with an interior by Franck Darnet Design. The result is a cat that’s slippery through the water and packed stem-to-stern with luxurious details. Many of those come included in the boat’s $2,115,000 base price, and others can be added to make the vessel truly your own. The model we tested had loads of them, as the $2,816,000 price tag indicates.
Boarding from astern onto wide swim platforms, five steps take you to the wide aft teak deck where the dinghy’s stored. Davits come standard, but on the boat we sailed the owner had requested a crane instead. Take two more steps up and you’re in the cockpit, where raised, cushioned lounges sit outboard but still under the flybridge/bimini, framing a teak dining table to starboard and a fore-and-aft settee to port.
Just forward, stairs on either side of the cabin house led to the flybridge. There, another teak table was surrounded by a U-shaped bench. Forward were twin helms (a single wheel to port is standard), both with canvas biminis for shade. A windscreen and instrument panels gave the front of the flybridge the feel of a sports car’s dashboard.
A carbon rig and V-shaped composite boom in which the flat-topped main was stored come standard with the Series 6. For headsails, this boat carried a genoa and staysail, both set on electric furlers, and for off the wind, a screecher on a continuous-line furler tacked to the aluminum bowsprit.
Deck details speak to safety at sea: Hatches were flush, so there was nothing to trip on. Solid raised bulwarks prevented a foot from sliding overboard, as did the excellent nonskid. A solid stainless-steel, waist-high rail ran the length of each hull, with two wire lifelines beneath; three lifelines spanned the bow.
Just inside the saloon, the nav station faced aft to port and included a large touch-screen display that could be used to control all the extensive onboard systems. L-shaped couches were forward; to starboard, the oak dining table (mirroring the rest of the interior’s woodwork) sat eight.
The boat at the Strictly Sail Miami show had its galley down in the starboard hull, where ports let in lots of light and overhead hatches could open for ventilation. Forward, there was a guest cabin with a double berth and en suite head and shower. Entering the aft guest cabin, a head was outboard and a shower stall sat inboard. I found the shower to be tight, something the builder plans to address in subsequent boats. An athwartship, outward-facing berth was all the way aft and could be lifted to gain access to the engine room beneath. The boat we sailed had twin 180-horsepower Yanmars; 110 horsepower is standard.
The aft cabin layout is usually mirrored in the port hull, though on this boat the bunk had been repositioned for the owner to accommodate a piano. Amidships, at the foot of the stairs, a washer and dryer were concealed behind locker doors. Forward, the owners suite was nothing short of stunning. It was entered through an office area with storage inboard. The en suite head and shower were far forward; in between, the cabin proper spanned nearly the width of the boat, with the bed set in the body of the amidships nacelle, suspended over the water.
Privilège’s roots go back to the mid-1980s, and over the years, the company has proved adept at building big, long-legged cruising cats. With the Series 6, that reputation has become a little more polished.
Mark Pillsbury is CW’s editor.
