Makai 37 Boat Review
As the prime in-water boat show in Europe, and arguably the entire world, the Cannes Yachting Festival is without a doubt the deep end of the pool when it comes to new launches. The jam-packed docks and glittering Baie de Cannes are littered with all sorts of wildly expensive nautical baubles. That’s why it was such a simple pleasure and a sweet surprise for me that one of my favorite boats at the show was a 37-foot catamaran with a base price just shy of $800,000.
Makai was founded in 2019 in the coastal Croatian city of Split by two entrepreneurs who wanted to build a boat that matched scintillating performance with sensible layouts. The combination, they hoped, would be a vessel that boaters would fall for. With half a decade of building and selling boats in Europe under its belt, Makai is now making a concerted push into the American market—South Florida in particular. The builder sees its 37—which has ample volume, a seaworthy hull, a range up to 700 miles—as an excellent weekender that is capable of crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas (and perhaps even south to the Caribbean if one is feeling ambitious).
To realize its dream, Makai enlisted Italy’s Emanuele Rossi and his eponymous yacht design firm. Rossi was tasked with creating a spacious layout that would fit within an aesthetically pleasing footprint. And I have to say, he hit the bullseye. When I met the Makai in Port Canto, I initially got a broadside view of her as she idled in the harbor. I looked right past her. I was looking for a cat, and the sleek little number bobbing in front of me surely had to be a monohull. It wasn’t until she pirouetted just so that I realized my mistake. The profile here strays far from the boxy, utilitarian catamaran cliché, and is actually rather beautiful.
Stepping aboard, I immediately noted the boat’s spacious layout. A 15-foot beam is nicely filled out, first with a sunpad at the swim platform that forms a de facto miniature beach club, and then a modular cockpit. My boat had a dining table with facing settees in the after portion of the cockpit, and a further L-shaped settee forward and to port with its own small table. The aim is to create enough space for 12 guests.
Down below there are two staterooms, both en suite. Another pleasant surprise was that I found both heads large enough to be workable for an American-sized adult. The port-side hull contains the master and has an athwartship queen-size berth as well as loads of stowage. The starboard-side cabin has an aft-facing double berth, and then creatively, there is an athwartship single berth at the head. It’s a really effective use of space, especially if this stateroom is used for the kids.
After a quick tour of the premises, it was my turn to take the helm on a typically blustery Cannes evening that saw a light chop out on the bay. The Makai made short work of it. The 37 uses Makai’s Air-Glide shock-absorption system, which the builder says was responsible for the highly cushioned feel of the hull in the bumpy water. Power on my test boat was twin 370-horsepower Yanmars, and they brought the giddyup. Top speed was 33 knots with a full party on board, and at a 27-knot cruise the cat zigged and zagged with the steady assuredness of a Porsche 911. As the sun began to glint low over the water, I made one last turn toward the open sea, and with the throttle down blew past a 180-footer moored in the bay, and pointed the bow toward an even larger behemoth on the horizon. They could have their $50 and $100 million palaces, I was happy with my hands planted firmly on the wheel of the Makai.
Specifications:
LOA: 37’
Beam: 15’2”
Draft: 3’9”
Displ.: 21,000 lb.
Water: 118 gal.
Fuel: 238 gal.
Power: 2/320-hp Yanmar 8LV-320;
2/370-hp Yanmar 8LV-370
Price: $778,000 (base)
This article originally appeared in the December 2024 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
View the original article to see embedded media.
Source: https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/boats/makai-37-boat-review
