New Boat: Two Oceans 555
As I walked the docks of the Miami boat show, a text came in from my editor asking me to check out the new Two Oceans 555. After what already felt like a day filled with catamaran inspections, it might as well have been called Multihull Monday (it was actually a Thursday, but it sure felt like a Monday). But when I reached my destination, it only took one glance to realize this one was different. It was big. Colossal. The Godzilla of catamarans. Call me Ishmael, because I think I found Moby Dick.
Yes, I am exaggerating about the size of this boat; after all, it was only a 55-footer. However, that was my initial reaction. She wasn’t the biggest cat at the show but she somehow looked it from the stern. I realized this was due to one of the boat’s most standout features—a single-level main deck.
I wandered toward the 555, past the crowd of employees meeting about the very boat I was attempting to board. A gentle hand and smile stopped me. “You’ll have to wait to board, as we’re still cleaning the boat,” David Jirikovic, a broker for HMY, the U.S. arm of the Cape Town, South Africa based builder, told me.
I decided to find out the nitty gritty from him while I waited. Sure, it looked nice and spacious, but what else was there to know about this new model? For starters, the hull is an entirely blank sheet design.
“We wanted to take the shortcomings of the segment and give everyone the features they’d been missing,” Jirikovic said.
Such features include the one that I first observed. The single level main deck—from the swim platform through the salon, really opened the space. While she is only 55 feet LOA, you get all of it laid out before you and lose zero space to stairs. The boat also features a bridge clearance, of 28 feet, 6 inches, an underwater exhaust, side bolting doors and a skinny 3 foot 6 inch draft. And the 555 is also complete with rub rails, which Jirikovic noted, almost none of their competitors have.
With a 25-foot beam, spacing inside the 555 is ample, and she can easily sleep eight. Six of those passengers can make do in the three staterooms on lower level, including the master in the starboard hull, complete with king berth, sofa, head and washer/dryer. Custom options for the interior space include choices between a wet bar forward in the salon, port side, or a forward master stateroom on the main deck—about half of the ordered models are being built with main deck masters, according to Jirikovic.
On a more technical note, the 555 also has some hardiness to boast, with an off-grid version available. Among its features, the off-grid 555 powers all major systems from three sources—a lithium-iron phosphate bank, eight 400-watt solar panels on the hardtop and a Cummins generator. Jirikovic also claims that Two Oceans builders made the conscious decision to make this boat fully hardwired as a traditional two-switch breaker boat—instead of control via digital switching, which requires specific diagnostic tools and skills in case of failure.
All things considered, the 555 seems to offer a solid middle ground between those seeking hardcore off-grid exploration while also living in the lap of spacious luxury.
Two Oceans 555 Specifications:
LOA: 55’ 6”
Beam: 25’
Draft: 3’ 6”
Displ.: 49,600 lb.
Fuel: 750 gal.
Water: 200 gal.
Power (standard): 2/370-hp Yanmar 8LV
Optional power: 2/550-hp Cummins QSB6.7
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This article originally appeared in the June 2023 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
Source: https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/boats/two-oceans-555-yacht-review
