Hylas Yachts, Taiwan's Frers-Designed Bluewater Cruisers

Queen Long Marine and the Hylas name

Queen Long Marine was founded in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1978, and built boats such as the Stevens 47 and Peterson 46 before launching its own brand. The Hylas 44 appeared in 1984 and the Hylas brand was formally established in 1985. Through the late 1980s the yard also built Hylas powerboats, including 41, 47 and 53-foot models. Queen Long's facility includes a 32,000 sq ft main construction hall, a separate laminating hall, a paint facility and a full-size test tank, and the designers it has worked with include Sparkman and Stephens, German Frers, Bill Dixon and Dean Salthouse.

For decades Hylas meant one look: a Frers center cockpit cruiser with a rich teak interior and conservative styling, popular with American couples planning long passages. When siblings Andy Huang (CEO) and Peggy Huang (COO) took over, the first new boat, the Hylas 48, stayed close to that formula and won Cruising World's 2019 award in its class.

The H60 and a new direction

The Hylas H60 is the model we cover, and it marked the break with tradition. Introduced in 2020 and built in limited numbers since, it is a 59 ft 3 in German Frers design with a near-plumb bow, a broad transom, twin rudders and a deep or shoal bulbed fin. It is vinylester-infused with a Divinycell core, and power is a 150 hp Volvo Penta D3. Its base price was $1.85 million at launch, and Cruising World named it Best Luxury Cruiser for 2021. Watch the 92 ft air draft if you plan to use the Intracoastal Waterway.

The current range on Hylas's site includes the H48 and H57 sailboats, the H57 having taken Cruising World's top honors in 2022, plus the M44, M47, M49 and M58 motor yachts.

Buying, resale and the Hylas survey

Hylas has a long US following, and many older center cockpit models are cruising today, so brokers know the brand well. Resale is solid for a Taiwanese builder because the boats are well finished and built for real offshore use. New boats are sold through Hylas's US sales office, and there is an active owners' club. Older boats are now decades old and need a careful survey.

What to check:

• Teak decks and fastenings on older center cockpit Hylas models
• Chainplates and stainless tanks on boats more than 20 years old
• Rudder bearings and twin rudder alignment on the H60
• Cored deck areas around winches, tracks and stanchions
• Generator, watermaker and air conditioning on liveaboard boats
• Mast height and draft versus your intended cruising grounds