Absolute 60 Fly Review, Price and Specifications

The Prisma that started a new generation

The current absolute 60 fly, spelled "absolut 60 fly" in plenty of searches, is the boat that redrew Absolute's flybridge range. Announced in April 2021 as the first model of the yard's Generation 2022 and nicknamed "The Absolute Prisma," it was shown to the press at Marina di Varazze that June and made its public debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September 2021. Three ideas defined it: an owner's suite in the bow on its own raised level, a cockpit terrace with no fixed furniture, and glazed balustrades on both the cockpit and flybridge.

Those features then spread to the 56 Fly, the 52 Fly and the newest Navettas, so the 60 is in effect the template for today's Absolute. It won Best Layout for 13 to 20 meter yachts at the 2021 World Yachts Trophies and was a finalist at the Best of Boats awards and the 2023 Motor Boat Awards.

The first three hulls went to owners in Croatia, Florida and Hong Kong, which says a lot about the boat's market: owner-operators who want a 60-footer they can run themselves, in hot places.

An owner's quarter on its own deck level

Absolute calls it the Owner's Quarter. The full-beam master sits forward on an intermediate level reached from a dogleg staircase under the windshield, which lifts it higher than a normal lower-deck cabin. That brings bigger hull windows, more volume and a large service and stowage area beneath, reached through the VIP's wardrobe. Inside, a forward-facing centerline queen faces the sea through the hull glass, with a vanity desk, a walk-in closet and an en suite shower tucked into the forepeak with its own view.

The VIP is amidships to starboard with a transverse double and en suite head, and the twin cabin to port uses a separate shower room that doubles as the day head. Guest mattresses are 6.5 feet long. Five sliding doors on the lower deck save floor space, and a door at the back of the double cabin's closet opens to a long, low technical space running from the keel amidships to the thruster tunnel.

A two-berth crew cabin with head and shower sits in the transom, entered through a pantograph door and deck hatch, with 6 feet 1 inch of headroom according to MBY. On an owner-run boat it doubles as guest overflow, and it is also the route into the engine room.

160 square feet of cockpit with nothing bolted down

Yachting measured the aft deck at about 160 square feet, separated from the swim platform only by a stainless rail and glass balustrade. Owners furnish it as they like: a dining table with six chairs under the flybridge overhang, lounge seating or loose chairs. Two side stairwells lead down to the hydraulic platform, rated at about 880 pounds, and a canopy can unroll from the flybridge to carbon poles at the platform corners, with blinds on all sides. An optional third docking station hides in a starboard cockpit cabinet with joystick, thruster and engine start controls.

The flybridge covers most of the side decks and nearly the whole aft deck, about 300 square feet in all, with booth seating, a wet bar and a helm console forward under the hardtop and open space aft. A further 140 square feet on the foredeck holds a sunpad, bench sofa and table. Solar panels on the hardtop deliver about 1.5 kW peak; on PMY's sunny test day they were carrying the lights, entertainment and helm electronics.

A saloon you configure yourself

The galley is aft to port, opening through sliding doors to the cockpit so the two spaces work as one, while the starboard side of the saloon can be ordered in several layouts of sofas, armchairs and sideboards. Headroom is just over 6 feet 6 inches. Stained Alaska oak is the main veneer, and the wall panels are wood printed with fabric patterns under high-gloss lacquer that fooled Yachting's reviewer into thinking they were cloth.

The lower helm is to starboard with twin seats and a side-deck door. One 12-inch Garmin is standard and twin 17-inch screens are optional; visibility is excellent thanks to glass on every side, though tall skippers stoop slightly when the bow is up. A drop-down window to port brings in fresh air.

What the sea trials found

Standard power is twin Volvo Penta D11 diesels on IPS950 pods at 725 hp each, and that was the only package at launch. Yachting's lightly loaded test boat ran just over 29 knots downwind and a little above 28 upwind with the Seakeeper running, and burned about 56 gph at a 22-knot fast cruise at 2,250 rpm, good for roughly 280 nautical miles. At 8 knots consumption fell to about 8 gph and range stretched to around 900 nautical miles.

MBY recorded a 28.6-knot top speed, 175 liters per hour (about 46 gph) at 20 knots for 256 nautical miles, and 29 liters per hour at 8 knots for 641 nautical miles, its figures including a reserve. Absolute's own numbers quoted by PMY were 29 knots flat out, about 60 gph at 24 knots and 47 gph at 20.

On noise the reports differ. MBY measured 67 dB(A) at the helm at 20 knots and 56 at 8 knots, calling the boat a very quiet cruiser, while Yachting logged 82 dB at fast cruise and 85 to 86 at full speed. Expect it to depend on options and where the meter sits. Handling earned praise from both, with good helm ergonomics and quick, satisfying turns.

IPS950 standard, IPS1200 now on the list

Absolute's current specification sheet adds a second package, twin D13 IPS1200 pods at 900 hp each, alongside the IPS950s. No magazine test of the larger engines has been published, so treat any speed claims with caution, but expect more pace and higher fuel burn. On used boats, confirm which is fitted, because it affects maintenance costs and value.

Yachting strongly recommended Volvo's Dock Assist option, which the test boat lacked. A Seakeeper NG9 was fitted on test and is the natural choice.

The 2014 to 2018 60 Fly is a different boat

Listings for an absolute 60 yacht from before 2021 describe the first-generation 60 Fly, launched in 2014 and built until 2018. It is 60 feet 4 inches long with a 16-foot-7-inch beam and the same IPS950 power, but a traditional layout: master amidships with an off-center queen and leather sofa, VIP in the bow, a double guest cabin to starboard, a U-shaped saloon settee and galley forward next to the helm. Crew quarters with a transom window sit aft. Power and Motoryacht tested one in 2015 and found a comfortable 24.5-knot cruise at 2,100 rpm.

• PMY 2015 test, first generation: 8.2 knots at 1,000 rpm on 8.7 gph
• 12.5 knots at 1,500 rpm on 29.0 gph
• 21.7 knots at 2,000 rpm on 48.9 gph, about 253 nautical miles
• 32.6 knots at 2,500 rpm on 76.3 gph, about 244 nautical miles
• Used value: a 2018 boat was listed at $1,549,000 in 2026

Base price, real price and running costs

The headline $2.1 million base price at launch was never the real number; Yachting expected most owners to spend about $3 million once options were added, and new boats today sit around $2.9 million to $3.6 million. Used current-generation boats ask roughly $2.2 million to $3.2 million depending on year, engines and equipment. Plan on $110,000 to $180,000 a year in running costs for a 65-foot slip, insurance, two D11 and IPS services, gyro and generator upkeep, bottom work and fuel, and more if you hire a full-time captain.