Absolute Navetta 68 Used Buyer's Guide With Test Data

The Absolute Navetta 68 in brief

The Absolute Navetta 68 was the fourth size in Absolute's navetta range when it made its global debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in 2019, slotting between the original 58 and the flagship 73. It reached Fort Lauderdale that autumn and was built until Absolute announced the Navetta 70 as its replacement, with the 70 premiering at Cannes in 2024. A late example delivered in 2023 was still being sold in Florida in its first year.

That gives US shoppers a five-year window of boats to choose from, all built at Absolute's Podenzano yard near Piacenza, all powered by twin Volvo Penta IPS pods and all sharing the same four-stateroom layout. The things that separate one Navetta 68 for sale from another are engine choice, the hardtop, stabilization and hours, which is why this guide leans on measured test data rather than brochure claims.

A master suite raised onto its own half deck

The 68's signature is a master stateroom in the bow that sits on a half level of its own, a few steps below the wheelhouse, rather than on the lower deck with the guests. Absolute turned the bed around: the walkaround island berth sits on the centerline backing onto the aft bulkhead, which leaves the whole forward section for the en suite. MBY called that bathroom worthy of a high-end hotel, with twin marble-clad sinks and a walk-in shower whose rainfall head has built-in LED spots and a large square window beside it.

Raising the cabin had a second benefit. The void beneath it on the lower deck became a utility and dry-storage room, with racking built into the boat's structural frame. Owners planning long seasons aboard should open that door during a viewing; it is one of the reasons testers keep calling the 68 a serious cruising machine despite its bold looks.

VIP amidships and two twin cabins below

Below decks the full-beam VIP amidships is a master in all but name. It has a walkaround double, a vanity, a large wardrobe and an en suite running the whole port side behind opaque sliding doors, with the toilet and shower split into separate compartments so two people can use them at once. The vanity mirror drops at the touch of a button to reveal an opening porthole.

Between the VIP and the forward master sit two guest cabins, port and starboard, each with two single berths. On the port cabin the beds slide together for a couple and there is an en suite; the starboard twin uses the day head. That makes four staterooms and four heads, a plan Yachting suggested was ideal for three couples cruising together. A captain's cabin aft has a single berth, a wardrobe and head access, and connects through a watertight door to the engine room.

• Forward master: raised half deck, centerline island bed, twin-sink en suite in the bow
• VIP: full beam amidships, split toilet and shower compartments
• Two twins: port with sliding berths and en suite, starboard using the day head
• Crew: single-berth captain's cabin aft with head

A wheelhouse that can close itself off

On the main deck the galley sits aft by the cockpit with Dekton counters, Miele induction cooking and full-height fridge and freezer, opposite a dinette. Part of the aft glazing slides down into the countertop so the galley can serve the cockpit directly. Forward is the lounge, and forward again, a couple of steps up, the lower helm.

The helm is the part of the boat that feels most like a small ship. Power and Motoryacht found three raised Garmin displays and a fourth recessed; MBY describes three 21-inch screens plus a 24-inch navigator's display, controlled from a pad on the captain's armrest. An electrically retractable partition between salon and helm drops to open the view aft before hard turns, or rises so the crew can drive at night while guests watch a film. A watertight side door leads straight onto the 23-inch side decks, and a spiral stair drops to the guest cabins.

Flybridge, foredeck lounge and the hydraulic platform

Testers keep comparing the flybridge to something from an 80-footer. It splits into fixed seating and a dining table amidships, a wet bar and grill, and open deck aft for loose furniture. The single helm seat is flanked by sofas so guests can ride alongside the skipper. The hardtop with retracting fabric sunroof was optional, and MBY reckoned almost every buyer would tick it, so check that a used boat has one.

The foredeck works as a second cockpit, with sunpads on adjustable backrests and a sofa around a teak table that spans the walkway. Aft, twin stairways lead to a full-width hydraulic swim platform about 6 feet deep with a 1,200-pound lift rating for the tender, and a triple-telescoping passerelle deploys from the starboard transom steps. Boarding gates in the aft bulwarks help when lying side-to.

Measured speed and fuel burn, BoatTEST versus MBY

Two published tests bracket what a Navetta 68 really does. MBY, running a boat with twin 900 hp IPS1200s in flat summer water off northern Italy, recorded 25.7 knots flat out and recommended a 20-knot cruise for a range of about 232 miles. The tester felt the bow barely rose and compared the refinement to a high-speed train.

BoatTEST's US test boat was heavier, at an estimated 121,907 pounds with four people, 43 percent fuel and a Seakeeper 16 aboard, and it reached 22.2 knots at 2,300 rpm while burning 87.7 gph. Its sweet spot is broad: from 1,750 to 2,300 rpm the boat ran 14.2 to 22.2 knots at about 0.3 nautical miles per gallon. Slow to 8 knots and fuel burn drops to 10.5 gph for a theoretical 637 nautical miles. With the gyro switched off, roll increased from about 2 degrees each side to 7 or 8.

The difference between the two top speeds is mostly load. Expect a real-world fast cruise of 17 to 21 knots at 64 to 79 gph, and plan Bahamas crossings around roughly 225 to 260 nautical miles of usable range with a reserve.

Does the IPS1350 upgrade matter on a used boat?

Standard power was a pair of IPS1200 pods with 900 hp D13 diesels; 1,000 hp IPS1350s were optional. MBY's tester argued the extra 50,000 euros was better spent on the hardtop because the gain in day-to-day performance is small, and Yachting's brokerage write-up of a 2023 boat with the bigger engines quoted a top speed just over 25 knots, very close to MBY's IPS1200 number. On the used market, condition and hours matter more than the engine label.

What does matter is the pod service history. Bellows, anodes and drive oil on IPS units need regular attention, and a 68 that has lived in Florida water should show annual haul-outs. The engine room is reachable through a cockpit hatch or the crew cabin door and has near-standing headroom, so inspections are easy.

Navetta 68 or the Navetta 70 that replaced it

The Navetta 70 premiered at Cannes in 2024 as the official replacement. It keeps the galley-aft salon, adds the reverse-raked transom with a glass balustrade that Absolute now uses across the range, moves to IPS1350 power and swaps the 68's raised master for a forward owner's cabin with a forward-facing bed and a VIP in the full-beam amidships slot. If you want the newest styling and warranty, the 70 is the answer; if you want the 68's unusual half-deck master and a lower price, a used 68 is the value play.

Absolute also builds the Navetta 75, which shares the same raised-bow-master idea at a larger scale. Do not confuse any of these with the Absolute 70 Fly, a sportier flybridge from the builder's other range.