Astondoa 72 GLX Flybridge, Specs, Price and Buying Guide

Astondoa 72: two different yachts behind one name

Ask a broker about the Astondoa 72 and the first question back should be which one. Astondoa built a 72 GLX flybridge in its first generation, which YachtBuyer dates from 1997 to 2006 with the first boats leaving the line around 2000, and then a substantially new 72 GLX edition that American magazines tested in 2013 and YachtBuyer lists as built through 2018. Yachting's review called the 2013 boat a new GLX edition with marked differences from the earlier model, most visibly a squared-off bow and a new propulsion package with reduced draft.

This guide focuses on that second-generation boat, because it is the one most US shoppers searching for an Astondoa 72 will find on the market, and it is the one with published specs and test data. The older boats get their own advice at the end. Do not mix their numbers: the first generation is a different hull and interior, and is priced far lower today.

A century-old Spanish yard and a custom process

Astondoa was founded in 1916 by the brothers Jesús and José Astondoa Martínez in a carpenter's workshop in Portugalete, building rowing boats, and moved into fiberglass production in the early 1980s. Today the family-run yard sits on the seafront at Santa Pola near Alicante, and Power and Motoryacht reported that nearly 4,000 Astondoa boats had been launched by 2013.

What made the 72 GLX interesting to American testers was how much Astondoa builds itself. PMY described a company that owns a large furniture business, its own five-axis CNC router able to make molds up to about 90 feet, and a stockpile of Burmese teak, and that sells each boat as effectively custom: designer Cristiano Gatto sits with the owner to work through the layout and finishes, and the yard produces photographic renderings before building. The builder argued it could match Sunseeker and Azimut prices with higher quality because it cut out middlemen.

The square bow and its transforming foredeck

The squared-off bow is the second generation's signature, and Yachting explained why it matters. Instead of a single sunpad on the trunk cabin, the foredeck becomes a full guest area. With everything flat, it is a split sunpad for two or three people on each side of a center aisle. Raise some of the six integral backrests and you have chaises; raise them all and lift the two center sections, and it becomes alfresco dining for six.

Ahead of it, a raised platform carries the windlass, capstans and bitts, out of guests' way. Behind it, an athwartships passage acts as a Portuguese bridge to the side decks and a pantograph door into the lower helm, so crew can reach the bow without crossing the salon.

An Opacmare door that opens the whole salon

The aft salon door is a three-panel Opacmare unit in polished stainless steel and tinted glass. In bad weather one panel swings like a normal door; in good weather the other two fold accordion style against the opposite side, opening nearly the full width of the salon to the aft deck. The cockpit and salon soles are flush, with a teak grating at the threshold to catch water.

Inside, the 2013 boat Yachting tested was finished in white and tan with no clutter, with a sofa for four, loose armchairs and a pop-up television. One step up is a glass dining table for eight beside the lower helm, with a compact galley opposite fitted with AEG refrigerator, freezer, wine cooler, induction cooktop and oven. PMY measured 6 feet 10 inches of headroom on the main deck and noted that its test boat's owners had added cabinetry that partly blocked sightlines from the lower helm, a reminder that custom touches vary from boat to boat.

Four staterooms and a full-beam master with a view

A wide stairway leads to four staterooms. The full-beam master amidships has a king berth, a chaise lounge and an en suite to port behind double sliding doors, with long hull windows including a three-section center panel. With the head doors open, Yachting said it felt like an on-deck stateroom. The VIP forward has an island queen berth and triple hull windows with opening center sections. Two twin cabins at the foot of the stairs have en suite heads with rainfall showers, opening ports and louvered locker doors.

A crew cabin with head sits abaft the engine room, outboard of the tender garage, reached by a ladder under the flybridge stairs that also leads to the electrical panels and the engine room. The yacht can be owner operated, but the layout supports a captain.

MAN V12s on the test sheet

PMY's 2013 test boat ran twin MAN V12-1224 diesels through ZF 550 A gears and four-blade Radice propellers. With 850 gallons of fuel, 350 gallons of water and two people aboard on Biscayne Bay, it reached a two-way average of 25.4 knots at 2,300 rpm on 116 gph. At 2,000 rpm it ran 20.8 knots on 74 gph, and the jump from 1,500 to 2,000 rpm took it from 10.7 to 20.8 knots briskly. The tester found it surprisingly agile through S-turns at 22 knots.

Astondoa offered twin MAN V12-1360s, with a reported 28-knot cruise and 32 knots flat out, and a triple Volvo Penta IPS1200 package. Engine room headroom was about 6 feet 3 inches, with big blowers for ventilation, though the entry under the bridge stairs is tight. Yachting measured 76 decibels in the salon and 72 in the dining area at cruise with the aft doors open, low enough for easy conversation.

• Top speed 25.4 knots, two-way average, MAN V12-1224s (PMY)
• 20.8 knots at 74 gph, PMY range figure 294 nm
• Reported 32 knots top with optional MAN V12-1360s
• Draft 4 feet 6 inches, fuel 1,162 gallons

A flybridge that shades the whole aft deck

The upper deck extends all the way aft to cover the cockpit, and PMY noted it was larger than the bridge on Astondoa's discontinued 82-footer. Layouts were customizable; Yachting's boat had a C-shaped dinette for eight to starboard, a dry bar to port, a grill and wet bar aft, a forward sunpad and open space for loungers. The hardtop shades nearly all of it but has a large retractable section, and a discreet ladder behind the dinette gives safe access to mast lights and antennas.

Throughout, Yachting praised the absence of sharp corners and the sensible sizing of dining areas, details that point to a builder whose designers use boats at sea.

Buying an Astondoa 72 by generation

Second-generation boats, built from about 2013 to 2018, are the ones most often seen in Florida, where Flagship Marine Group in Coconut Grove represented the brand. A 2013 example was recently asked at 1,699,000 dollars. Expect values of roughly 1.45 to 1.8 million dollars depending on engines, hours and refit work. Check which engine package the boat has, since MAN 1360s and triple IPS change both performance and maintenance.

First-generation 72 GLX boats from around 2000 to 2006 trade far lower; a 2002 boat in Mallorca was listed at 549,000 euros. They can be good value for a refit project, but budget for engine, electrical and interior work on a hull now more than 20 years old, and remember most are in Europe and may not be duty-paid in the US. Today Astondoa's flybridge range has moved on to the 66 Flybridge and the AS series, so parts and support for either generation run through the factory in Santa Pola and its dealers.