Ferretti 690 Review, Layouts and Used Values

What Ferretti meant by its largest small yacht

Ferretti marketed the 690 as its largest small yacht, and the phrase explains the boat. At 69 feet 2 inches it is about as big as most people want to run without a full-time captain, yet it carries a crew cabin, four-cabin option and the volume of a true motor yacht. It premiered in 2012, was one of the stars of the Cannes show that autumn according to Motor Boat and Yachting, and stayed in the range until 2015, when the Ferretti 700 took over the slot.

Zuccon International Project, the Rome studio behind most Ferretti styling of that era, drew both the exterior and the interior, and the hull came from the group's AYT engineering team. Power and Motoryacht's first impression was that its lines were so sleek it looked more like an express cruiser than a flybridge, because the bridge stretches far aft over the cockpit and the profile stays low. Allied Marine has described the main deck as markedly wider than the Ferretti 660 it followed.

A naming note for used-boat shoppers: the Ferretti 690 is not the Altura 690, a different 68-foot 11-inch Ferretti model from the separate Altura line built between about 2006 and 2010. Listings sometimes blur the two.

An aft galley that can close or open

The salon is a single open space with the galley aft by the cockpit doors. It can be fully enclosed with movable screens, which Allied Marine describes as a vertically sliding glass partition, or ordered open for owners who cook for their own guests. A serving counter opens to the cockpit so food and drinks pass straight to the outside table. Forward of that, an expanding glass table and settee form the dining area, with a small glass desk and stools opposite the two-seat helm.

Yachting's tester called the salon light, airy and well planned, with strongly grained oak and neutral fabrics, and a single complaint: an exterior styling molding partly blocks the outside view. Stowage is good, with dedicated cutlery and crockery drawers. The lower helm has a vertical wheel best suited to stand-up driving, two Simrad displays and separate engine and systems screens.

Three cabins or four below

Every 690 has a full-beam master amidships with huge hull windows, a head in the starboard aft corner and a walk-in closet to port. Those two spaces, plus full-width crew quarters farther aft, act as a sound barrier against the engine room, a point Power and Motoryacht also singled out. A VIP sits in the bow.

The difference lies amidships. With four cabins, two twin cabins sit side by side, their beds can slide together into doubles, and they share one head; Yachting found stairways and passageways tight in this version. With three, the starboard guest cabin becomes considerably larger, the stairs get wider, and every cabin has its own bath. Headroom averages 6 feet 6 inches, a little less in parts of the center cabins. Unless you need eight berths, the three-cabin layout is the better boat and the easier resale.

Close to 35 knots and a driver's helm

Engine choices varied over the run and by market. Yachting's test boat had MTU 8V 2000 M94s of 1,268 hp, with 1,102 hp M84s listed as standard; Power and Motoryacht described 1,200 hp MAN V8s pushing the boat toward 32 knots with a 27-knot cruise, and YachtBuyer lists MAN V8-1000 and V8-1200 options. All drive conventional shafts through ZF V-drives. Check the documentation on any boat you view, because engine type affects both value and service support.

On the prototype Yachting saw a top speed close to 35 knots, in a confused 4-foot leftover swell. The tester felt the chine flats slap with the helm directly above the impact point, but found the ride smoothed out at 25 knots and that rolling was minimal at planing speed even with the gyros off. The ZF gearboxes whined intermittently, something the tester had heard on other boats with the same units. Allied Marine quotes 33 knots top and a 28-knot cruise for its 2015 MTU M94 listing.

Ferretti built in several clever driving aids: differential steering that angles each rudder independently so the boat does not heel steeply in turns, ZF electric self-centering with real feel, a trim tab indicator showing the recommended setting for each speed, and a fuel meter that reads in gallons per mile rather than per hour. The flybridge helm is exposed to wind at speed; the tester preferred the lower station.

Flybridge, foredeck and the hidden tender crane

The flybridge has a large sun bed forward of the helm and a C-shaped settee, dining table, bar and barbecue aft, with room for a second generator below thanks to a generous engine room. On the prototype, the radar sat at the base of the mast where people and furniture would block it; Ferretti planned to raise it on later boats, so check where it sits on the boat you are viewing.

The tender lives on the swim platform, launched by a crane hidden behind the cockpit settee, and the aft part of the platform lowers as a swim step. A sun pad with adjustable backrests occupies the foredeck.

Owning a 690 in 2026

These boats are now 11 to 14 years old. Expect asking prices from about $1.25 million to just under $2 million depending on year, layout, engines and refits. The MTU 8V 2000 is well supported in Florida and the Northeast, and MAN service is equally easy to find. Typical upgrades already done on good examples include Seakeeper retrofits, new electronics and replaced upholstery.

No independent fuel curve has been published in the US press, so we do not quote one; plan on burn in the range of other 1,100 to 1,270 hp twin-engine 70-footers. Annual budgets of $160,000 to $280,000 cover dockage, insurance, engine and generator servicing, bottom work and a part-time captain.