Ferretti 870 Specs, Performance and Used Market Guide

The Ferretti 870 as Ferretti's E-Class

When the Ferretti 870 made its debut at the Cannes boat show in September 2012, the same year China's Weichai Group bought into the Ferretti Group, the yard's engineering chief Andrea Frabetti compared it to a Mercedes E-Class: midrange and traditional, aimed at experienced owners who already know what they want. The berth next door held the much more avant-garde Ferretti 800, with its open-plan galley and showpiece owner's bathroom. The 870 was the opposite, a formal yacht designed to be run by crew while guests stay undisturbed.

Power and Motoryacht's preview pitched it as following in the wake of the popular Ferretti 830, and like that boat it came from the three-way partnership of Studio Zuccon International Project, AYT (Ferretti Group's research and naval design center) and the Centro Stile Ferretti Group. It is 87 feet 5 inches long with a 20-foot 6-inch beam and a 6-foot 5-inch draft.

Bronze dome, gills and a cut-down gunwale

The styling cues are easy to spot. A bronze-colored dome caps the navigation bridge, there are the shark-gill vents shared with Ferretti's other boats of that era, and the gunwale drops at the dining table so the view from the table is as deep as the window. Yachting pointed out that this lower gunwale, normally seen on much bigger yachts, also makes the profile look longer and sleeker.

Glazing runs along the whole main deck and down into the hull at cabin level. The master has two opening hull windows, the guest cabins gained large windows with opening ports, and the VIP in the bow has two windows of its own.

A layout that keeps crew and guests apart

On the main deck the galley is large and enclosed, and the wheelhouse is separate. The key is a portside door that lets crew reach the wheelhouse, galley and side deck without passing through any guest space. Interior finishes on the test boat were walnut-stained oak with stainless steel and leather details, and headroom in guest areas is 6 feet 6 inches or more. Hull No. 1's owner added Poltrona Frau sofas, a Desalto coffee table and Calligaris chairs around an OmniDecor dining table.

The cockpit is enormous, bigger than the salon by PMY's account, with a teak table for six to eight and a bar unit to port of the glazed salon door. There are two ways up to the flybridge: the obvious cockpit stair and a slim interior companionway. Even with a tender stowed across its aft end the flybridge has room for a crowd, and the side decks to the foredeck lounge are wide and secure. The hardtop was an expensive option that PMY thought worth the money.

A bed that faces the sunrise, and two VIPs

The master amidships is arranged so the owner can lie in bed and look out of the hull windows at sunrise and sunset. The bathroom runs across the aft bulkhead with the walk-in wardrobe, which doubles as sound insulation from the engine room. The berth is 6 feet wide and almost 7 feet long, with a desk and dressing table to port and a chaise longue to starboard.

Two other staterooms are close to equal in size, so either could be called the VIP. The one to port has a double that splits into two singles; the one in the bow has a conventional island double and the better windows. A twin cabin to starboard is noticeably smaller but still bright. Crew reach their quarters and the engine room from a companionway on the port side of the cockpit: a single cabin, a twin-bunk cabin, a small dinette, a head and space for a washer and dryer.

Sea trial in a post-gale chop

PMY tested the first 870 at the Cannes show the evening after a gale, in a 3 to 4-foot leftover chop, with 1,030 gallons of fuel, 15 people and 800 pounds of gear aboard. The boat had the larger 1,947-hp MTU 12V 2000 M94s, ZF 2075 gearboxes at 2.467:1 and five-blade Teignbridge propellers, plus ZF SteerCommand steering that lets the yard tune each rudder independently. It reached 31.1 knots at 2,450 rpm and stayed flat through tight turns.

The full curve is useful for planning. At 2,000 rpm the 870 made 23.9 knots on 125 gallons per hour with a 336-mile range; at 2,250 rpm, 28.4 knots on 168 gallons per hour; and at 1,000 rpm, 10.6 knots on just over 17 gallons per hour for more than 1,000 miles. Sound readings ran from 53 dB(A) at 1,000 rpm to 72 dB(A) at full throttle. Ferretti quotes 27 knots cruise and 30.5 knots top with the M94s, with 358 miles at cruise.

Owning a Ferretti 870 today

The 870 was built for only a few years, from 2012 until the 850 and the larger 960 reshaped the top of Ferretti's flybridge range around 2016, so used boats are rarer than 830s or 850s, and the listings we found were all in Europe. Recent European listings for 2012 and 2013 boats sit around 2.7 to 2.8 million euros. In the US, expect roughly $2.5 million to $3.7 million depending on year, engines and refit history.

With 1,955 gallons of fuel, 19-kW and 17.5-kW generators and a crew of three, this is a fully crewed yacht. Annual costs of about $290,000 to $500,000 in US waters are realistic before depreciation. The big-ticket items to plan for are MTU major services, electronics replacement on a boat now more than ten years old, and soft goods and teak renewal.

• Best buy: a later boat with M94s and documented MTU top-end service
• Check whether a hardtop was fitted; retrofits are costly
• Ask what stabilization is fitted and request its service history