Ferretti 960 Specs, Performance and Ownership Guide

A 96-footer that measures like an 80-footer

The Ferretti 960 was presented in June 2013 as the largest planing yacht Ferretti Yachts had ever built, and its whole concept rests on a piece of rule-craft. Ferretti engineers wanted a yacht that the European CE system would still treat as a pleasure boat, so no professional crew would be mandated, while offering features buyers normally find on boats over 100 feet.

The answer was to keep the hull of the 881, the previous flagship, and extend the boat aft. Power and Motoryacht reported that the 960 measures 78 feet 9 inches from the forward collision bulkhead to the aft engine-room bulkhead, and everything outside those points is new. The result is 29.20 meters (95 feet 10 inches) overall with a hull length of 23.98 meters, just under the 24 meter line. Yachting summed it up as a 96-footer that measures as an 80-footer.

It was also the first new model after the Ferretti Group's restructuring, when Weichai took a 75 percent stake, and it was the brand's first planing yacht with the master forward on the main deck.

The flooding garage that won over the skeptics

The headline feature is at the stern. The garage door carries a set of sun pads that turn it into a chaise lounge over the water. Press a button and the swim platform drops to half depth as a bathing step; press again and it lowers fully while the tender cradle tilts, partially flooding the garage so a jet tender of about 4.5 meters floats off with help from a winch. Underway, the water drains through four flapper valves without pumps.

That sounds alarming until you learn that the hull ends at the watertight aft engine-room bulkhead and the garage is a separate module. A manual hydraulic pump can raise the platform if the electrics fail. Power and Motoryacht's tester called it the coolest garage and tender system he had seen on a boat under 100 feet. The test boat carried a Williams turbojet, and Yachting noted that a 15-foot Williams diesel jet fits and that a hose refueling system was available.

Raised pilothouse, main-deck master and four matching guest cabins

Ferretti chose to offer the 960 only with a raised pilothouse helm, reached by stairs from the starboard lobby, which freed the main deck for a large salon. Facing sofas create what Ferretti called a lobby area aft, a bar sits in the aft port corner, and forward is a Bonaldo glass-topped dining table that extends to seat 12. Bulwarks are cut down amidships so seated guests can see the water, and full-height side windows could be swapped for sliding glass doors to the side decks.

The galley is forward to port with direct access to the side deck and to the crew quarters below, so service never crosses guest areas. The master suite occupies the bow on the main deck with a walk-in closet, and the forward bathroom could be specified with a large shower, a tub or both. Multilayer composite bulkheads isolate it from the galley.

Below, four guest cabins of nearly identical size share a lobby. The forward two have single berths that slide together into doubles, and the aft two have queen beds. Three crew cabins sit forward with their own access.

• Main-deck master forward with walk-in closet
• Four equal guest cabins below, two convertible twins and two queens
• Three crew cabins accessed from the galley
• Ferretti's sheet lists 20 people on board and 6 bathrooms

What the 960 did on the run to La Spezia

Power and Motoryacht ran a 960 with the largest engine option, twin 2,638 mhp MTU 16V 2000s, from Santa Margherita to La Spezia in 2- to 4-foot following seas with nine people and 890 gallons of fuel aboard. It recorded a one-way top speed of 31.7 knots at 2,450 rpm, 0.7 knots better than the builder's prediction. At 1,800 rpm the boat made 21.6 knots burning just under 131 gallons per hour, and at 2,000 rpm it ran 25.6 knots at just over 165 gallons per hour.

Sound levels at 2,000 rpm were 66 decibels in the pilothouse and the master and 75 in the salon. Yachting's own test, also on the top engines, saw 32 knots wide open and measured 77 decibels at that speed, with the yacht shrugging off 3-foot waves and its own wake. The engines sit about 4 feet apart, and bow and stern thrusters were fitted.

Engine room, stabilizer and engine options

Ferretti offered three ratings of the MTU 16V 2000 with V-drives. Its later technical sheet lists 2,217 mhp (26.5 knots top, 23 cruise, 315 miles), 2,435 mhp (28 and 24 knots, 308 miles) and 2,638 mhp (30 and 26 knots, 300 miles). Ferretti expected most buyers to choose the largest engines.

The engine room lost the separate engineers' room of older Ferretti flagships to make space for the garage, but Power and Motoryacht found a walkway more than 3.5 feet wide between the mains, access all the way around both engines, and gensets placed so they could be removed through soft patches. An ARG gyroscopic stabilizer was standard and sits under the centerline walkway. Engine-room access is also possible from astern through a watertight door under the swim platform steps.

Fuel, crew and the real annual bill

Using the trial figures, a 960 cruising at about 21.6 knots burns roughly 131 gallons per hour, so a 100 mile passage costs around 600 gallons of diesel. Ferretti's quoted ranges of 300 to 315 nautical miles from 2,378 gallons line up with those numbers once a reserve is held back.

Although the boat was designed so a crew is not legally required under CE rules, almost every owner runs it with a captain and at least two crew. Plan on $600,000 to $1 million a year before fuel for crew, insurance, dockage for a 96-foot yacht, MTU service, gyro service, bottom work and tender upkeep.

Buying a Ferretti 960 for sale today

The 960 stayed on Ferretti's website into 2020, after the 920 had arrived below it, and the Ferretti Yachts 1000 took over as flagship when its first hull launched in 2021. Neither model replaced the 960 directly, because the 920 and later 940 moved to a widebody concept with no side decks, while the 960 keeps proper walkaround decks and high bulwarks.

Supply is limited and international. Early boats from 2013 and 2014 sit at the bottom of the market, and later hulls with the 2,638 mhp engines, updated electronics and a documented garage system command the most. Compare candidates on engine hours, the date of the last MTU major service and whether the interior has been refreshed, rather than on model year alone.

881, 960 and 920, how the family fits together

The 881 donated the bottom: according to Power and Motoryacht it had about 56 launches behind it when the 960 appeared, which is why Ferretti called the new boat the 881's legitimate heir. The 920 of 2017 is a different hull with higher forward freeboard and a widebody superstructure. If you want the master on the main deck, the 920 gives you more width in that suite, while the 960 gives you a more classic profile, side decks and its trick garage.