Pershing 9X Review, Price and Specs

Pershing's maxi coupe idea

The Pershing 9X is what happens when a builder famous for fast open yachts decides to go big and stay fast. Pershing describes it as a revolutionary maxi coupe, built in carbon fiber with vinyl ester and epoxy resins, and it followed the 54-foot 5X, which launched the X Generation in 2016, before the 8X, 7X and 6X arrived. At 92 feet 2 inches overall, it is the largest X model and the closest Pershing gets to a superyacht experience without giving up the rooster tail.

Yachting summed up the type well: 40-plus-knot performance delivered with rooster-tail ostentation, for blasting to the best lunch spot ahead of the pack and still being first back to the dock on a Sunday evening. That is the mission. If you want a quiet displacement cruiser, look elsewhere. If you want to cover 100 miles between breakfast and lunch in a yacht that sleeps eight guests, very little else does it as well.

A hull with 30 years of Pershing lineage

The 9X hull was developed from the Pershing 92, which in turn evolved from the 90 and the 88, so it carries a long lineage of high-speed open yachts. Fulvio De Simoni, who has styled every Pershing since 1985, drew the exterior, with signature side wings and a low, aggressive profile. Laden displacement is 83,600 kg, about 184,300 pounds, on a 21-meter waterline and a 6.23-meter beam.

Yachting found that the 9X handled as precisely as smaller Pershings despite weighing around 165,000 pounds in test trim. Pershing offers a Xenta electro-hydraulic joystick that, above 8 knots, lets the skipper steer the yacht with a twist of the fingers, a feature the tester found immensely satisfying. Twin Seakeeper 9 gyros were his must-have option for comfort at anchor.

43 knots off La Spezia, and what it burns

Power is a pair of MTU 16V 2000 M96L diesels at 2,638 hp each, driving Top System surface drives. Pershing quotes 42 knots maximum, a 38-knot cruise and 380 nautical miles of range at cruise. In Yachting's test off La Spezia, with 11 people, a third of the fuel, half the water and a full garage, the boat reached 43 knots in flat calm.

At a 38-knot cruise the engines turned 2,250 rpm and burned 110 gph each, 220 gph in total, for a range of almost 370 nm with a 10 percent reserve. At full throttle consumption was about 6.3 gallons per nautical mile. Throttle back to around 750 rpm and the 9X settles into a 10-knot cruise good for roughly 900 nautical miles, which opens up long positioning runs on the 9,000-liter tank.

The plume behind a 9X at speed can top 30 feet. It is spectacular to watch, and it is also a reminder that surface drives are optimized for high speed. Owners who mostly cruise slowly should consider whether a conventional pod or shaft boat fits better.

Two helms, a sun deck and a big garage

The lower helm shields the skipper from wind and noise, with a Poltrona Frau leather station and integrated propulsion, navigation and monitoring systems. The flybridge helm is open to the elements, and the sun deck adds a lounge dinette and sunpad. Unlike the 8X, the 9X has its flybridge stairs built solidly into the superstructure, which costs some aft-deck space but feels more substantial.

The garage under the stern sunpad takes a tender and a toy. Yachting's test boat carried the largest Williams that fits, a Turbojet 385, alongside a Sea-Doo. For a Bahamas or Mediterranean program, that garage is a major reason to choose the 9X over smaller Pershings.

• Lower helm with Poltrona Frau leather and integrated controls
• Open flybridge helm plus sun deck dinette and sunpad
• Garage for a Williams Turbojet 385 and a PWC
• Galley on the lower deck doubles as crew mess

Three or four staterooms, and a crew-run galley

Owners choose between three and four guest staterooms. The four-cabin plan puts the master amidships, a VIP forward with a diagonal berth and two guest cabins between, with berths that convert from twins to doubles. The companionway is off center, so the starboard guest cabin is slightly larger than the port one. Pershing lists two crew cabins as standard, and a 2022 boat on the brokerage market was set up for eight guests plus three crew.

The galley is on the lower deck, reached by a dogleg stair from the port corner of the saloon, and doubles as the crew mess. This is a crewed yacht layout. Interiors are crisp and contemporary, and Yachting's test boat paired ebony and whitened oak with Poltrona Frau furniture and Fendi Casa cushions. The tester's one complaint was a chaise in the master that did not suit his 6-foot-6-inch frame.

The true cost of running a 92-foot performance yacht

Budget roughly $850,000 to $1.4 million a year to run a 9X, excluding depreciation. A captain, engineer or mate and a stew are normal, plus insurance on a high-value high-speed hull, dockage for 92 feet, MTU and surface drive service and fuel. At 220 gph, ten hours at cruise uses 2,200 gallons, and a season of 300 hours can put fuel alone well into six figures.

Remember also that a 92-footer crosses thresholds that an 84-footer may not, from slip availability in popular marinas to crew numbers. Many owners find the jump from an 8X to a 9X costs more per year than the price difference suggests.

Buying a used 9X

Used 9Xs are scarce and trade mostly through large brokerages. In 2026 expect early boats from 2018 and 2019 to ask about $6.8 million to $8.3 million, with later boats rising toward $9.6 million and nearly new boats above $10 million. A 2022 boat listed at $8.75 million with a transferable MTU warranty to 2027 and recent 500-hour services shows how documentation is marketed.

Have a composite specialist survey the carbon structure, and an MTU technician review both engines with full data downloads. Surface drive wear, steering hydraulics and the integrated control systems need equal attention. Ask how the boat was shipped or delivered, because several 9Xs have traveled as deck cargo to owners overseas.