Saxdor 340 GTWA Review, the Walkaround Pilothouse With Balconies

Why Saxdor built a walkaround pilothouse

The Saxdor 340 GTWA started life as a rumor. In May 2024 Saxdor said it would build a walkaround version of its popular 320, to be called the 320 GTWA, with a slimmer wheelhouse, a reverse-angled windscreen and side decks instead of the full-beam pilothouse of the 320 GTC. By the time it was unveiled later that year it had grown to 34 feet in name and 35 feet 4 inches overall, so it became the 340 GTWA. The WA stands for walkaround, and it is the first wheelhouse walkaround in Saxdor's fleet.

It hit the right note quickly. The 340 GTWA was named European Powerboat of the Year 2025 in the up to 14 meter class and won Best for Adventure at the 2025 Best of Boats awards. It made its American debut at the 2025 Palm Beach boat show, and in 2026 Motor Boat & Yachting tested it head to head against the best-selling 320 GTC and chose the 340.

Saxdor itself has changed since. Founder Sakari Mattila, who previously helped start Aquador, Axopar and XO, sold the company to Malibu Boats in March 2026. Smaller models such as this one are built in Poland, with the largest models built in Finland.

Side terraces and side decks on the same boat

Saxdor bills the 340 as the only wheelhouse walkaround of its size with large side terraces, and that combination is its party trick. Narrowing the pilothouse makes room for walkways that are wide enough for most people to move forward without squeezing, and the drop-down terraces are slightly longer than the 320's and positioned further forward, straddling the cockpit and the salon. Fold them down and the big sliding side doors of the pilothouse open straight onto them, so the salon becomes part of the deck.

The cockpit is different from most boats this size. Instead of a bench across the transom there is a glass balustrade with opening gates on both sides, flanked by thick bulwarks holding fender storage, shore power, a transom shower and a wet bar with sink and an optional grill. In the middle is a raised sunpad for two with a lumbar backrest, which doubles as the roof of the optional aft cabin. Motor Boat & Yachting would like to see an aft-facing bench molded into that sunpad; Power & Motoryacht simply loved the terraces.

Forward of the pilothouse, the bow carries a U-shaped lounge for up to six around a table that drops to make a large sunpad, a sociable second space that the 320 GTC cannot match.

Inside the wheelhouse

The pilothouse is narrower than the 320 GTC's, but because the cooking is outside, all of the interior goes to seating. There is a full-width bench aft for three or four, and the test boat had the optional helm bench rather than individual seat pods. Reverse its backrest and drop the port bolster and it seats three more facing aft across a drop-down table, for up to seven at dinner. A slide-down glazing panel above the aft bench, the sliding side doors, a sunroof and a reverse-angled windscreen keep it bright and airy.

Motor Boat & Yachting rated the helm absolutely first-class, with superior visibility and a bench that folds out into the starboard side deck for joystick docking. Power & Motoryacht noted nearly 360-degree sightlines, twin Simrad screens, an adjustable wheel and a Navico-developed app for monitoring systems from a phone. The one complaint: digital trim tabs accessed through the multifunction display, which Motor Boat & Yachting would swap for a simple manual switch.

Two cabins in 35 feet

The bow cabin has a double berth, a port changing seat and an open-plan head to starboard that shuts away behind hinged concertina panels. Larger skylights and a port window make it brighter than the 320's, though Power & Motoryacht found storage limited.

The optional aft cabin is the reason many buyers choose the 340. It is reached by lifting a cushion in the pilothouse bench or through a hatch in the cockpit sunpad, it has windows on three sides with a view aft through the glass balustrade, and there is enough headroom for two people to sit up in bed and read. Power & Motoryacht saw it as twin berths for kids or extra stowage. With both cabins, the 340 sleeps four, which no open 33-footer in Saxdor's range can do.

Fifty knots, and efficient at 30

Power is a pair of Mercury outboards. Saxdor's European base price uses twin 250 hp V8s, and its spec sheet covers 500 to 700 hp; the boats tested in the US and UK had twin 300 hp V8 Verados, and Power & Motoryacht mentions smaller 200 hp Mercurys as an option in the US.

With twin 300s, Power & Motoryacht quotes 51 knots top and a cruise anywhere from 20 to 40 knots. Motor Boat & Yachting measured almost 50 knots, a flat jump onto plane in three seconds and 0 to 40 knots in ten seconds. Between 22 and 32 knots it burned about 2.4 liters per nautical mile, good for around 160 nautical miles of range, and the boat felt willing to plane from as little as 10 knots. Noise was 1 to 2 dB(A) lower than the V6-powered 320 GTC throughout the cruise band.

The twin-step, 21-degree hull is the same family as the 320's, and testers found it soft and reasonably dry despite a slender, steep-sided bow. Compared with the livelier 320, the 340 feels more composed and refined.

• Top speed: about 50 knots (MBY), 51 knots (P&MY), twin 300s
• 0 to 40 knots: 10 seconds (MBY)
• Economy: about 2.4 liters per nm from 22 to 32 knots
• Range: about 160 nm at cruise
• Fuel: 480 liters (126.8 gallons), plus 25 liters of diesel for the heater

Is the 340 worth the premium over a 320?

Motor Boat & Yachting's head-to-head put the 340 GTWA only 7 percent above the 320 GTC in base form and 11 percent above it as tested. For that, you get easier movement around the boat, an extra cabin, more speed and a calmer ride with nearly the same efficiency. Their verdict was that if you can stomach the extra cost, the 340 is the better boat. We agree, with one caveat: if you want a big inside galley and maximum interior volume, the 320 GTC's full-beam wheelhouse still has more room inside.

Ownership costs are those of a twin-outboard 35-footer: about $18,000 to $36,000 a year for engine service, insurance, a slip, the diesel heater and electronics, plus fuel. The 2025 awards and the Malibu deal should support resale.