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Pershing 8X review: Italian stallion strikes a fine balance between space and speed

• The Pershing 8X achieved a top speed of 48.3 knots on test

Deep-vee hull still delivers high cornering speeds and dramatic angles of lean

The 8X’s extra beam is apparent from the spacious cockpit and sidedecks. Note how the glass saloon doors drop into the deck

Long overhang and tall coamings makes for a well-protected cockpit

• No sign of compromise in the luxurious saloon and dining area
• Visibility is good - including through the sunroof in hard turns!
• It has the length-beam ratio you would expect in a flybridge cruiser, with 5,276hp in its engineroom. This is not normal
• Elegant flybridge stairs are imtegrated into the curved pillar supports

Compact flybridge sits in a recess to lower its visual impact

• Full beam owner’s cabin makes the most of the extra width
• Ensuite bathroom is a temple of modern luxury
• The VIP suite’s location in the bow necessitates quite a tall bed
• The VIP bathroom
• One of the two twin guest cabins boasting wider beds and more space between them

Twin 2,638hp MTU engines feed their power through automated surface drives

• Superyachts

Luxury and engine power both demand acres of space, but performance boats need to be slender. Can Pershing’s latest creation pull off the ultimate spatial compromise?

The proof of the Pershing is in the handling. Few shipyards set quite so much store in their boats’ ability to corner with the kind of competence that raises the hairs on the back of your neck.

The trouble is, reputations can be lost as well as gained: just one new model whose talents are judged to be less than sparkling can undo all the respect so hard-won by its predecessors.

Pershing is not unique in this, of course. But it is unique in its efforts to yoke together high-tech sportsboat speed and handling with high-end Italian luxury. And it’s a task that is not getting any easier.

In its new Pershing 8X, the Ancona shipyard has faced up to the classic quandary that has exercised every yacht designer who has ever tried to get to grips with the problem of how to make a fast yacht luxurious – and vice versa.

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Luxury means comfort, and comfort requires space. Performance means power, and power – big engines, big tanks – needs space too. But you can’t just make a hull that’s voluminous enough to accommodate all these conflicting demands, because performance hulls have to be slender, and high-volume hulls don’t handle.

Or so they say – it seems that Pershing’s designers now beg to differ. The Pershing 82 , which this new model seems destined to replace in the product range, was 18ft 1in (5.50m) in the beam. The 8X is a couple of feet longer but a full 14in wider, at 19ft 3in (5.86m).

Article continues below…

Pershing 9X test

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That’s the sort of length-beam ratio you would expect to find in a family flybridge cruiser – except the Pershing 8X packs 5,276hp in its engineroom and has a pair of Top System surface drives sticking out at the back. This is not normal.

Size matters

The idea, of course, is to make the accommodation areas larger and more luxurious. The extra width is used to good effect on the main deck, where the saloon feels nice and wide even without compromising the side decks, as happened on the Pershing 82.

Perhaps the most spectacular improvement, however, is the cunningly concealed flybridge companionway inside that curved carbon coaming on the port side. The 82’s arrangement – a set of folding steps that dropped down from the deckhead – was less alliterative as well as less convenient.

Down below, the obvious place to look for extra width is in the gaps between the berths in the twin guest cabins. The berths themselves are also wider, as well as longer, and it’s the same story in the VIP and master suites . Headroom has been raised too.

The improved master suite layout in the Pershing 8X, making proper use of the visual qualities of an open, full-beam cabin, adds significantly to the sense of space on the lower deck. Like its predecessor, the 8X is available with a choice of one or two twin-berth guest cabins.

Significant extra width has the potential to create significant extra weight, which was obviously not an option in this case: the Pershing 8X simply had to perform at least as well as the 82, and there was no more horsepower available in the MTU 2000 series footprint.

So the superstructure is made entirely of lightweight carbon fibre, the mouldings are created from vacuum-infused epoxy resin instead of vinylester, and although a substantially bigger boat it comes out just 700kg heavier.

The hull form is a constant-deadrise, 20° deep-V – similar to the 82’s, with most of the extra beam going into wide chine flats that fill out amidships and carry on aft. So, in theory at least, the Pershing 8X will have the incisive seakeeping of a capable offshore boat , ironing out the chop, while extra lift from the broad chines should help with straight-line speed at the expense, perhaps, of cornering precision.

We put theory into practice on a balmy spring day off Fano, on the Italian Adriatic coast not far from Pershing’s Ancona shipyard. The new-generation 8X is loaded with electronic aids.

Surface-drive boats are often a handful for the helmsman – the racing boats for which they were originally designed had a two-person crew – and modern technology can ease the workload for leisure users, ensuring that drive trim is optimised for best speed and fuel consumption.

For the 8X, Pershing has worked with Xenta and Top System to produce a single-control interface that allows for joystick control at speeds up to 42 knots, automatic trim for the flaps and drive legs, and an automatic autopilot system that holds the heading without the need to engage the boat’s actual autopilot.

It works extremely well. So does the new hull shape. Pershing’s engineers explained that the extra lift from the chines helps not just with top speed, but also at transitional speeds between displacement and planing.

This phase of performance can be rather vague on surface-drive boats: a slight change in hull attitude or leg trim making a disproportionate contribution to boat speed, as the drives rise into thinner water, the props spin more quickly, and engine revs increase. You need to have your wits about you.

Plane sailing

On the Pershing 8X, this acceleration phase felt more predictable, although admittedly our speed still more than doubled between 1,500 and 2,000rpm. One tangible benefit of the extra lift is in low-speed planing. The boat was quite happy at 25 knots and 1,600rpm, although you won’t find that sweet spot going up the rev range. You have to decelerate to get there. All surface-drive boats have their idiosyncrasies.

With 400 more horsepower than its predecessor, slightly more weight and a lot more dynamic lift, our test 8X clocked an impressive two-way average of 48.3 knots in our sea trial – nearly two knots better than the similarly-loaded Pershing 82 we tested in 2012.

On a calm sea it was difficult to judge the quality of its seakeeping, but there were some firmer than expected impacts as we charged through our own wake at high speeds, which were probably down to those broad chines.

When it came to the boat’s driving experience, the 8X can certainly provide the superbly dramatic angles of heel in hard turns that Pershing aficionados love so much, when you have to look through the sunroof to see where you’re going.

It didn’t, perhaps, display quite the same razor-sharp tracking that has made these boats a byword for brilliant handling – but if you weren’t looking for flaws I doubt whether you’d notice any. This boat is powerful, fast and huge fun to drive.

Price as reviewed:

£5,380,000.00 inc. VAT

It goes. It handles. And in spite of its unusually wide beam, and its uncharacteristically generous internal volume, it still feels like a proper Pershing where it counts – out at sea. With the 8X, the shipyard’s reputation is safe.

LOA: 83ft 10in (25.55m) LWL: 64ft 4in (19.60m) Beam: 19ft 3in (5.86m) Draught: 4ft 7in (1.40m) Fuel capacity: 1,364 gal (6,200 litres) Water capacity: 286 gal (1,300 litres) Displacement (light): 57 tonnes (125,663lbs) Top speed on test: 48.3 knots Cruising speed: 35-45 knots Design: Fulvio de Simoni/Ferretti Group Engineering

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Pershing 8X Review: Stairway to Heaven

Most advanced building technology, designer’s esthetic mastery, powerful engines coupled with surface propellers, sophisticated maneuvering system and unmistakable Pershing style make model 8X truly unique

Pershing 8X debuted in Duesseldorf last year, taking everyone’s breath away and confirming Fulvio de Simoni as creator of yet another new generation of the most popular open yachts on the market. Just when we thought Pershing had reached limits of their design, the new model proved us wrong.

What makes Pershing 8X yacht unique?

Unique in many ways, Pershing 8X was well worth the wait – we only got to test it during the 2019 Cannes Yachting Festival. There are probably not too many moments in a life of a yachting reporter as great as setting sail from Cannes early in the morning to test a brand new yacht while the city is still asleep. When the vessel in question is a Pershing, that’s a moment to remember.

What makes the new 8X unique? First of all, synthesis of experience, technology and know-how – Pershing 8X stands on the shoulders of yachting giants behind the brand, so it is little wonder she is amazing. The style is eye-catching and based on more than details, but the very first thing you’ll notice when stepping aboard are probably the black and silver elements – visually echoing the carbon construction – and the warmth of teak. The cockpit and the main deck saloon are all about open space.

The glass door separating them can be lowered to create a magnificent space stretching across 50 m2, with all-around views. In the stern garage under the cockpit there is enough space to store a tender (Williams Superjet 345) and a jet-ski, but you probably won’t even look in this direction, as your eyes will be drawn to the most interesting design element aboard the 8X – the curved staircase on the port side, leading onto the minimalistic sport fly deck.

Anima Maris

Seventh Sense

Pershing 8x interior.

The staircase is unique in shape and design, cleverly incorporated into the side wings – trademark of the new Pershing style – and seems to float above the cockpit, without cramming the space or blocking the view. As smart as it is beautiful, the staircase is unique of its kind on the market and we expect to see it copied soon. Another detail that adds to the open feeling in the cockpit is the possibility to lower the dining table into the floor, which turns it into another sunbed.

The most eye-catching detail in the saloon are the three black chairs of the wheel house – which remind us of starships – and the rest of the saloon is equally futuristic and minimalist in style. The most used part of the yacht , the main deck saloon, is stylish and comfortable, furnished with a low-laid L-shaped white sofa and a glass dining table, with a simple black and white color scheme.

For furnishing, Pershing once again turned to one of their most trusted partners, Poltrona Frau, so the new model delights with stylish leather details and the dining chairs are a work of art. The main deck looks and feels like a sophisticated glass villa, with the view flowing uninterrupted in all directions, even through the giant wrap-around windshield. Owners can choose from two basic interior styles and add their flair during the decoration phase.

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Pershing 8x layout.

Below deck, there is space for four cabins – full-width owner’s aft, VIP in the bow and two twin-size – all smartly designed and furnished, but a layout with three larger cabins is available, as well. The master cabin is impressive as expected, with another eye-catching detail – a relaxing, inviting day bed right next to a large glass window. Up on the main deck, the bow is essentially a large outdoor saloon, with a U-shaped sofa and a sunbed, both easily protected from the glaring sun by a carbon-supported sunshade.

The new 8X may be the replacement for the previous, smaller, Pershing 82, but they have almost nothing in common. Starting from the hull and the superstructure, Pershing 8X is brand new bow-to-aft.

First Pershing built entirely in carbon

Built in epoxy and carbon fiber, the model is currently the most advanced yacht on the market – the very first Pershing built entirely in carbon and thus six tonnes lighter than the alternative. Advanced and stylish, Pershing 8X is unmistakably a Pershing in her heart, too: powered by two super-powerful 16-cylinder 2435-hp MTU engines, the 8X has TopSide surface propellers.

All this power is easily handled via Easy Control, proprietary navigation system designed for use in ‘IPS manner’, using a centrally placed joystick to maneuver the yacht in crowded ports. The system allows virtual anchoring, via the DPS (Dynamic Positioning System), as well as propeller trim control – but simply shines in turns, safely guiding the 8X as if on tracks.

How fast is the Pershing 8x?

Surface propeller controls are quite difficult to fine-tune manually, but due to the mentioned system not on this Pershing model – this is the first such system on the market, and it’s already perfect. Add to that a steer-by-wire system with automatic and manual modes, and you’ll find out the 8X is a tame lady until you need her to be wild: the manual mode brings as much joy to the skipper as sport mode does to drivers of fast cars.

During our test, we reached 48 knots of speed – and curiously, as much as we were giddy to fly across water so fast, we were more impressed by the agility and the maneuverability of this super-light yacht. Another point for Pershing: all this speed and maneuvers barely tickled our ears, as the yacht is uniquely silent no matter what you do. In every aspect, Pershing 8X is a joy for the eye and the soul, a star of the Generation X yachts.

During our test in the waters around Cannes we have found new respect for everyone at Pershing, with a special admiration for the designers of the superior construction of Pershing 8X.

Finally, a detail that almost goes unnoticed when you barely have enough time for a test, but surely will not during long cruises – in partnership with Videoworks, Pershing have developed Music Hull, a unique system that allows listening to music underwater by using the hull like a high-definition speaker.

Text Darko Šupuk

Photos & video Pershing

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speedbird70 New Member

Has anyone on here own a pershing. I am looking at the pershing 88,90,115. Any help would be fantastic

KCook Senior Member

Welcome to YachtForums speedbird70. I haven't come across many Pershing owners posting anywhere. Except for Sunseeker, it seems like Italy is the only source for sport yachts this size? Have you also looked over the yachts by the Rodriguez Group or Tecnomar? Some folks never get beyond the main forum, > GENERAL YACHTING DISCUSSION > General Yachting Discussion , you might want to also post an inquiry up there. Kelly Cook

map New Member

Hi Speedbird70 I own a Pershing 64. How can I help you? In my opinion the 90 is a fantastic yacht, much biger than the 88, and with a nicer interior design as the 115. The only problem is the 7 million € plus taxes...

NYCAP123 Senior Member

Hello Speedbird70 and welcome. I cruise this area (from northern NJ to Nantauket & Boston) a lot and don't remember seeing more than a few Pershings which leads me to wonder about service and representation. I seem to remember that the ones I've seen have surface piercing props. DK if they go that large with it, but ,if so, it's a system that's fast, but I don't like due to its potential to over-rev if it catches air and its handling characteristics at slow speed. Personally, I'd be more comfortable with a Pershing if the Med were my cruising grounds.

ombreetsoleil Senior Member

Pershing 108 A very nice video of the Pershing 108 Maxpower...............is it time for an upgrade?............... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKuH9utnN3c

MaxPower Senior Member

speedbird70 said: ↑ Has anyone on here own a pershing. Click to expand...

ombreetsoleil said: ↑ A very nice video of the Pershing 108 Maxpower...............is it time for an upgrade?............... Click to expand...

Liam Senior Member

I sold a few of the smaller models in the past 62 (sds), 54 (shafts and surface drives), and 43 (with shafts) and I think survery wise they had one of the most clean sheets I ever found. Considering they are fast boats and always get some beating that is quite good. Many Italian surveys will always say the Pershing 54 especially from 1998/99 onwards is one of the best builds in this size type of boat. A friend survey also did an inspection on the old 76 new build and was very satisfied with how the yard performed at around 2004.

John Tesvich New Member

I have a 2007 Pershing 46 in Croatia (bought in Italy). With 800 hp MANs shaft drive it is fast and nimble. Build quality is top notch.

Chari zito New Member

Hp John Tesvich said: ↑ I have a 2007 Pershing 46 in Croatia (bought in Italy). With 800 hp MANs shaft drive it is fast and nimble. Build quality is top notch. Click to expand...

Chari zito said: ↑ Hp how does the boat run in rough seas? Click to expand...

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Pershing 92

• By Dudley Dawson
• Updated: January 26, 2013

I haven’t had this much fun in a boat since I was 16, driving a little D Class hydroplane, royal blue with a white centerline stripe, that I’d lovingly built over the winter in my brother’s garage. That little race boat was about 80 feet shorter than the Pershing 92 motoryacht that I recently tested and had about 5,200 fewer horses, but it was a screamer whose responsiveness seemed at times an extension of my body as I crouched in the cockpit.

_ Click here to see a full photo gallery of the Pershing 92_ .

In the Pershing , I found that same sense of being-one-with-the-machine that generally fades as boats get bigger and more luxurious, and — let’s face it — as we get older. This stylish yacht loses none of that sense of performance, capturing the undiluted thrill of a smaller boat while providing considerably more space and safety, as well as sumptuous creature comforts. The Italians have a phrase for such a vessel — barche da sogno — and this is indeed a dreamboat. It brought a broad smile to the craggy face of this most jaded of old boat drivers. Good thing there were no lovebugs swarming Miami’s Biscayne Bay that day, because I’d have been picking them from my teeth all the way home.

The Pershing 92 is very much an international star, Italian-built but clearly as at home in the Americas and Caribbean as she is in the Mediterranean. She is built to a European electrical standard but has converters for U.S. shore power, as well as dual receptacles to handle locally purchased appliances, whether here or abroad. She also is fitted with extra air-conditioning for comfort in Southern waters. When I raised the question of building to Euro standards with U.S. converters vs. building to U.S. standards, Justin Blue, Pershing’s stateside program manager, was quick to respond. He quoted convincing figures on the percentages of yachts in this category making seasonal treks between the waters of the United States or the Caribbean and the Med, both for the owner’s use and to follow the charter trade. Thus, it makes sense that such a yacht, for maximum utility, should have the capability to operate without restrictions in both areas.

Evidence of that international flavor was on full display in the belowdecks galley, at the stern and just forward of the engine room. The galley also serves as the crew’s mess and lounge, convenient to their two cabins, each with en suite head, and is one of the most stylish yet functional arrangements I have come across in a yacht of this size. The complete suite of high-end Miele appliances includes a full-size washer and dryer, oven, cooktop, dishwasher and full-height refrigerator. There are also half-height Miele freezer drawers paired with matching Ernestomeda drawers and cabinets. The drawers open easily and close securely with intuitive recessed latches hidden in between the upper and lower cabinets. Stainless-steel fiddles help keep food on the countertops and off the deck.

Just abaft the galley and easily entered through a watertight door is the engine room. Even with the two big MTU engines and a recess at the top for stowing the tender, everything is reasonably accessible, save a part of the starboard side where the shore-power cable bin intrudes a bit. Routine maintenance is still a snap, though, and for major work, there’s a soft patch over the two 20kW generators The tender’s stowage compartment lifts off completely too. Pershing’s commitment to choosing the best supplier for each piece of equipment is nowhere more evident than in the lower helm seats, which are a cooperative effort by two specialist companies. Besenzoni manufactured the solid and reliable mechanical components, while Poltrona Frau styled and fabricated the upholstered portions of the seats. Besenzoni also built the passerelle and the two easy-opening pantograph doors to the side decks. Much of the remainder of the interior decor is also by Poltrona Frau, which, like Pershing, is an Italian company with a significant presence in the United States. The company’s website opens with the words “timeless elegance,” and that’s what was apparent throughout the yacht’s interior. Modern and attractive yet eminently functional, the salon and dining area lie just abaft the helm. The salon boasts a spacious area of seating to starboard, with a large L-shape settee and a couple of loose ottomans to provide some flexibility in seating arrangements. A cabinet along the port side houses a pop-up flatscreen TV. The dining area is defined not just by its higher overhead, but by its 45-degree offset arrangement, which parallels the stairway to the guest accommodations forward. An option that incorporates a bar is not yet finalized but should be available on future orders.

Our test boat had the standard arrangement of four staterooms for guests, but an option offers a lower lounge or office in place of the second twin cabin to starboard. Each of the twin cabins on the test boat included pullman berths, and with the largest of the staterooms in the bow and the amidships master, brought the sleeping capacity to 10. Both of the larger staterooms had berths mounted on central recessed supports so that the soft underlighting made them appear to float in space. That lighting, by the way, along with the nicely recessed overhead lighting , is provided by strings of low-wattage LEDs. They are more power-savvy than incandescent light ropes and are safer, because they’re less prone to developing hot spots.

On the main deck, there’s a huge lounge forward, flanked by convenient fender and line stowage compartments. Doors in these compartments provide access to the backside of the lower helm for electronics maintenance. The table, settee and sun pad are inviting, but if this were my yacht, I think I’d spring for the optional Bimini top, which folds into its own stowage space. On the other hand, if you want shade, there’s another table and two benches on the afterdeck, under the overhang of the flying bridge. An additional sun pad resides here as well, atop the tender stowage compartment, with gate-protected steps on either side down to the oversize swim platform. The platform protects the big ZF SeaRex surface drives that so efficiently turn horsepower into knots for this 92-foot speedster.

Up the hatch-protected stairway to port is the flying bridge, a feature that is not readily apparent from the profile of the yacht. That’s even truer now that streamlined fiberglass moldings, styled and gelcoated to blend into the bridge sides, have superseded the stainless-steel railings of earlier builds. The bridge’s helm folds up for use and down for a sleeker appearance at other times, and the back of the helm seat swings forward hydraulically to create additional seating at the table, or down completely to create another sun pad. An immense U-shape settee surrounds the high-low table, and if you reverse the helm seat, the area can accommodate up to 13 guests.

I could go on and on about the clever folding/sliding bulkhead at the after end of the salon — it opens completely at the touch of a button — about the fitted drawers for the Christofle crystal and flatware, and about the good traffic flow patterns and clever space utilization. They’re all important points, but they’re not what’s truly at the heart of the Pershing 92.

What I remembered best, at the end of the day, was Rich Jones, Ferretti’s senior corporate captain, suggesting with a smile that I let go of the wheel and grab the tiny joystick that sat unobtrusively at the center of the console. Wheeeee! I was instantly back in my D Class hydroplane, but this was a 92-foot, 90-ton missile hurtling across Biscayne Bay at a little north of 50 miles per hour. Far faster than I could ever spin the wheel, the stick swung the drives from side to side for turns that threatened to blow out the props and send us into a spin, but didn’t. The 92 was carving donuts as though she were a PWC, so much so that the thought of wake-jumping crossed my mind: But there are, after all, limits to my insanity. Quite simply, it was — as my grandchildren would say — one of the “funnest” days I’ve had in a long, long time. Thanks, Pershing, for a boat capable of reminding me that the heart of a kid still beats inside.

Pershing Yachts , 954-462-5527

Click here to see a photo gallery of the Pershing 92. To see more Pershing yachts, click here .

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