The Hampton 650 Pilothouse is a new addition to the Hampton Yacht Group fleet and is set for her world debut at the Newport International Boat Show in California, May 12 – 15. The Hampton 650 is a gorgeous, spacious passagemaker complete with three staterooms and three heads, that stands ready to fully accommodate a family or two. Or three. Or a very large 4th of July party heading to the islands, it’s up to you, really.
The namesake pilothouse helm offers commanding visibility and is an attention-grabber with complete engine and nav instrumentation and lounge. The Garmin’s 7600 Series touchscreen-enabled multi-function display package is the standard electronic navigation suite. A staircase from the pilothouse to the flybridge and a second set of controls puts the skipper in control and in style with amenities ranging from wrap-around seating with wet bar, to a 32” fold-down TV, to a BBQ grill. The saloon interior is finished with cherry, and custom woodwork from cabinets to stateroom doors look to be of high-quality. The galley is fully loaded with a four-burner cook top and granite flooring.
The 650 Pilothouse incorporates a deep-V hull with high forward deadrise sections that should cut through head-on seas with minimal effort. Additionally, the flatter aft sections feature a split-chine design from Naval Architect Howard Apollonio (who designed the entire yacht as well) that supposedly provides an efficient planning surface for a smooth ride. The hull is solid fiberglass that’s reinforced with two layers of Kevlar from chine to chine and three layers of Kevlar in the forward “collision zone”. In other words, the Hampton 650 Pilothouse is one tough beauty, and with twin trusty Caterpillar diesel engine that dish-out a total of 2,000 horsepower, she should be able to make way with the best of them. With an asking price of $2,798,000, she isn’t exactly a spontaneous purchase, but we have a hunch the first question from more than a few at the Newport International Boat Show debut will be, “How long is the waiting list?”
