Absolute Navetta 68

Flagship of the Navetta line during its run, the 68 states Absolute's thesis: a motor yacht is a machine for light and quiet, not for top speed. The high-freeboard hull, matched from the drawing board to twin Volvo IPS 1350 pods, cruises efficiently anywhere between 10 and 20 knots — a flexibility shaft-drive planing rivals cannot offer — and the pod installation keeps noise figures conspicuously low. The near-vertical glazing that gives the Navettas their townhouse profile floods the wide-body saloon and the forward owner's suite, whose windshield-like panorama over the bow remains the boat's defining image. Podenzano's factory habits show in wiring looms, accessible seacocks and panel fits more consistent than several grander names. It is not a driver's boat, and styling divides opinion dockside. As a long-season family home run without crew, however, it defined the formula the Navetta 70 now continues, and used examples trade briskly.