BY GEORGE DAY OF CRUISING ODYSSEY
The Dutch builder Van den Hoven Jachtbouw’s Voyager series has proven to be highly prized by experienced and adventurous cruisers. With four models from 50 to 71 feet and an 80 footer in development, the builder specializes in family-sized cruisers that have a true mega-yacht feel.
The new 56 Fly is built on the platform of the 56 coupe. By adding a flybridge, they have nearly doubled the design’s open air social spaces. Yet, they have done so with a low profile bridge that sits very discretely atop the salon.
The 56, like her sister Voyagers, is an artful combination of classic and modern motor yacht features. Note the sloping transom with built-in stairs and the shapely and attractive salon windows, both elements usually found on much larger yachts.
Another mega-yacht feature in the curved transom is the huge pneumatic door that lifts to reveal a large dinghy garage with its own roller-equipped slipway.
And then, look at the plumb bow and the black angular hull glazing and you’ll see design features displayed on the latest sport cruisers from Italy or Finland.
The 56 is a three-cabin, two-head family cruiser with the master suite and head forward and the two guests cabins and the shared head aft. Three couples or a family of four or five will feel comfortable in these private cabins.
The salon can be configured in a number of ways, but the standard layout has the lower helm and co-pilot’s seat forward, the dinette and lounge seat amidships and the large galley with a centerline bar at the aft end. This arrangement puts the galley between the inside dinette and the outside lounge and dining table.
