Giving True Testimony to the Prestige 500S

07th Oct 2013

Ancasta have never needed any convincing of the many accolades attributed to the fabulous Prestige 500S, but nothing speaks louder or more honestly and clearly than the first hand experiences of our customers. We are delighted to be able to re-post responses of Ann and Nigel Pickin who have shared the start of their adventures with other motor boating enthusiasts on a YBW.com thread.  It makes great reading!

“Well, so far, so very good.

We arrived at the Port Hamble Ancasta office, (following a night at The Royal Southern Yacht Club), and went straight into handover mode.

A very busy day including a couple of hours walking through the boats systems and features, detailed introductions to the Engine Room and Nav Gear and then a good blast out in the Solent. First impressions of the boat are very strong, it looks fantastic and has been scrubbed and polished perfectly following its stint at SIBS. We were pleased to get a 2014 face lift boat as this means we benefit from a few new aesthetic touches and a couple of practical ones.

The Volvo and Raymarine reps were terrific and left us feeling both confident and comfortable to call on them for further support and Ancasta have been tremendous thus far, from the complementary jackets and bubbly to the ‘can do’ attitude regarding our requirements.

Following lunch we went on to run the boat up, Jezz from Ancasta, took the boat out from the berth and handed the helm over. We have come across from a boat with Mercruiser stern drives to these Volvo Pods and notwithstanding the fact they both utilise joystick control, they are like chalk and cheese.

From the way this 500S holds a steady course through river routine without the constant need to realign the wheel to the understated ease that it hoofs up onto the plan, this is a massive change for us. The boat is weighted wonderfully resulting in minimal use of the tabs, (even turning through solent cross winds), and an ability to plane at a far lower speed than our previous boats.

Noise level is unobtrusive and when we did manage to get the bow to whack down hard into the water I was delighted not to hear any creaks or vibrations from either hull or fittings.

Coming back into a relatively tight berth was seamless, again, the near amidships positioning of the legs meaning they vector and pivot with far fewer revs and thus more grace than stern drives. It will be interesting to see if we ever use the standard fit bow-thruster….

I could go on for ages, including a brief on how comfortable our first night on board was, our quick visit to Cowes Yacht Haven yesterday, the joy of having two heads and a laundry facility and just how great the guys from Ancasta have been but I fear this could become a little tiresome; suffice to say, we both have huge grins on our faces and are wishing away the hours until our voyage home to the west country this weekend.

Regards from Ann & Nigel “