AQUASITION

Trinity built its reputation in New Orleans on aluminium yachts with more interior volume than their length suggested, and AQUASITION is a clear example of the type. At 43.28 metres she carries the deck space and the internal proportions of a yacht several metres longer, and after a 2023 refit she presents as a considerably newer boat than her 2010 delivery date implies.

She works the Bahamas and the wider Caribbean year-round, and the programme suits her. Her draft is a little over two metres, which in the Exumas is the difference between anchoring off a cay and anchoring behind it. Guests spend the day in water that reads turquoise from the sundeck, and the yacht is set up to keep them in it: a broad swim platform, a serious inventory of toys, a chase boat and a crew of nine who run the operation as a diving and fishing programme rather than a deck-chair one.

The sundeck is the centre of the yacht. A large jacuzzi sits forward under the radar arch, with a screen above it and sun loungers in blue and teak running aft along both sides. Umbrellas go up in the afternoon. One deck down, the aft deck holds a round dining table on an inlaid teak sole, shaded and open on three sides – the setting for most meals aboard.

Inside, Evan K Marshall’s interior is warm rather than minimal: cherry joinery, cream upholstery, teal accents and a band of windows that runs almost unbroken along both sides of the main deck. The saloon and the formal dining area share that one long volume, divided only by columns, with sofas and low tables aft and a long dining table forward set against the water. Up on the bridge deck, the skylounge has a curved bar with brass-framed stools, which is where the evening tends to start.

Accommodation is five staterooms for eleven guests. The master sits on the main deck with a king berth, a private office alongside and a bathroom in figured marble. Below, three double cabins take king berths and ensuite bathrooms, and a twin completes the layout for children or a fifth couple travelling separately. Cherry panelling, deep carpet and framed marine art run through all of them, and the standard is consistent from the master aft to the twin forward.

Twin Caterpillar diesels give her twelve knots cruising and eighteen at the top end, with a 3,000-mile range that makes the run between the Bahamas and the Leeward Islands straightforward. Zero-speed stabilisers keep her steady at anchor, which matters more on a charter that spends most of its time stopped.

The 2023 refit is the reason she still reads as current. Soft furnishings, deck finishes and the technical package were all addressed together rather than piecemeal, and the result is a yacht whose age shows in her proportions – the generous side decks, the full-height windows, the raised bulwarks of a hull drawn before the fashion for glass boxes – but not in her condition. That combination is increasingly hard to find at this price.

For a group of eleven who want warm water, deck space out of proportion to the length, and a crew who treat the water toys as the reason for the charter rather than an amenity, AQUASITION is a well-judged boat at a sensible number.