FIRST TEST GT325

A boat that dares to do things differently, the GT325 blends elements of the old and the new to remarkable effect

- David Harding

There seems to be a consensus that all new cruising yachts look the same, but I would defy anyone to say that about the GT325. That’s because she is different – very different, in all sorts of ways. Like most modern cruisers, she has a broad stern. If you only saw her stern-on, you might imagine she was at least 36ft (11m) long. In fact she’s just 31ft 3in (9.53m) on deck, making her one of the few tough, sporty cruisers in this size range.

The broad stern is balanced – properly balanced, in hydrodynamic terms – by an unusually broad bow for a cruising yacht. Stopping short of being even a semi-scow shape, it nonetheless incorporates scow bow thinking, being a fuller version of the flying bow seen on many of Stephen Jones’ earlier designs, going back to his half-tonners.

For all her performance pedigree, the GT325 is very much a cruising yacht. She just happens to incorporate up-to-the-minute thinking that makes her unusually fast for a cruiser of her length – and especially of her weight – and unusually roomy too. Combining space with pace has always been a challenge when designing cruising yachts, and the GT325 was conceived and designed to offer both in abundance.

Somehow she also manages to combine a high-volume hull with surprisingly attractive lines. That’s no easy trick to pull off. She looks modern without being remotely trendy.

So what exactly is the GT325, and where does she come from? Well, regular readers will recall that we introduced her in YM last year when hull No.1 was being built. She’s the first new boat from the re-born GT Yachts, whose GT 35 I tested back in 2014.