PC74

The flagship of a Taiwanese power catamaran range

Horizon Yachts built its reputation in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on raised pilothouse and fast displacement monohulls, then applied that same construction and finishing standard to a catamaran line developed with Lavranos Marine Design of New Zealand. The PC74 sits at the top of that line, a larger sister to the PC60 that Horizon's own marketing calls the reigning boat of its cat fleet, and BoatTEST used a nearly identical phrase in its own review. The hull design is by Angelo Lavranos, and J.C. Espinosa, the designer behind several of Horizon's monohulls, styled the exterior and interior.

The first PC74 rolled out of the yard in 2018, priced at roughly USD 6.6 million when Power and Motoryacht tested her that September. Horizon has not published a running production count for the model specifically, though the wider PC Series passed its 50th hull sold at the 2021 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, a milestone hull that was itself a PC60 rather than a PC74. The PC74 remains in Horizon's current model lineup and the builder still quotes fresh specifications for it, even though brokers describe used examples as scarce.

A composite catamaran under Caterpillar power

Horizon builds the PC74's twin hulls in SCRIMP resin-infused composite, a vacuum process that Power and Motoryacht's test report credited with keeping the boat light enough to carry a genuinely spacious interior without the weight penalty a hand-laid hull would add. The dimensions are fixed across every source found: 22.49 metres length overall, 21.33 metres waterline, 8.63 metres beam and 1.83 metres draft, for a half-load displacement of 74 tons. That beam, at 28 feet 4 inches, is wider than most 90 to 100 foot monohulls, which is the whole argument for a catamaran of this length.

Propulsion is twin Caterpillar C18 ACERT diesels, EPA Tier 3 compliant. Horizon's own specification sheet lists them at 1,136 hp each, while Power and Motoryacht's 2018 test and Yachting's review both list 1,150 hp, a gap small enough to be a rounding difference rather than two different engine options. Generators are an Onan 29 kW unit paired with a smaller 13.5 kW unit, both 60 Hz. Thrusters are Side-Power units at bow and stern, run from a joystick at the helm, and Sea Glass's most recent refit replaced that control with a Dockmate remote docking system. Gearbox make is not published by Horizon or by any independent test found, and none of the sources describe fin or zero-speed stabilisers, which is normal for a catamaran: the hull form itself is what keeps her level, not a moving fin.

Four cabins, a beach-house beam and a full dive locker

The accommodation plan is 4 guest cabins and 2 crew, and the detail reviewers keep returning to is the master stateroom: on most catamarans it sits in a raised midships pod, but the PC74 keeps it on a single level with three-sided windows and its own full-beam bathroom. Two further king cabins sit forward in the hulls and a fourth, aft to port, converts for a couple or up to three children on Sea Glass's charter configuration. Every stateroom carries its own en suite head, and the 28 foot 4 inch beam gives each one genuine width rather than the narrow hull-shaped cabins common to smaller cats.

Above the accommodation, the main deck runs unbroken from the aft cockpit through the salon to the helm, with an L-shaped leather sofa, swivel chairs and a two-tier bar with stools ahead of a galley fitted with Sub-Zero, Electrolux, Miele and Summit appliances. The flybridge adds a C-shaped settee, a five-stool bar, a day head, a separate barbecue station and dedicated stowage for more than 12 scuba tanks, a detail that reads less like a standard yacht option and more like a boat built with an active charter clientele in mind. Yachting's reviewer summed up the effect as space that reads closer to an 80 to 100 foot yacht than a 74 footer, a line Horizon's own US distributor also used almost word for word.

Fast enough at 22 to 23 knots, but her range depends on who you read

Two independent sea trials put the top end close together: Power and Motoryacht recorded 23 knots wide open with an 18 to 19 knot cruise on its 2018 test, and Yachting's separate review logged a top speed of 22.4 knots on the same twin Caterpillar C18s. That agreement does not extend to range. Yachting's own fuel burn numbers, 35 gallons an hour at a 12.4 knot slow cruise rising to 120 gallons an hour at wide open throttle, work out to roughly 700 nautical miles at that slow cruise on the 2,000 gallon tank before any reserve is set aside. Southern Boating's spec table for the same boat instead states 1,500 nautical miles at 10 knots and 400 nautical miles at an 18 knot cruise, figures that do not reconcile with Yachting's burn rate at any speed in between.

Neither figure is obviously wrong. A semi-displacement catamaran hull genuinely does most of its efficiency gain below the speed where it starts to climb onto its own bow wave, so small changes in load, trim or the exact rpm chosen for a slow cruise move the range number by a wide margin, and Horizon itself does not publish a range figure at all. What a buyer should take from this is that the true cruising range of a specific PC74 needs verifying against her own fuel logs rather than any single brochure or test number, and that the boat's practical range at a comfortable 10 to 12 knot cruise most likely sits somewhere in the 700 to 1,000 nautical mile band rather than at either published extreme.

Sea Glass: the hull that keeps winning charter awards

Sea Glass is the PC74 with the clearest public paper trail of any hull built to this design. Launched in 2018, refitted in 2021 and refitted again in a million dollar upfit that her own operators date to 2026, she has chartered continuously through the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands with a standing crew of three: a captain, a professionally trained chef and a mate-stewardess. Two separate charter show juries have rewarded her, Best in Show over 66 feet at the 2019 St Thomas Charter Yacht Show and runner-up Best in Show at the 2023 BVI Charter Yacht Show, judging categories that put her against monohulls at a far higher price.

The most recent refit is also the clearest window into what a PC74 needs to stay current a decade on: new interior fabrics and finishes, a Victron Silent Living lithium power package, an Aqua Air climate control system, a Spot Zero watermaker, a Dockmate remote docking system running dual thrusters and a thermal night vision camera, on top of a refreshed water toy fleet that now runs to e-foils and jet skis alongside the original kayaks and paddleboards. She charters from USD 66,000 a week plus tax and a provisioning allowance for the 2026 to 2027 season. A new PC74 is not publicly priced by Horizon, and the only recent brokerage listing found, Sea Glass herself, has been quoted between USD 4.6 million and 5 million, against the roughly 6.6 million she cost new in 2018.

Design

Who it is for: An owner or charter guest who wants monohull-grade fit and finish inside a genuinely wide, stable catamaran, and who is prepared to verify range and running costs against a specific hull's own logs rather than a single brochure or test number.

Guide price: New PC74 pricing is not published by Horizon; the model is quoted price on request through Horizon's dealer network. The only recent brokerage figure found is for Sea Glass (2018), listed between USD 4.6 million and USD 5 million depending on broker, against the approximately USD 6.6 million Power and Motoryacht reported at her 2018 launch. Sources: Power and Motoryacht, Boat Trader, SI Yachts.