Gulf Craft's new Nomad 70 drops a cabin to buy a 270-degree suite
A restyled 70 touches water in the Gulf
Gulf Craft put the first 2027 Nomad 70 in the water at its UAE yard and announced it on 29 July. The boat is the second generation of a model the yard has built since 2022, and the significant change is who drew it. Phathom Studio, a Dutch practice, took both the exterior profile and the interior, where the previous boat was styled in house.
Below the styling the layout has been rearranged rather than merely refreshed. The 2027 boat has four en suite guest cabins, an upper deck salon, two dedicated crew cabins and a separate professional-grade crew galley. Phathom says it moved the main salon to an aft open lounge with the dining and galley arrangement amidships, which is what frees the main deck forward. The studio also specified carpets woven from hemp and recycled fishing nets, and a composite stone made from recycled bottles and quartz.
The cabin that went missing
The outgoing boat, which YachtBuyer lists as the Nomad 70 SUV Mk1 and marks discontinued after a 2022 to 2026 run, slept ten guests in five cabins. The 2027 boat sleeps its guests in four. The hull length is unchanged at a little over 21 metres, so this is a decision about who the boat is for rather than a smaller yacht. The volume the fifth cabin used to occupy has gone into a main deck owner's suite that Gulf Craft says carries 270-degree views.
The trade is legible in both directions. An owner who runs the boat with a couple aboard gets the best room on the yacht and a galley the crew can work in without crossing the guest area. An owner who intended to charter, or who routinely sails with two families, has lost two berths and a good deal of the boat's earning case. Gulf Craft has kept the old crew arrangement at two cabins and added the separate crew galley, which points clearly at the first buyer rather than the second.
The only performance numbers anyone has
Gulf Craft has not published speed, range or tonnage for the 2027 boat, so the outgoing hull's figures are the only guide a buyer has. Nomad's own brand site gives the 70 a length overall of 21.50 metres, a 6.04-metre beam, a 1.59-metre draft and a displacement the yard puts at about 66 tonnes. Power is twin MAN V8-1200 diesels rated 882 kW each at 2,300 rpm, with a 28 kW generator. The yard quotes 2,000 nautical miles of range, and brokerage listings put the top end at 25 to 26 knots.
Two of those numbers deserve attention first. The 6,814-litre fuel tank against a 2,000-mile claim implies a slow passage speed rather than a 25-knot one, which is normal arithmetic for a semi-displacement hull and no criticism of it. The fresh water tank is the harder figure at 946 litres. On a boat rated for ten guests that is a watermaker question, and whether the 2027 boat changes it has not been published.
Against its own sister and against Sirena
The comparison that matters most is in-house. YachtBuyer's side-by-side puts the Nomad 75 SUV at 23.4 metres with eight guests in four cabins and four crew, on twin MAN V12-1550s for 24 knots and 1,300 nautical miles at 10 knots from 7,880 litres. The smaller 70 is quoted at 2,000 miles. On the published figures the shorter boat out-ranges the flagship above it, an awkward line in a brochure and a useful one for a buyer.
Outside the family the obvious rival is the Sirena 68, which argues a different case. Sirena is 21.4 metres to the Nomad's 21.5, runs 28 knots against 25, cruises at a published 16 knots where Gulf Craft publishes no cruise figure at all, and carries 1,600 litres of fresh water to the Nomad's 946. It sleeps six, optionally eight, in three or four cabins, against the outgoing Nomad's ten in five. YachtBuyer puts used Sirena 68s at an average of about GBP 2m across five boats aged three to six years.
What a buyer still cannot find out
Two things are missing. Gulf Craft has published no price for the 2027 Nomad 70, and Northrop & Johnson, which lists the model as available exclusively through it, quotes on application rather than a number. The outgoing hull is discontinued and YachtBuyer records no current used market data for it, so there is not yet a residual to argue from either.
The second gap is experience. The 2027 boat touched water days ago and nobody has run one, so there are no owner reports on the layout, the materials or what the restyled superstructure does in a beam sea. Anyone buying now is buying the outgoing hull's sea manners and the yard's record, not a tested boat. That is ordinary with a first of class, and it is the reason to ask for time aboard hull one before the deposit rather than after.
What is good, and what to watch
Strong points
- Range beats the bigger sisterThe 70 is quoted at 2,000 nautical miles. YachtBuyer's figures give the 23.4-metre Nomad 75 SUV 1,300 nautical miles at 10 knots. The shorter boat goes further on a smaller tank.
- A crew galley on a 21-metre boatThe 2027 layout adds a separate professional-grade crew galley alongside two crew cabins. At this size crew usually work in the guest galley, and the separation is what makes a permanent couple aboard tolerable for everyone.
- The owner's suite is on the main deckGulf Craft puts the owner forward on the main deck behind 270-degree glass rather than below in the conventional 70-foot arrangement. It is the most valuable room on the boat and the reason the fifth cabin went.
- Shallow draft for the length1.59 metres on a 21.50-metre hull the yard puts at about 66 tonnes. That is Bahamas and Adriatic shoal water without a second thought.
What to watch
- 946 litres of fresh waterThe outgoing hull carried 946 litres against the Sirena 68's 1,600, while sleeping ten to Sirena's six or eight. Gulf Craft has not published a revised figure for 2027, so a watermaker is not optional equipment on this boat.
- Two berths gone, and the charter case with themFive cabins and ten guests become four en suite guest cabins. An owner who planned to offset running costs with charter weeks has lost the layout that made the boat competitive against a 75.
- No published price and no residualGulf Craft quotes no price for the 2027 boat and Northrop & Johnson offers it on application. YachtBuyer records no current used market data for the discontinued outgoing hull, so there is no residual to argue from.
- No cruise speed, and nothing testedThe yard publishes a 25-knot top end for the old hull and no cruising figure at all, and nothing yet for the new one. The 2,000-mile range implies a passage speed the brochure does not state.
Practical detail
| Length overall | 21.50 m (70 ft 5 in), beam 6.04 m, draft 1.59 m |
|---|---|
| Displacement | About 66 tonnes (yard figure) |
| Accommodation, 2027 | Four en suite guest cabins, main-deck owner's suite, two crew cabins, separate crew galley |
| Accommodation, outgoing hull | Ten guests in five cabins, two crew cabins |
| Engines | 2 x MAN V8-1200, 882 kW each at 2,300 rpm, 28 kW generator |
| Range and fuel | 2,000 nautical miles quoted, 6,814 litres |
| Fresh water | 946 litres. Budget for a watermaker. |
| Price | Not published. Offered on application through Northrop & Johnson. |
| Also look at | Nomad 75 SUV (23.4 m, 8 guests, 4 crew) and Sirena 68 (28 knots, 16-knot cruise, 1,600 l fresh water) |
| Built and launched | Gulf Craft, UAE. Floated and announced 29 July 2026. |
Questions this story answers
What happened?
Gulf Craft floated the 2027 Nomad 70 at its UAE yard on 29 July, the first of the line restyled inside and out by the Dutch studio Phathom. The new boat carries four en suite guest cabins where the outgoing hull carried five, and hands the space back to a main-deck owner's suite with 270-degree glass. For a buyer choosing between a discounted outgoing hull and a deposit on the new one, that single deleted cabin is the whole decision.
What is good about it?
Range beats the bigger sister. The 70 is quoted at 2,000 nautical miles. YachtBuyer's figures give the 23.4-metre Nomad 75 SUV 1,300 nautical miles at 10 knots. The shorter boat goes further on a smaller tank.
What should an owner or buyer watch?
946 litres of fresh water. The outgoing hull carried 946 litres against the Sirena 68's 1,600, while sleeping ten to Sirena's six or eight. Gulf Craft has not published a revised figure for 2027, so a watermaker is not optional equipment on this boat.
Who reported this?
Gulf Craft Group, Nomad Yachts, Phathom Studio, YachtBuyer, Northrop & Johnson.
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