Hampton 680 Pilothouse Cruiser Review

Hampton 680 Pilothouse 

Cruising Boat of the Year

(12M+ Imported)

Reviewed: August 2009

Author: Modern Boating Magazine

Overview:

This long-distance cruiser is packed with standard features.

Main Features:

Classy saloon, plenty of room and easy to dock – even with two people.

“Hampton 680 – Cruising boat of the year 12m+ Imported”

The Pilothouse design features a planing hull. The main saloon exudes class, with superb cherry wood cabinetwork. The layout is fairly standard, though personalisation is an easy option.

The galley, separate from the main saloon and behind the lower helm station, features Corian bench tops and floor (the pilothouse floor is teak and holly). The lower helm has the feel of a small ship.

The owner’s stateroom takes advantage of the full 5.5m beam and is fully panelled with gloss teak cabinetwork and a burl finish on the bedside table tops. It also features a cedar-lined walk-in wardrobe and an ensuite bathroom with shower. The guest cabins are also fully panelled.

The flybridge, accessed via the cockpit or internal staircase opposite the galley, features plenty of room for entertaining with the usual appliances: fridge, barbecue and a flat screen TV that folds down from the hardtop.

Optional crew quarters are accessed through the saloon companionway or a transom door.

The internal companionway leads down to a utility room with an aluminium-topped workbench almost too good to work on.

A watertight door leads into the engine room where the twin 1015hp C18 Caterpillar ACERT diesels wait for the call to fire up. The boat is also equipped with Wesmar stabilisers and 15hp bow and stern thrusters. Underwater exhausts keep the noise at a pleasant conversation level, or at a gentle burble when bypassed at low idle while manoeuvring or coming into a berth.

From the flybridge and the lower helm station the corners of the boat can’t be seen, so a third control station is positioned in the cockpit for docking, making it easy if there are no helpers on the dock and only two people on board.

Boat Specifications

Boating Performance

In deep water beyond the Southport Seaway, the Hampton 680 Pilothouse recorded the following results:

RPM – knots

1528 : 15

1916 : 20

2326 : 25.6

Boat Specifications

Length overall : 68ft

Length of hull : 67ft

Beam : 18ft 2in

Draft : 4ft 10in

Displacement : 37,194kg dry

Fuel capacity : 5670 litres

Water capacity : 1510 litres

Holding tank capacity : 450 litres

Total berths : 9