Apollonian Yachts 56 Pilothouse

About Apollonian Yachts

Observing a lack of affordable new pilothouse boats, the team at Apollonian Yachts saw an opportunity to bring a 3-stateroom boat with true raised pilothouse to the market. Designed by renowned naval architect Howard Apollonio in conjunction with experienced offshore powerboater and longtime yacht salesman Vic Parcells, these boats combine modern technology with practical elegance. Howard’s past yachts have been built in the US, Canada, Holland, Taiwan, and China by Christensen, Westport, Diaship/Heesen, Hampton/Regency, Cheoy Lee, West Bay/Son-Ship, Queenship/Caribe, McKinna, Heisley, Rayburn, and Canoe Cove, among others. Now, Howard lends his namesake to this truly remarkable line of affordable raised pilothouse motoryachts intended to meet the cruising needs of boaters here in the USA, Canada, and throughout the world.

Every element of these boats has been carefully thought out, starting with brand-new tooling and state of the art contemporary construction. Built to Howard’s exacting standards, the main deck is one continuous part that encompasses the transom, outer stairwell, cockpit, salon floor, stairwell from salon to pilothouse, and the pilothouse itself. The deck and hull are crafted using closed cell cored, vacuum-bagged, and infused fiberglass and vinyl ester resin construction. This method minimizes deck and hull weight while also increasing strength. After years of careful planning, preparation, and construction, new boats started arriving in North America in 2020. The design is a hit—fast, efficient, smooth-running hulls, complimented by remarkable interior volume, with spacious and comfortable accommodations often found in much larger yachts. Each boat launched is fully deserving of Howard’s signature and meets Vic’s exacting standards.

The 56 Pilothouse

Much like the Apollonian 52, the 56 has a 16’ 10” beam, wide walkarounds, a massive interior, spacious salon aft of the galley, dinette, three huge staterooms, two heads, and a day head in the pilothouse. Building on a great platform in the 52, the 56 adds more powerful standard engines and a table in the cockpit. The traditional raised pilothouse layout has proven to be a functional standard in comfort and onboard livability. The interior features abundant American cherry, including book matched burled cabinet tops. The galley is fully furnished with household-sized stainless steel appliances and plenty of storage. Three large cabins include a full-beam master suite with a queen-sized bed and ensuite head. A large VIP has a queen bed and direct access to an ensuite head. The third cabin is a bunk cabin. A full-sized washer and separate dryer are in the foyer on the cabin deck. A convenient day head is adjacent the pilothouse and galley.

A large open flybridge is accessed by an internal floating stairway. The flybridge includes a second helm station, an al fresco dining table with seating, a wet bar, and electric BBQ. There is also plenty of room to lounge on the aft flybridge deck or to stow a RIB. A large sun pad rounds out the bridge-deck accommodations.

The engine room is clean and uncluttered, with great access. Twin 550 hp Cummins 6.7 engines come standard, providing very comfortable cruise speeds of 15-17+ knots. Vessel purchase includes an extensive one-year new boat warranty, plus worldwide Cummins factory warranty on the engines.

Quality & Performance

Apollonian Yachts aren’t just finely finished and packed with features and accommodations; they’re also designed to be rugged, reliable, and long lasting. Complementing our durable hull designs described earlier, the engines are carefully placed within the hull to optimize performance. Twin aluminum fuel tanks run athwartships ahead of the engines, creating a dividing bulkhead that keeps engine noise away from the cabins. The positioning of the engines also provides weight and balance advantages, keeping the boat’s center of gravity low for improved seakeeping.

The Apollonian 56 uses ZF2.5/1 gears, straight 2 1/2” stainless steel shafts with PYI/PSS Dripless shaft seals, bronze I struts with cutlass bearings, and 30x24 NiBrAL 4 bladed props. A low shaft angle of less than ten degrees increases overall performance and efficiency by directing engine power directly to the props without torque losses associated with the additional gears used in pods or V-drives. The boats are easy to maneuver with a standard Vetus bow thruster that can be used in combination with the twin engines and shaft drives. Benefits of shafts include their consistent performance and reliability along with lower overall costs from initial installation throughout the lifetime of the vessel. Pods and joysticks simply cost more, and experience tells us that there is little return on that investment in vessels like those built by Apollonian Yachts.

An additional benefit is that the drive system of the Apollonian 56 can be easily serviced at any boatyard in the world and does not require special maintenance, fluid and filter changes, and expensive proprietary hardware like some pod systems do. In the waters of the Pacific Northwest where debris can damage propulsion systems, shafts, struts, and props can be repaired or replaced more cost effectively than pod systems can. The spacious engine room on the Apollonian 56 is well lit and laid out to provide the type of access needed to service engines and systems easily. It includes an Onan 13.5 kW generator, Magnum Energy, 2800 Watt inverter, Mastervolt 12-75-3 and 12-40-3 battery

chargers along with Racor 900s on the main engines and a Racor 500 on the generator. Other nice touches are site gauges for the fuel tanks, easily accessible bronze through hull valves, and sea strainers with transparent bowls on the mains, generator, and air conditioning intakes.

An Exceptional Value

While our competitors offer a lot of expensive options, Apollonian yachts incorporate many of these features–and more–as standard. Our boats are delivered turn-key and ready to go. The Apollonian 56’s long list of standard equipment includes a deluxe Garmin electronics package valued at $38,000 that comes with a Phantom radar, autopilot with remote, AIS, VHF, electronic charts, and twin 16” 8616MFD displays with two 11” repeaters on the flybridge. Other notable standard equipment includes a Lewmar electric windlass, anchor and ground tackle, an inverter, AGM 8D battery system, an electric bow thruster with its own AGM batteries, reverse cycle heat and air throughout the boat, canvas covers for exterior furniture, Samsung flat screen TVs with Bose surround sound system, and much more. Features that would amount to around $100,000 of options on other comparable vessels are all included on the Apollonian 56, making it an even better value than the price tag suggests.

A great deal of thought was put into the design layout and equipment installed in every Apollonian. Years of boating and design experience combine to create modern and efficient cruisers that have the type of quality equipment and luxurious accommodations serious boaters desire. When you consider the way each Apollonian is constructed, and the type of materials and select products installed on every vessel, they are amazingly affordable. Schedule an appointment to see for yourself. Once onboard you will understand the exceptional quality, comfort, and value that Apollonian Yachts delivers.