Boat test for the 2004 Ferretti 880 with boat pictures, boat specifications, and boat test results. Includes pricing, videos, engine test reviews, and ratings for the 2004 Ferretti 880.

It’s a long-held (and long-proven) belief that Americans like their toys big: cars, boats, you name it. It’s not just an American male trait, either: Despite my 5’2” frame, I wanted&mdasah;no, needed&mdasah;a roomy SUV as my daily wheels. (Don’t even get me started about what size boat I want; suffice it to say it’s fitting that I’m nicknamed the Megayacht Queen in the Power & Motoryacht office.)

Unfortunately, it’s also proven that when it comes to imported yachts, particularly Italian ones, many have been long on style and sex appeal but short on the space arrangements we Americans favor and, yes, even demand. I’ve watched full-grown men turn into sad-faced boys in the same instant they realize that the boat they want would require them to duck when entering the stateroom doorway and contort themselves uncomfortably to use the coffin-like shower in the en suite head.

That’s not the case aboard the Ferretti 880, the largest yacht in the builder’s product range. While long on head-turning lines and speed (like her smaller sisters), the 880 shows that it is also possible to extend the same generosity to the interior, both in terms of living areas and mechanical spaces.

It starts with the 880’s beam: 22’1”, to be exact, which is upwards of three feet wider than similar-size craft I’ve been aboard. The roominess is especially apparent on the main deck, where the saloon and dining area occupy the same living space without making movie-watchers on the saloon sofas (there’s a pop-up plasma-screen TV to starboard) feel they’re sitting in the laps of diners at the eight-seater table just forward. Indeed, Jim Varela, product manager for Ferretti Yachts here in the States, relayed to me a story about how he invited a professional football player to walk through the yacht a few months ago to prove Ferretti’s dedication to space planning. The athlete was persuaded, according to Varela.

The main deck also manages to tuck the galley to port just forward of the dining area without squeezing it in&mdasah;or making the chef feel squeezed in, either. In fact, the space arrangement is quite clever. White-lacquer wall panels make the room feel larger, and a granite-top island extending out from the starboard side adds always-in-demand counter space without stretching so far as to make it awkward to open the full-size, side-by-side GE refrigerator.

Another clever arrangement waits below decks, in the amidships, full-beam master suite. While most builders place the berth flush against the back bulkhead, Ferretti essentially put it in the center of the room, creating a passageway behind it and putting that space to use: Two mirrored doors slide open in unison to reveal a walk-in wardrobe lined with sueded fabric, automatically illuminating light, and seat. This is in addition to the walk-in wardrobe you’d expect to find in any master (here, forward to starboard). And there’s still space left over for a vanity on one side of the room and settee opposite, plus separate heads (one with a bathtub, the other with a shower, both with MSDs).

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