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With apologies to Neil Armstrong, the Northcoast 84 may be a small step up for yacht owners, but she's a giant leap forward for the builder. For while she's based on the Pacific Northwest yard's successful 82, you'd never know it. She has enough new styling features inside and out, as well as new engineering features, that she not only makes you forget the sibling relationship, but also poses a challenge to other American builders' offerings in this same size range.

The new styling features were among the things that convinced a couple from southwest Florida to commission the first 84, which they christened Southern Lady. Having owned an American-built 60-foot sportfisherman, they were looking for a larger yacht, but not one so large that they wouldn't be able to handle it themselves. After all, the husband enjoyed running the 60-footer from the flying bridge and wanted to do the same on his next yacht. Northcoast met that need by creating a new flying-bridge helm. Where the 82 had a steering station that like those of most yachts in this size range was basically comprised of repeaters, Southern Lady has nearly a full helm here. Another feature she has that you won't find on most yachts smaller than 100 feet LOA is wing stations. And yet another set of controls is mounted on the aft deck.

Even the fact that Southern Lady is a flying-bridge motoryacht is noteworthy. During the past few years, sky-lounge configurations have gained in popularity. But while the additional inside gathering spot on the flying bridge in this type of layout is a nice idea, it greatly reduces the amount of usable outdoor space up top. And since most owners prefer to stow a RIB and/or watertoys aft of the sky lounge, they usually can only squeeze in a small outdoor table and benchseat.

These drawbacks don't exist on Southern Lady. In fact, Northcoast graced her with much more seating than the 82 featured. The yard eliminated the 82's small L-shape lounge, replacing it with two L-shape lounges and tables aft of the helm, followed by a barbecue, icemaker, and sink amidship. A RIB stows fully aft, alongside a 2,000-pound-capacity Marquipt davit. The part of the flying bridge that supports the RIB and davit is also different on the 84 compared to the 82: Where the aft deck was open to the sun on the 82, it's shaded by the 84's extended flying bridge. It's sure to be appreciated by the owners and guests when they're taking in the Gulf Coast scenery from the molded-in seat (replacing loose furniture or countering the assumption that everyone would prefer to gather on the flying bridge).

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