The Fratelli Aprea Sorrento 32 Hard Top will catch your gaze and hold it. Forever.
In a Bay full of vanilla-flavored lookalike cruisers the Fratelli Aprea Sorrento 32 Hard Top is a blast of raspberry, cherry, and blueberry all rolled into one. While it would be easy to expound on this boat’s looks for pages and pages, suffice it to say that it’s unique, from the rounded stern to the flared, strongly upswept bow. The picture tells the story better than we can, but they say that good looks are in the eye of the beholder. So, behold!
Those curvaceous exterior lines are based on the classic European craft known as a “gozzo,” which first appeared in the Mediterranean via Arabian sailors and was refined into different subclasses in certain areas of Italy, each evolving in its own unique ways. Once a relatively simple boat used by fishermen and merchants, today’s gozzo has evolved into luxury recreational vessels. This evolution is evident not just with the Sorrento 32 Hard Top but in every boat Fratelli Aprea builds; note that Cataldo Aprea hand-crafted his first model in 1890, and the shipyard is now in its sixth generation of Apreas.
And as one might expect, in a high-end customized boat like this those graceful exterior lines are matched up with a similarly classic style of interior. But not just inside of the cabin. Rather than eschew the use of classic hardwoods Fratelli Aprea embraces it, outfitting the Sorrento 32 Hard Top with teak decks and mahogany washboards and railings. Down below the trim, cabinetry, doors, and cabinsides glow with varnished wood—even the master stateroom berth’s bedframe is the real deal, hand-crafted with book-matched grain.
Just what all of this woodworking artistry enhances is a fully complimented cruiser’s cabin, with a forward private stateroom, a head, a small but functional galley, and a saloon area with a convertible dinette. Climb the stairs and you’ll find that a full windshield and sides enclose the helm and passenger’s area under a hard top, which is open to the cockpit aft.
The cockpit itself is roomy and airy with a curved settee plus an additional seat inset against the curved transom (with bulk stowage underneath), with a boarding door on the starboard side. The arrangement is capped off with an exceptionally generous swim platform. Still, the bow may prove even more appealing for outdoors lovers. There’s a triple-wide settee integrated into the front of the cabin top and almost all of the foredeck (excluding sidedecks and a forward open deck area) sits under a thick sunpad that’s pillowed at the back.
As traditional as the Fratelli Aprea Sorrento 32 Hard Top is it won’t be surprising to learn that this is a straight inboard boat, powered by a pair of 315-hp Yanmars or Volvo Penta D4-320s. What you will find startling, however, is just how much zest those inboards deliver. Top-end can get up to the upper 30s, and cruising speeds range from the mid-20s to 30 mph. That may not be a screamer by today’s standards, but it certainly is more than respectable—especially considering that the gozzo was originally designed to ply the Med with sails and oars, hundreds of years ago.
By Lenny Rudow
Fratelli Aprea Sorrento 32 Hard Top Specifications:
LOA: 31’6”
Beam: 12’10”
Draft: 4’0”
Displacement (approx.): 22,000 lbs.
Fuel Capacity: 206 gal.
Water Capacity: 92 gal.
Max HP: 640
Local Dealer: S&J Yachts in Annapolis, MD (410.571.3605), Rock Hall, MD (410.571.3605), and Deltaville, VA (804.776.0604)