The judges selected the Activ 705 Cruiser as the winner “because of its mix of fun handling, practical features and class-leading accommodation, Quicksilver¹s first cruiser from its all-conquering Activ range has delivered more knockout blows than a tornado full of boxing gloves. Following the award-winning Activ 645 Cabin, the Activ 705 Cruiser takes the popular design and adds a lot more luxury and clever thinking. The wheelhouse offers an inspired range of seating, dining and sleeping options; enough, in fact, to leave its rivals looking positively bereft. The judges were also impressed with the Activ 705 Cruiser’s value for money and the wide range of inboard and outboard power options, enabling owners to tailor the boat to suit their local cruising environment."

The Activ 705 Cruiser won in a category of boats which the judges said  “continues to surprise and inspire in equal measure, with a simply breathtaking selection of craft, ready and able to launch people into the great boating adventure”.

To win in this category, the judges stated that they were looking for the boat which:
-  best entices people out on to the water
-  best looks after them while they are out on the water
-  offers the best combination of fun, affordability and dependability

This is the third year in a row that Quicksilver has won one of the prestigious European Marine industry awards:  in 2011 the ACTIV 675 won European Powerboat of the Year.  In 2012 the ACTIV 645 Cabin won Motorboat of the Year and in 2013 Quicksilver has again won the Motorboat of the Year award with the Activ 705 Cruiser.

How are the winners selected?
To select the winners of these awards, a panel of independent experts (from the leading boat publications) coordinates the evaluation process.  The first stage is to narrow down hundreds of craft to a handful of potential winners. They then conduct detailed evaluations of each shortlisted product and they subject each boat to intensive testing. The testers are all experienced boaters.

For the Motor Boat of the Year Award, the detailed evaluation of the Activ 705 Cruiser was carried out by the senior test journalist from Motor Boat Monthly, who reported  “We have tested five Activ models now and every one has impressed…”  

So why did the Activ 705 Cruiser win?
Mark Paulhus, who leads Quicksilver’s design team said:  “I am delighted that the Activ 705 Cruiser has won this award.  I think the key to the strength of this new boat lies in the design concept: At the start of the development process, we established some very clear design priorities:  we wanted to provide the best combination of ease of use, safety, comfort and practicality.  We also wanted this Cruiser boat to carry the Quicksilver styling – those key feature lines that that characterizes the Open boats in the Activ range. We also worked hard to achieve the best possible ‘use of space’: on a boat of this size, space is a valuable asset;  we have managed to create a boat with more headroom, more seating, a better galley and a better toilet solution than any product in it’s category. And recognizing that boating needs to be affordable, we were determined to design a product that would offer outstanding value”.

In fact, the design team’s objectives appear to be echoed in the recent Motor Boats Monthly test report:  “Imagine being asked to create the ultimate starter boat. What would you build? We’ve given this some thought and we reckon the top priorities would be manageability, practicality, safety, and value…..

The verdict from the tester was that, ”As a first boat, the Activ 705 Cruiser is tailor made for putting families afloat with minimum hassle and maximum value. However, it also has enough substance and sophistication to entice seasoned day boaters looking to upgrade to a cabin boat”.

Benoit Verley, Head of Sales for Quicksilver said:  “We are very pleased that the judges recognize the capabilities of the Activ 705 Cruiser .  When you use this boat, you realize how intelligent the design and engineering is: the design team have done a great job of packing into a 7 meter cruiser the attributes that our customers are seeking: whether they are experienced boaters or new to boating.   Our challenge now is to ensure that we can supply sufficient units to meet demand – but this is a nice challenge to have. It is an exciting time for the Quicksilver brand.  Following the launch of the award winning ACTIV 675, we have launched the ACTIV 605 Open and Sundeck models, which carry over many of the key design features of the Activ 675 Open.  And in December, we launched the 755 Pilothouse, another extremely strong product, geared for fishing and cruising – which received tremendous interest and sales at the Paris Boat Show”.