Written by Charlotte Thomas
27 January 2022
The winter in Northern Europe may have bitten hard over the past few days, just when the boot Düsseldorf boat show was due to take place, but the freezing temperatures and the cancellation of the show due to Germany’s COVID situation did little to cool the enthusiasm of the Sunseeker team.
It was supposed to be the grand reveal of the new Predator 65 in the flesh, but instead, Sunseeker’s CEO Andrea Frabetti and Sean Robertson, Sales and Marketing Director, took to the webinar format to talk about the company’s plans over the coming few months and beyond.
It comes off the back of what Frabetti says has been a very successful period. “We have a nice situation now,” he offered, “returning to the boat show season with almost £500 million [approximately AUD$950 million] in forward orders.”
What was immediately clear is that the British brand is not slowing down on its commitment – announced at the Cannes boat show in 2018 – to evolve existing models and develop new ones to double the customer offering from 11 models to 22.
That goal was assisted in 2021 with the unveiling of the so-called Famous Five, and with a further four launches planned this year, Sunseeker is clearly looking to hold its momentum to reach a 20-model line-up by the end of the year.
Moreover, Frabetti confirmed that the current plan is to launch five new models in 2023, and a further four new models in both 2024 and 2025.
First up is the Predator 65, which is launched with the first completed model currently lying in Poole at the company’s production facility. This will be followed later in the year by the 100 Yacht, with the new Superhawk 55 announced as due in Q3.
The Superhawk in particular has been highly anticipated. “It’s us going back to the future and reintroducing something that Sunseeker cut its teeth on, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s,” Robertson enthused.
“The classic Hawk ranges culminated with the 43 and 48 Superhawks, which were just unmistakable. They were so different for their time, offering so much innovation, performance and comfort to clients that we’ve been constantly hounded for the past seven or eight years by clients and dealers saying they want that way of boating again.”
The new 55 is not simply a rehash of the originals, but rather a modern interpretation of them. The model includes a level cockpit with space for sunbathing, dining or reclining according to how a client wants to configure it, easy foredeck access with pop-out doors from the cockpit and a full walkaround design to get to the foredeck, a semi-hardtop, high-low bathing platform with float-in tender garage behind, and a water toys drawer under the aft sunbed. This will be coupled to IPS drives to offer easy handling from dock to top speed, which will be 40 knots.
“We’ve already seen unprecedented interest and orders, even though it’s a Q3 launch,” Robertson added.
“It’s almost like a clamouring of clients wanting to get their name against this boat going forward. The Superhawk 55 is undoubtedly the most desirable boat of the year.”
Slightly bigger than the Superhawk, the yacht that was going to be officially launched at Düsseldorf is the member of another iconic Sunseeker line, the Predators.
Robertson described it as “the naughtier brother of the 65 Sport Yacht successfully launched last year” and said it has the performance of its sibling coupled with both the “drop-dead gorgeous” looks of the sleek carbon hardtop and the practicality of a three- or four-cabin layout.
Sunseeker is offering prospective clients sea trials on the 65 from this week at its HQ in Poole, UK, and Robertson believes the model’s appeal will stretch beyond the European boating scene. “We feel this is a key yacht for North America where we’ve always seen a huge demand for the Predator style of boat,” he said.
The third 2022 launch alluded to was the 100 Yacht, which as CTO Ewen Foster explained in the just-released Issue #99 of Ocean magazine is the largest yacht the company could design and build while still keeping under the 24-metre loadline regulatory boundaries.
“Why the 100 Yacht is so key is we’ve seen some of the niche model offerings like the 90 Ocean [launched last year] with that bit of utilitarian bulkiness to them and then you go completely opposite to this gorgeous 100-footer,” Robertson enthused.
“But it hides what is probably one of the most practical and spacious designs we’ve ever incorporated into a yacht of this size.”
Key to this is the flybridge design, which links to the foredeck area via walkways either side of the low-profile pilothouse. The result is effectively 90 feet of entertaining deck with the added benefit of great sightlines and views all around.
The foredeck itself also serves as a private terrace for the forward master suite, which features forward glass sliding doors that curve overhead into the coachroof to add a welcome burst of additional light.
Aside from the three models discussed – and the many more models hinted at – Frabetti also gave a general update, including the news that Sunseeker has a new distribution structure in Hong Kong for the Asian markets through NextWave Yachting, who is based at Repulse Bay on the south side of Hong Kong island. “It’s a world-class facility to host clients and represent the Sunseeker brand,” Frabetti said.
Finally, Frabetti said Sunseeker is looking forward to getting back to the boat show circuit. “We believe that shows are the best time to spend a good moment with customers, comparing our products to those of the competition,” he offered.
“We still believe in the importance of the boat show events, more than many of our competitors.”
With that in mind, it looks like another exciting year for the British marque, with some very interesting new models to explore in the flesh. It’s enough to warm the enthusiasm through the cold European evenings.