Each month we pick out an iconic boat that can lay claim to the title of world’s coolest boat. This month, we take a closer look at the Sunseeker Superhawk 43
Launched at the 2023 Düsseldorf Boat Show, Sunseeker’s new Superhawk 55 was rightly applauded for its looks, innovation, space and its return to the open boat ethos instead of the usual hardtop formula that dominates the segment these days.
But perhaps the most intriguing aspect of all was – whisper it – it wasn’t actually a Superhawk at all. Sunseeker insisted it harked back to the icons of its past but the model line it most closely resembles is the Portofino range: beamy, comfortable open cruisers with sub 40-knot top ends. Lovely boats but patently not race-bred, high-performance machines.
If you want to know what Superhawk really stands for, you need to delve back to 2006, when the last proper Superhawk hit the water. The 43 was low, narrow and absolutely beautiful. This is a Porsche 911 GT3 to the Superhawk 55’s Porsche Macan. Like the 911, you pay the price in the packaging.
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After all, simple physics dictate that something this missile-shaped isn’t going to compete with a Princess 43 flybridge. Down below, the open-plan cabin features a double bed in the bow, a heads, a galley and a small dinette with a backrest that hinges up Pullman-style to create a couple of occasional bunk beds. But to be fair, it’s all a couple really needs for a weekend away.
Up top, orbited by a gorgeous sweep of stainless steel windscreen frame, the cockpit is dominated by three drop-bolster seats at the front and two long sunpads aft, with a dinette squeezed between them. There’s no doubt that the new 55 blows it out of the water for sheer space. But what a Superhawk is really about, is pace…
You sacrificed a bit of volume but that’s exactly what made it so cool
Volvo Penta D6-350s were the base engines and even they would take it past 40 knots. Triple Yanmar 315hp motors lifted it into the mid 40s, but it was the twin Yanmar 480hp diesels linked to Arneson surface drives that really got a shimmy on, with a 50-knot top end. And just like that 911, the Superhawk could handle the pace effortlessly, without any of the shuddering you might get from a more voluminous platform.
In fact, it could handle even more. The last ever Superhawk 43 was fitted with twin Mercruiser 700Si petrol engines linked to NXT-1 drives for over 60 knots. It was the last true Superhawk and for performance fans all the better for it.
To submit your suggestion for the world’s coolest boat, head over to the MBY forum.
Sunseeker Superhawk 43 specifications
Year: 2006 LOA: 44ft 4in (3.5m)
Beam: 11ft 10in (3.6m)
Power: Twin Yanmar 480hp diesel engines
Speed: 48 knots
Price when new: £293,691
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