Motor Boat & Yachting — August 2017

The master suite, amidships,

has huge hull windows and a

private companionway

One of the two identical

guest cabins accessed via

the forward stairs

The VIP is tucked well

forward into the bows

with an unusually tall bed

A CLOSER LOOK

OF THE MANHATTAN 66

BEACH CLUB

PACKAGE

First spotted on the

Manhattan 52 (MBY,

Nov 2016), the drop-

down stern seat, the

folding BBQ and the

fixed, full-height shower

that unfolds neatly from

the transom add greatly

to the versatility of the

bathing platform.

SLIDING HELM SEATS

Simple but effective,

each of the twin helm

seats is mounted on a

fore-and-aft slider, as

you would expect, and

on another turned

through 90º. This allows

them to move from side

to side, and out of the

way when you want to

use the side door.

COCKPIT DOORS

With a main deck galley

sited aft, it’s important

that it communicates

directly with the cockpit.

The cockpit doors are in

three sections, each of

which slides neatly out

of the way to starboard

behind the flybridge

steps, opening up the

main deck.

ENGINEROOM

A hatch in the cockpit sole reveals a

tightly-packed but tidy machinery space.

As with the Manhattan 52, the 66 comes

with either shafts on V-drive transmissions

• which are deeply buried for servicing


• or IPS drives. The engines stay where
  they are in either case, with long jackshafts
  fitted to connect the IPS drives. Filters are
  fairly accessible on the forward bulkhead,
  while the fuel tanks are also mounted
  forward, with the genset on the port side.

a good deal chillier than the balmy 20°C
or thereabouts that we enjoyed on our
test day off Mallorca.
However, it was felt that the main
culprits were more likely to be weight
and drag. For not only had the Williams
tender (325kg) and the passerelle (300kg)
both been added since Sunseeker’s sea
trials – and added right aft, where the effect
of their weight is quite disproportionate

• but also the Sleipner fi n stabilisers had
  been retro-fi tted, sticking out into the
  water fl ow and adding signifi cant drag,

notwithstanding their slippery appearance

and their ability, when properly adjusted,

to contribute a modicum of lift.

Sunseeker’s design team will be looking

at the 66’s propellers with a view to fi tting

a pair of fi ner pitch, which should quickly

reinstate the missing revs and speed.

Even so, the Manhattan provided us

with an enjoyable and pretty lively ride,

with sensitive, precise handling and good

acceleration. No doubt things would

sparkle a little less brightly with the

1,000hp MANs, and it would also be

BOAT REPORT