A rather snazzy black and stainless-
steel Cross pen sits on my desk.
Engraved with ‘100 yachts over
100ft’ on one side and ‘Sunseeker’
on the other, it was given to me by
the company when it celebrated
building its 100th 100ft-plus yacht.
Today a big player in the production
superyacht world and with a range
that starts at 50ft, what’s interesting
is that Sunseeker maintains its imageas the ‘sporty’ one of the three big
UK builders, despite the absence of
any seriously high-performance craft
in its current range. The reason of
course, is heritage. Pick up a 1989
Sunseeker brochure and it’s chock full
of racy machinery. The tone is set with
a Mustang 20, capable of 60mph with
the largest engine, or choose from
the Hawk 27, Mohawk 29, Tomahawk
37 or the awesome Thunderhawk 43,all penned by raceboat designer
and driver Don Shead. Back then,
the only flybridge boat was the
rather ungainly-looking Jamaican- How times have changed.
Yet throughout the company’s
evolution into today’s world of seven-
figure leviathans and black customer
Range Rovers, there has always been
a performance boat in the mix, at
least until recently.
The early 2000s saw the popular Superhawk
34 immortalised on screen in the most
exciting James Bond boat chase everSunseeker Superhawk 43
The last in the high-performance Hawk bloodline and 007’s weapon of choice
2006-2009 £150,000-£200,000
94Our Market Expert
Nick Burnham
What to look for aboard the best used boats Email: [email protected]in association withCOPPERCOAT
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