Motor Boat & Yachting - July 2018

Princess V55

A little older and no hardtop but

these are phenomenal value now,

offering great performance and

masses of space for as little

as £130,000 for a 1998 boat.

Fairline Targa 62

Lacks the visual pizzazz

of the Sunseeker but a solid,

stylish and fine-handling hardtop

cruiser. Prices start at £300,000

for a 2003 boat.

Princess V53

Perhaps not quite as cool as the

Sunseeker but a practical boat

with a great cockpit layout and

strong build quality. Prices start

at £250,000 for a 2006 boat.

Date 2004

Price £279,950 SOLD

Twin Volvo Penta D12-715

diesel. A MkI with hardtop.

Location Poole

Contact http://www.boats.co.uk

Date 2005

Price £289,950

Twin Caterpillar C12 16 710hp diesel.

A late MkI with rare white hull.

Location Ipswich

Contact http://www.burtonwaters.co.uk

Date 2006

Price €359,000

Twin MAN V10 1,100hp diesel

Predator 55, mid-40-knot top end!

Location Palma

Contact http://www.nicolle-associates.com

chair in there if you wanted to. As

a result, it’s easier to keep the engines

clean which in turn makes it easier

to spot any issues like oil leaks.”

In fact, there were several engine

options available for the Portofino

53, all twin shaftdrive installations

that benefitted from the hull’s semi-

tunnels for the propellers. At launch,

Sunseeker installed Volvo Penta’s

715hp D12-715 engines or the MAN

D2876 LE 405 units at 730hp each.

From September 2005, Volvo Penta’s

upgraded D12, the 800, found its

way aboard, along with the option of

MAN’s popular and equally powerful

R6 800CRM. A Caterpillar C12-710

option was introduced predominantly

(but not exclusively) for the US

market. All of which provided a

generous spread of engine options

giving speeds (dependent on power)

in the low to mid-30-knot range. But

there was a very intriguing alternative.

Alongside the Portofino 53 in

Sunseeker’s portfolio of pleasure

was a model called the Predator

55. The nomenclature suggests
    a very different model but it wasn’t.
    Above the waterline, it was identical
    apart from one small but important
    detail – the bathing platform
    was a mysterious 2ft longer. Peer

beneath it and the mystery is

immediately solved – a pair of

raceboat-style Arneson surface

drives protrude menacingly from

the stern just beneath the surface.

Out go the shafts and tunnels and

in come twin MAN 900 V8 (D2848 LE

423) and those fearsome Arnesons.

If you are the kind of boat owner for

whom 34 knots is simply not enough,

this is the boat for you.

NEED FOR SPEED... AND SPACE

Powerboat racer Dorian Griffith had

a Thunderhawk 43 in Portugal but

it simply wasn’t big enough. “I needed

more space but didn’t want to

compromise on the performance.

David showed me a Superhawk

50 but that was another narrow, go-

fast boat, it didn’t answer my space

requirements. Then I was presented

with the Predator 55 – it was perfect!

once it’s up and running. Once you

have the hang of it, it’s as easy as

conventional drives, just a little more

involved. And it is spectacular –

absurd performance for a 60ft cruiser

and a rooster tail of spray that looks

like we’ve got a fire hose attached to

the transom!”

These faster Predator versions still

command a premium but with prices

of Portofino 53s now dropping below

£300,000 for the first time, it’s a lot

of classic Sunseeker for the money.

VALUE 

ACCOMMODATION 

PERFORMANCE 

BUILD QUALITY 

OUR VERDICT: 90%

Next month Princess V48

The three cabins mean I have space

for my family (we have three children)

but those engines and drives mean

I don’t compromise on performance.

Flat out we get 42 knots and we cruise

at 40 knots. It’s not economical at

that speed – we’re burning 450 litres

an hour – but dropping back to 30

knots returns a more sensible 240lph.

It’s a great sea boat too, we never

have to slow for bad weather. It’s a

long, heavy boat so it never pounds.”

The Predator 55 was a rare boat.

Only 20 were built out of a total run

of almost 200

Portofino 53s

by the time

production

ceased in

2009, not

least because

the Predator

55 cost a

whopping

£170,000

more than

a shaftdrive

Portofino 53.

Two were also

built with the

larger MAN 1050hp engines and two

with the MAN V10 1100 CRM motors,

giving an even more impressive 45

knots. Driving them required more

specialist knowledge too.

“Because the propellers are

pitched for over 40 knots, at tick-over

ahead it does 7 knots. And because

they are so far aft – actually behind

the boat – if you try and steer going

backwards, the boat remains pointing

the same way but just starts to crab

sideways”, says Dorian. He resolved

the issue by upgrading the bow

thruster and adding a stern thruster.

Now he can power the boat sideways

or spin it by opposing them. “You

need to understand how to drive an

Arneson boat. With the props so close

to the surface and so much power, if

you’re hamfisted, it’s easy to induce

cavitation. The key is to feed the

power in gently and then trim out

RIVALS

WHAT’S ON THE MARKET

Volvo D12s were the

standard option for

most Portofi no 53s

The Predator 55 is

powered by Arneson

surface drives

USEDBOAT BOAT MASTER