You sit low, hunkered beneath the tall wraparound windscreen,
which is deep enough to protect those at the helm even if they
decide to fl ip the seat bolster and stand. The wheel, trimmed in
silky-smooth leather, is chunky without feeling cumbersome and
the throttles are meaty but snick in and out of gear with damped
precision. Two 12in Garmin plotters display the bulk of the
navigation and boat data but there’s a run of attractive backlit
switches on the mid dash that control the regularly used
equipment like wipers and pumps. On the steering wheel boss,
arranged around the Brabus ‘B’, are buttons for the bow thruster
and trim on the left and audio controls on the right. Hard
spins of the wheel can sometimes lead to
catching your wrists on the enlarged
boss, but it’s a small price to pay to have
these major controls just beneath your
thumbs. One oddity is the location of
the active trim control pad between the
wheel and throttles, which forces the
wheel over to the centre and means the
driver has to sit at an awkward angle. However, this is a minor
issue at a helm that makes you want to plug in and just drive.
At Poole Harbour’s 10-knot speed limit the boat is urging to
plane like a chained dog wanting to pounce. It’s only once we are
past the narrows that I can open the taps and begin to explore
the performance on offer. As mentioned, it’s not ideal conditions
for a crossing east to the Solent with wind against tide whipping
up the remnants of some big seas in the days prior. Not ideal is
what we’re after to give this twin-stepped, 20-degree hull
something to think about. We spear south to the end of the main
channel and set a heading east and into the teeth of a messy and
unpredictable sea, the sort which means you have to constantly
be on the throttles to navigate the shifting wave pattern. We’re
four up and only two of us can occupy seats within full shelter
of the windscreen so I take it easy. There’s no doubt that if you
really wanted to drive the boat hard through these conditions it
would indulge you but at 3,000rpm and around 20 knots the
hull soaks up the worst of it without stress and means no one on
board is having to hold on for dear life. Its performance in these
seas is impressive and you have to remember that, despite the
sharp entry of the hull, the 500 is quite beamy, with lots of
seating, a wetbar or sunpad/cabin aft and walkaround decks.
At 9ft 8in (2.95m) wide this is no Sunseeker Hawk but the hull
performance is nevertheless very good. A standout feature is the
comfort in which six people can travel
facing forward and this is partly why the
boat has proved a popular chase boat for
the superyacht brigade.
As the Needles come into view the
sea reaches a fi nal frothing, swirling
crescendo before the lee of the Isle of
Wight delivers some calmer water. The
Mercs are getting into their stride now as we reach 4,500rpm and
a cruising speed of 40 knots. Now we’re getting into what the 500
is designed for, the stepped hull tearing cleanly across the surface
of the water, the motors angled up a touch to clear the forward
end of the hull of the sea and the engines singing at 2,000rpm
short of their max and consuming just 90lph combined. The
40-knot cruise is where this boat lives, where it feels happiest and
where it devours distances to ferry you and your guests to the
local hotspot in refi ned yet rapid progress. I ease the throttles
to their stops, the engine note sharpens and we top out at
53.5 knots with all the nonchalance of a Parisian waiter. The
Shadow’s searing performance feels so easy, its potent mix of
huge power and a thoroughly well sorted hull making aThe boat is urging to
plane like a chained
dog wanting to pounce
The heads in the console
makes day trips comfortableSEE MORE
mby.com/b500A table slots in to the bow area
for onboard picnicsThe aft seats tilt forward to
reveal a large dry storage area
A serious Fusion sound
system for a serious boat