Sunseeker Predator 56

The day began with a hot coffee and a sugar-dusted brioche in a cafe overlooking the waterfront at the foot of a long wharf where our boat was waiting. Nothing new about that, you might say. Not so. The brioche was beyond expectations, as was our introduction to the 56-footer.

I knew I was in for something special when the skipper called me over to the boat to suggest it would look better with its jet-powered RIB off the boarding platform. I agreed, whereupon the crew, a petite girl who helps maintain this masterly craft, dispatched the tender effortlessly.

A press of a button and the boarding platform lowered into the harbour and the RIB floated free. Another press of the button and the platform assumed its original position. Before you could say 'cappuccino' the teak decking was dry.

The hydraulic boarding platform would make a neat launching pad for dive expeditions. Apparently there's a photo taken in the Med of a couple sitting semi-submerged on director's chairs on the boarding platform. Nearby is a hot and cold swimming shower and a transom door leading aboard.

Within minutes I was treated to another cool trick. Considering the sun was beaming down, the skipper suggested his 56-footer would look better with its top down. So our bosun mate pressed another button and, lo and behold, the (optional) electric sunroof retracted concertina fashion, as you might expect to find on a cabriolet.

Such are the exceptional features of the Sunseeker Predator 56. It distinguishes itself from other sportscruisers or express-style motoryachts in lots of ways. Not only through automated innovation, not just through a stunning interior, but also via tried and true seakeeping.

Pitched as a long-range, high-speed ocean runner, the Predator 56 is founded on a race-bred hull. Landed here, it will set you back over A$2 million as tested. But what other boats can reel in the nautical miles in such style - roof down, at high 20kt cruise - and then deliver an interior that is more in keeping with a motoryacht than a svelte sportsboat?

SUNSEEKER FAME
Based in Dorset, England, Sunseeker prides itself on being one of the most highly-esteemed production boatbuilders in Europe. Unlike most of its competitors, it offers customisation, flexibility in layouts, various interior arrangements and finishes.

Its four ranges include flybridge motoryachts, performance motoryachts (the Predators), offshore cruisers and high performance sportsboats capable of maintaining 60kt at sea. All the boats turn in impressive top speeds without modifications to engines or engineering.

Recently, Poms Ian Sanderson and Peter Dredge launched a pace attack on the world record for a powered circumnavigation of mainland Great Britain. They knocked three hours and four minutes off the time, taking 39hrs 50mins, averaging 36.15kt in their production-made 38ft Sunseeker XS2000 with triple engines.

I don't doubt a Sunseeker could set a new around-Australia record given the opportunity.

There are now 14 Sunseekers in Australian waters. Obviously, their seaworthiness has struck a chord with local buyers looking for a luxury boat that won't stumble enroute to the Whitsundays or Palm Beach when it's blowing.

BUYERS GET THE WORKS
Buyers of this style of boat, an express with a hardtop, are typically ex-owners of production flybridge cruisers who are interested in a single-level deck for entertaining and social reasons. One new Sunseeker owner bought a 50-footer as his first boat after researching top-to-bottom everything else that was available.

The Sunseekers are making inroads in Sydney, with at least six now on the water, and since the Sydney International Boat Show in July other models are on order. A Predator 68, two sizes up from this one, will arrive in October. A Manhattan 64 motoryacht is due before the end of the year.

New Australian East Coast dealers have been appointed and there are moves to actively market the Sunseekers and provide a dedicated after-sales service for the growing band of buyers.

Aside from everything else, people are jumping aboard Sunseekers because they come with everything, and I do mean everything, to set you on your way.

The Predator 56, a performance motoryacht, also has a Royal Daulton dinner setting in a special cabinet, matching salt and pepper shakers and a tea set with milk jug - all in a special Sunseeker pattern. There are crystal champagne flutes, decanters and tumblers, cutlery in a felt-lined drawer, spares, owner's manuals, a toolkit, boathook, mooring ropes and fenders, towel sets, bedding, blinds, deck chairs... Need I go on?

Yet before I had discovered all the good gear stowed below, and not long after we lowered the tender into the harbour and tied it alongside, I took time out to take in the Predator 56's cockpit. It's definitely hospitable, with room to entertain on one level under cover or - electric roof open - with the sun kissing your skin.

You don't get a lot of wind through the sunroof, even when running hard at sea. In any case, should the waves whip up it takes just a push of a button at the helm and the top is closed. And in this guise offshore, I failed to sense any spray being sucked back inside the cockpit.

Beneath the signature blue and gold Sunseeker gelcoat, the Predator 56 has a handlaid balsa-cored hull and deck. They work as one unit, stiffened by longitudinal stringers, bulkheads and floors. The boat tips the scales at 23,600kg, more than some boats of similar length from UK builders. The Predator 56 is built to ERCD and RINA specifications.

OUTDOOR LIVING
Lounges across the transom continue forward under the hardtop. You can sit indoors or out, with space for up to eight people around what appears to be an oak lunch table. Trendy Sunseeker deckchairs provide a casual setting for owners at breakfast time. The aft lounge also converts to a giant sunpad, which should come in handy at anchor.

Underway, the skipper and co-pilot sit side-by-side at the helm, opposite a navigator, with the guests behind. The social competency of the Predator 56 is further enhanced by a wetbar with sink, hot and cold water, icemaker, bottle locker and icebox (with Moet inside), in an amenities centre opposite the lounges. There is also a griddle for low-fat barbecues.

The deck gear is through-bolted and custom-made from polished marine-grade stainless steel. Teak sidedecks lead to the forward sunpad and the foredeck, where there is a remote control in a huge locker with fenders and deckwash so you can operate the capstan. The windscreen wipers have double or pantograph arms and washers.

Among the details are foot-level courtesy lights, dedicated liferaft storage in the cockpit, storage lockers beneath the lounges, a safety door across the stern, glass holders and lots of practical teak decking that should stand up to a boatload of merrymakers.

DRIVING STATION
Sunseeker made 400 boats last year and its express-style models, with the targas or hardtops, are among the most popular. Headroom inside the Predator 56 isn't huge, but I found enough room to waltz about without sconing myself.

With the hardtop in place, there isn't standing room at the lower helm. But with the sea base folded up you can drive comfortably and take the load on your thighs. In any case, the 56ft offshore hull isn't one to get airborne or off line.

An owner/driver's boat, the Predator 56 has very simple electrical systems that even a first-time boatie can operate. When you step aboard you need do nothing more than open a hatch in the cockpit to turn on the isolators and then turn the keys to start the engines.

With vee-drives, the twin MAN V-eights have plenty of servicing room. Access through the cockpit hatch is a tad tight, but once inside you can check the strainers, filters, seacocks, hydraulic steering system, hot-water heater, generator and so on, without getting a stiff neck.

The generator was an 11kW model suited to running the three air-conditioning units as well as galley appliances and a full head of lights. Incidentally, it was barely audible from the owner's aft cabin, with just the faintest purr.

Back at the lower helm, the only helm on the boat, you'll find excellent vision to all quarters of the Predator 56 and a bowthruster to make docking even easier. As with many UK boats, there's a dedicated chart area, wooden-rimmed wheel, rudder indicator, simple trim tabs, radio/CD remote and gauges aplenty.

Finger-tip Mathers controls and an impressive spread of electronics made the Predator 56 cruise-ready. I found a chain counter searchlight, VHF radio, radar, depth sounder and autopilot. Basically, you get everything you need to undertake long passages during the day or night, hands-free if you want. An aftermarket Tracphone Inmarsat system allows the owner of this boat to call home from anywhere in the world.

SALUBRIOUS SALOON
Externally, the Predator 56 has some daring deck mouldings - around the engine vents in particular - and the look of a sleek express. But its low profile, which helps make it so directionally stable at sea, defies the generosity down below.

I stepped down the companionway and felt my breath slip away. Beautiful downlights and lots of luscious high-gloss cherrywood, with judicious use of elegant furnishings, create an atmosphere befitting of a hotel on New York's Park Lane. And almost as intimidating.

Hinged cherrywood benchtops lift back on hydraulic struts to reveal the hideaway galley to port. With the lids down, you can maintain a clean and elegant look in the saloon even though dirty plates with half-eaten party pies might be hiding below.

Among the concealed amenities are a two-burner ceramic hob, microwave/grill, rubbish receptacle, and a six-setting crockery and cutlery set held safely in overhead lockers. The crystal champagne glasses and decanters are in a cabinet nearby, while the entertainment centre has a Grundig television with optional DVD and a CD system with surround sound. The big fridge and freezer hide behind cherrywood facias.

Three air-conditioning units service the saloon and the cabins to either side. All portholes have flyscreens and privacy curtains. On a bulkhead are a brass Wempe barometer, clock and thermometer, while overhead is a nice timber ceiling feature.

The giant lounge to starboard, which snakes around the boat opposite the galley and entertainment centre, is finished in pleated leather. The dinette, with folding leaves, provides a dinner setting or parlour for three couples. While the lounge converts to a double berth, and you could sleep two more on the sunpad in the cockpit, accommodation is really geared towards two couples.

There are separate cabins either end of the boat, each with an island double berth and ensuite. The aft ensuite can be accessed near the companionway and doubles as a dayhead. In both cabins you get fully lined hanging lockers with matching timber grains, trendy timber blinds or curtains, soft-touch leatherette wall liners, and bedspreads with a blue and gold silk pattern and soft pillows.

Back aft, the owner's master cabin is a little down on headroom, but the luxury makes up for it. There are, among other things, a dedicated dressing area with pull-out pew, your own television and climate controls and a beautiful chest of drawers tracing the contours of the liner.

The ensuites feature separate shower stalls and designer bathroom fittings, black Avonite countertops, trendy taps and mixers, Vacuflush loos, automatic extractor fans and Sunseeker towels. All the doors have triple catches so they don't rattle at sea. You won't get a better night's sleep in that hotel in Park Lane.

IN THE SADDLE
Finally, we were on our way in the Predator 56, ready to eat up the sea miles and lob at a neighbouring port. We started out with a tour of duty of the harbour and poked our nose outside, where a ground swell and south-westerly wind made for a potentially uncomfortable ride.

Had this been my boat, parked outside my waterfront apartment, I'd probably use it as an entertainer and commuter for a waterfront estate up the coast. I might pack the golf clubs aboard and lob at Port Stephens, park at the anchorage, play a round at Horizons, have one of the signature bouillabaisses from the restaurant and head back home in time to prepare for Monday's meeting.

But reality struck somewhere out between the Heads. I had to pull on the reins to bring the Predator 56 back home. It would have been oh-so-easy to keep tracking up the coast at 26kt, such was the ease with which this hull and the twin 800hp V-eight MANS were doing it, with only the noise of water playing on the aggressive reverse chines.

At 1800-2000rpm these motors - popular with a lot of Euro motoryacht builders - returned a nice long-range cruise speed of 20-21kt. At such speeds you will use around 80-100lt/hr a side, giving a range of more than 250nm.

Fully laden, with the throttles to the dash, I noted a top speed of 34kt. As we galloped back down the harbour at 30kt with the top down, we could maintain a conversation without losing our words to the wind.

A little in-trim helps provide optimum vision through the wraparound windscreen at moderate planing speeds. The props, which sit in tunnels, hold on beautifully as you bank. The steering is light and, for a 56-footer, the Predator is manoeuvrable.

With a touch of bowthruster we were back in our berth. A press of a button and the RIB resumed its original position on the submersible boarding platform. It all seemed too easy for a 56-footer - it's definitely an owner/driver boat.

There aren't too many other boats this well set up for social intercourse. Like an open house, its upper decks offer seating, views and protection from inclement weather. Down below, you will find an exemplary example of luxury afloat for owners who demand as much.

I brushed the sugar crystals - courtesy of my morning brioche - from the corner of my moosh and returned to the cafe to ponder the weighty Sunseeker brochure. I wonder how the next test will begin? With a jacuzzi on the deck of the company's 105-footer? Local agents have fielded inquiries. I'd better put my Speedos aside just in case.

HIGHS

LOWS