43 Sunseeker Superhawk

Source: David Lockwood, Boatpoint Magazine

The Superhawk 43 upholds Sunseeker’s tradition for providing high performance with stylish looks and a luxury way to journey to long distance places, notes David Lockwood

Sun chaser

Though it was released only last year, the Superhawk 43 gets back to Sunseeker’s roots and how it forged a name for itself. Rather than the bigger-is-better superyachts presently rolling out of its UK yard, this point-and-shoot, sun-and-swim, drawn-out and mean-looking offshore runabout is all about less being more. And turnkey pleasure…

Turn the keys, train the bow on an anchorage or eatery, and drive with the wind in your hair, eyes watering, and nigh a bump to worry about. The athletic sports machine derives its performance from a purpose-built, twin-stepped, deep-vee hull and a pair of Volvo Penta 370hp D6 diesel engines with Aquamatic sterndrive legs.

It’s a lithe and lean hull that, due to its sharp entry, deep deadrise, relatively narrow 3.63m beam and low centre of gravity, is unphased by rough water. Least that’s our verdict after taking the Superhawk from Marina Oceanus at the foot of Marina Mirage, which is the home of Sunseeker East Coast Australia, down the Broadwater and along the inside channels.

However, on an average to good day, and in no time, you could blast along the ocean – in this case the outside of the Stradbroke Islands – and be diving and lunching at somewhere desirable and distant.

Indeed, if nothing else, the Superhawk counters the tyranny of distance. It also happens to have a nice and low profile for slotting under many of the Gold Coast’s canal bridges.

But should the mood take you, there’s provision to do more than just work on your tan on the Superhawk 43. Below decks, there’s an open-plan layout with double bed in the bow, flash and functional moulded head with hot shower, and a compact galley in which you could prepare breakfast (I’m thinking a smoked-salmon omelette) on the single-burner stove with a champagne and orange to go. Needless to say, the Superhawk 43 featured in the latest Bond movie, Casino Royale.

BUILDING BLOCKS
Though there are carbon-fibre dash panels and twin wraparound race boat-type helm seats, the hull construction isn’t high-tech. As ever, Sunseeker uses solid handlaid GRP for the running surface with stitched multi-axial reinforced matting and grid-stringer system, and glassed-in bulkheads for stiffness. The topsides and deck are balsa-cored to save weight, with the semi-laden boat displacing just 8515kg, according to the specifications.

While triple – yes, triple! – Yanmar 315hp diesel engines are one option, and twin 480hp Yanmar diesel engines with surface drives is yet another, the demonstrator seemed like a more sensible boat for our waters with twin 370hp electronic Volvo Penta D6 engines with sterndrives. Top speed was still an impressive 42kts with our eyes streaming. Sunseeker claims you can dial up a top speed up to 60kts with more power.

Engine access and servicing room for utility items are gained through hatches under the cockpit seating. I cast my eyes over the boat’s batteries, holding tank, hot-water tank, and found the DC breakers and alloy watertank. But access around the engines is kind of tight by my reckoning. At least the oil dipsticks are on the centreline, there are screw-on fuel filters and with the D6s, you don’t have to worry about coolant overflow bottles. The fuel is forward to create a balanced boat for high-speed offshore work.

Though the boat has overnighting and weekending capability, with 200lt of water and storage for even more litres of French bubbly, the demonstrator didn’t have a generator or inverter. There was no microwave oven and the air-con works only when you are plugged into Shorepower. Though the aforesaid items are optional and desirable, the thinking here was to run with the glam’ dayboat philosophy and, as many sage boaters will tell you, the best bed is always at home anyway.

OUTDOOR LIVING
Lounges are in abundance on the Superhawk 43, a boat designed for high-speed cruising as much as kicking back on the anchor. We came aboard via the teak-topped swim platform with central swim ladder, stepping into the cockpit via a central walkway flanked by twin sunpads on which two couples can kick back. I also noted the obligatory hot/cold transom shower… Bond girls extra.

The stainless steel deckware extends to trendy stanchions for the bowrail and there are toerails tracing the narrow sidedecks. But the best way to the foredeck is through the raked opening stainless steel framed windscreen. Up front, you’ll find another sunpad for two and a concealed windlasss for push-button anchoring.

Back in the cockpit, there’s surround seating for four around a lunch table behind the helm seat, opposite a portside amenities centre with fridge, sink, hot and cold water, and storage. The co-pilot gets a drinkholder, while the helm flaunts a great spread of gear on the low-glare carbon dash and those twin race-style helm seats with flip-up bolsters. The seats are reassuringly supportive when you are on the throttles.

Besides the Volvo Penta engine gauges, I noted a bowthruster, Raymarine E120 chartplotter, autopilot and separate depth gauge. So you could set this boat up for handsfree offshore cruising should the conditions permit. There was also a stereo remote – handy, since this is a boat on which you will want to crank up the music when cruising.

The Volvo Penta’s D6 engines have electronic shifts, which are nice to use, and the sportswheel was linked to a snappy, suitably sporty steering system. Nice big trim tabs can be called on to adjust for beam-on winds during which most deep-vee hulls are inclined to lead to windward.

THE PAD
Where other boatbuilders bend and stretch to please the family boater, Sunseeker has stuck by its not-inconsiderable guns and put the emphasis on performance and styling foremost. Hence, when you enter the lockup cabin, you find headroom of only 175cm or so. But what it lacks in this department it more than makes up for with a plush fitout and function.

There’s a handy hanging locker to port for his and her matching spray or wind-breaking jackets behind which the luxury begins – plenty of high-gloss cherrywood joinery and bone-leather upholstery. The plush L-shaped saloon lounge proved compliant; so-much-so it converts to a Pullman berth for two extra bodies should the party kick on.

Otherwise, with a dinette table on Italian-made Besenzoni pedestal, you can do breakfast or dinner at the lounge. The moulded galley module opposite incorporates a sink, fridge, and single-burner stove, plus there’s supplied cutlery, good storage and ventilation. The Sharp flatscreen television is also within view.

With or without crewmate, the double bed in the bow takes some beating. There’s room to spread out and grab some zeds, an overhead hatch with insect screen, and with the way this boat travels and its shallow draft thanks to sterndrive legs, you should be able to hightail it to a quiet anchorage up the back of somewhere or other.

As touched on, the head has a hot shower, top-shelf Tecma loo, chic vanity and sink.

DRIVE TIME
Even Blind Freddy will see this boat is all about driving pleasure and putting a smile on the dial of those who enjoy living life in the fast lane.

To this end, the 370hp electronic Volvo Penta D6 engines gave an impressive low-speed cruise of 29kts at 2800rpm, 32 to 33kts cruise at 3000rpm, and a fast cruise of 37.4kts (tide assisted) at 3200rpm. Top speed was 42kts at 3550rpm.

So as you might imagine, you can reel in the sea miles and eat up the passages in Sunseeker’s Superhawk 43.

Sight lines are great whether standing with the seat bases down and the wraparound bolster holding you in place or seated, and peering through your shades and the raked wraparound windscreen.

With 1000lt of diesel in the tank, you can range to new day anchorages in no time – and in comfort – places that are considered long-weekend retreats for the plodding pleasure-boat set.

So, for those who covet nothing more than a memorable day in the  summer sun, Sunseeker is true to name.

The Superhawk 43 is an apt for flying around the Med’ as it is moseying about Melbourne, bounding  across the Atlantic or Port Phillip Bay, and darting about the Gold Coast as Trade-A-Boat did with a certain degree of youthful abandon.

HIGHS

• Great straight-line and offshore performance
• Real driving pleasure and sportiness
• Boat looks the bomb and will enhance your image
• Plenty of seats, sunpads and a fridge
• Upmarket head and hot shower
• Accommodation includes an island and Pullman berth
• Nice finish and well-established brand, with big dealer backing

LOWS

• Tight engine room access
• Low headroom below decks
• No generator or inverter for away-from-dock AC power
• No microwave oven
• A lot of bills for what’s essentially a dayboat
• Single-minded sportsboats never command the best resale value

 

Boat Specifications: 43 Sunseeker Superhawk

SUNSEEKER SUPERHAWK 43

Options fitted: Full Raymarine electronics package, bowthruster, upgraded TV and sound system, interior package, teak decks, dinghy inflator and more Priced from: As above w/ Australian specification and twin Volvo Penta D6 370hp electronic diesel motors

GENERAL

Material: GRP fibreglass w/ balsa and foam-cored decks, superstructure and hull sides

Type: Deep-vee planing hull w/twin steps

Length overall: 13.49m

Hull length: 12.45m inc. platform

Beam: 3.63m

Draft: 1.08m

Deadrise n/a

Weight: Approx 8515kg half-load

CAPACITIES

Berths: 2 + 2

Fuel 1000lt

Water: 200lt

ENGINE

Make/model: Volvo Penta D6 370

Type: Six-cylinder electronic diesel engines w/ common rail fuel injection

Rated HP: 370 (355 at crankshaft) at 3500rpm

Displacement: 5.5lt

Weight: Approx 770kg

Gearboxes (Make/ratio): Aquamatic sterndrives 1.63:1

Props: Duoprops