World exclusive sea trial | Flat out in Sunseeker's all-new Superhawk 55 | Motor Boat & Yachting

MBY editor Hugo Andreae was one of the world's first journalists to test drive the all-new Sunseeker Superhawk 55. Here's his verdict on the first new model in this legendary range for more than a decade...
Sunseeker Superhawk 55 specifications
LOA: 56ft 10in / 17.32m
Beam: 16ft 3in / 4.95m
Draft: 4ft 8in / 1.43m
Displacement: 26,100kgs / 57,500lbs
Water capacity: 430L / 114 US gal
Fuel capacity: 1,800L / 476 US gal
Engines: Twin 725hp Volvo Penta IPS950
Top speed on test: 38.3 knots
Fuel consumption: 140lph @ 20 knots
Cruising range: 192nm @ 20 knots
Noise: 77 db(A)
Starting price: £1,535,000 (ex. VAT)
Price as tested: £1,770,000 (ex. VAT)
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[@sib610]

Legendary race boat designer Don Shead designed the old ones, accountants designed this one. They’ve done an excellent job on the inside but the outside is too bland and similar to all the other brands for me. Good review.

[@djham2916]

I would be very surprised that an accountant did the exterior design work, but I get your point, that sunseeker has evolved into a business driven by decisions that make good business sense. Seems fair.

[@besenzon1]

So true. Same with all boat builders though. They should have called it a Mustique or Martinique or Tomahawk. It’s not a Superhawk

[@mcsvls]

Cool Boat, Great Tour. Tragic Salon. Nothing like relaxing inside to get out of the heat or weather and face the galley.

[@nickwebb9290]

Terrific review Hugo, they’re always excellent sir. To be honest, if I was in the market for boat in this price bracket this wouldn’t be it but Sunseeker have done a grand job on and hope it’s successful for them 😁

[@rykehuss3435]

what would it be?

[@hugoandreae3785]

Thanks Nick

[@coalitionperformance5901]

Beautiful open cockpit and for a new boat looks great. Think it’s more of a camargue than superhawk but still great tour so thanks 🙏

[@hugoandreae3785]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@joev3512]

Gotta agree with the others. This has little to do with the Superhawks of old, it's neither a proper Superhawk nor a proper Predator, just an insanely expensive toy offering not a lot in terms of usefulness. The new Manhattan 55 is the only attractive SS model in my humble opinion, one I'd pick up in a heartbeat had their prices not gone through the roof. Anyhow, thanks for the tour, Hugo!

[@hugoandreae3785]

No worries, glad you enjoyed it

[@justinlinnane8043]

Superb tour and well done for getting it first ! It's a beautifully executed boat . Thanks Hugo.

[@hugoandreae3785]

Thanks Justin

[@manuelrosado7583]

Great review. Amazing boat 👏

[@robertlangley1664]

Beautiful boat well done Sunseeker I hope the orders are flooding in . Great news for the British boating industry and jobs ,

[@werner3971]

Great video hugo!👍

[@dtutssel]

I love it. Thanks for the tour. I think they work better with a 2nd cameraman instead of a 1st person handheld and always nice to see them out on the open sea.

[@besenzon1]

Great video

[@ManssourJ]

Sad that a modern superhawk is so slow!! Defeats the brand. I have had 4 super hawks….all do between 50-75 knots…..that’s the whole point.

[@lgriestra]

Very good video. Congratulations.

[@hugoandreae3785]

Thank you, we try to give a proper in depth honest review

[@maryholder3795]

The lady can move, very responsive to the movement of the helm and her hull keeps her stable despite the turns to port or starboard. She is sleek and the deck /salon is nicely furnished with plenty of seating options and catering and the area is the full width off the boat. The all the toys that the owner wants are there while the helm is compact with all the necessary screens nicely presented. So far the outside is great as expected of a Sunseeker. Inside is a large well lit salon with seating and well appointed galley I think. I Like both cabins and heads, comfortable. Is she worth the price? She will be someone with a love of boating and deep pockets. Great review thank you Hugo..

[@hugoandreae3785]

My pleasure

[@jeffpierce3436]

This is a nice boat but with those engines, they should call it the Superchicken! 😂🤷‍♂️! Come on Sunseeker, you can’t tell me that the 1350’s wouldn’t work, making it a true SUPERHAWK!! Great job, as always, Hugo👍

[@nicbennett6554]

Hugo, 10/10 for you. Great passion as always and all the detail we would want. Boat, 8/10. It’s very nice; nice speed; nice design; nice practicality. Only trouble is, should a SuperHawk be ‘nice’.

[@jacobfinder7476]

Finally, the perfect Yacht 😊👍

[@jameshutchinson6273]

WANT!

[@RT-np5ws]

Nice for essex

[@fishtigua]

In the old days, a Super Hawk had lockers for soggie knickers, This one has storage for used old lady pads.

[@besenzon1]

Brilliant

[@The_Arby]

It's nice...But not that much difference from a 55 Predator...Use to love Sunseeker Yachts...Just not so much anymore 😞

[@rtbinc2273]

I thing one issue Sunseeker has is the used Superhawks on sale. They aren't common, but they are not rare either. This is more of a niche boat. If they build a new 48 you'd be able to get a good used one a lot cheaper. So they need a reason for you to buy the New Superhawk. They've done that. I'd buy this one. I'd be more likely to buy a Kady Krogan but I like this one better. If I was going to get a used Superhawk I'd have it done up like the one Aquaholic's friend did.

[@jonathanevans9257]

Great review but I wrote an article on ergonomics at the helm in the 70's for MB&Y 'Are you sitting comfortably' and some of that seems to have been forgot with this helm seating and neat vertical wheel. Not as comfortable as it could be on a long passage.

[@cruise35able]

I usually prefer italian azimut n ferretti brands that sunseeker But in this class 1.5mil range Sunseeker superhawk 55 is so sleek n sexy ,Better than its competitors Like azimut fly 53 n Ferretti 580 . Azimut fly 53 n ferretti 580 got bigger volume ,gross tonnage . but suneeker got higher speed n better design elements.

[@clifbradley]

Yea yeah yeah Hugo....but uh.....what was that white and light blue boat behind you? Was that an X95 or something else?

[@hugoandreae3785]

It’s the new Sunseeker Ocean 182

[@charlienevergold3654]

Why IPS on everything? Is it just so an owner can have a joystick? Why not jet drive or surface drive? I understand some extra engineering wound be involved but wouldn’t the top end performance be even better? It would be nice to cross over from Florida to the Bahamas and anchor up close to the beach.

[@JedemPoKucama]

Hate IPS...I would rather have shafts

[@pistonburner6448]

Hear, hear!

[@charlienevergold3654]

I’m still trying to figure out why everything has IPS now. They aren’t as efficient and take a little more maintenance. Is it just so they can cater to inexperienced new owners that don’t want to learn how to operate a boat in a marina?

[@pistonburner6448]

@@charlienevergold3654 I'm thinking very big backers (Wallenbergs, and we know they're friends with all the other global elites) so they have massive funding to enable a strategy of cheap sales now, with the intention to invade the marketplace and then when they dominate and enough companies base their designs on IPS so they can't go back they hike up the prices.

[@rykehuss3435]

You can have joystick without IPS

[@jamesmorss9940]

did he just say "park the boat", lol

[@jameshamilton6096]

Love the boat and your review however, if I am going to spend almost 2 million pounds, one of the most important questions is how far the boat will travel on a full tank. Can I get from say from Brighton Marina to France, Spain, Italy, Greece and back or is it just a harbour toy?

[@MonicaHolly143]

Theres no boat that can do that for 2million ur sos tupid to think a boat like that can do uk to greece lmao

[@hugoandreae3785]

It will do around 200nm on a tank which is the same as most boats of this style

[@jameshamilton6096]

@@hugoandreae3785 Many thanks for the info

[@PromethSunrise]

thats appalling, no range at all @@hugoandreae3785

[@peterdodge6563]

Exterior is beautiful. Speed is wonderful. Helm position is marginal. Interior is needy. Not enough for my $$.

[@sungodspirit1502]

very nice boat indeed!

[@nanomage]

Very nice dayboat or weekender. However, as a 6'6" guy hearing someone call 6'4" good standing height I get somewhat put off. Given what rest of the interior and indeed cockpit space looked like it's not for me or my friends. I have to thank this reviewer though, normally the available headroom isn't specified and the sales agents aren't read up enough to answer. Maybe as a tip for the future the reviewers could mention how tall they are so that the viewers could make a good guess as to interior space.

[@hugoandreae3785]

Noted, we will make a point of trying to give accurate headroom measurements in future

[@wingcommanderdaltonwalton67]

Without buying a cruise liner you could be out of luck big fella! Most cabins I’ve been in are obtrusive for anyone over 6’4”.

[@clifbradley]

Giant sunpad. For when you want to bring your whole harem of women with you from your home in Palm Shores North to the Bahamas. Then at night ,you ain't got enough room to sleep them all, so 3 are sleeping with you, one in each of the beds and the rest got sleeping bags to sleep on the deck because you're too cheap to buy rooms at one of about 300 resorts that dot the Bahmas per island.

[@robertmoran5733]

Sorry Hugo. Engine access?

[@MrScotia]

If I had the money I would buy one. Mon the lotto. 😅

[@homerjsimpson2118]

whats up with the floater around your neck. going out in a dingy??

[@jaffaholland4039]

Not sure at all, dont think it will sell to petrol heads needs 40 plus speed, can be enclosed so not great for British weather. i think that the name means sleek, fast and impractical. Only so many people will spend this money and this miss the mark

[@hwmason530]

Beautiful boat but speed and consumption don’t make sense. For the size of this boat, only max out at 38kt, consumption at 25kt basically doesn’t yield more than 250nm. I prefer 35kt cruise speed with 250nm range.

[@jezp6876]

Engine room? Not enough performance for that name IMO

[@stefanmarraccini8646]

So I'm assuming that the throttles are in a both engines synced and controlled via one lever arm mode. Maybe that's common knowledge among modern salty dogs, but normally I'd think a fool was setting speed records on one engine. However, Hugo ain't no fool. Great vid. Highly edifying. 🙏

[@charlienevergold3654]

With everything being digital now it’s synced. I’ve seen the joystick in the armrest and the boat can be controlled at speed via the joystick. Tilt for 3° adjustments and twist for 10°. Forward and back for speed settings.

[@marineboy6033]

Is this a pre production boat? I’d be disappointed with the apparent quality of some of the fittings, and the look of some of the cabinets…. this is based purely on the video - obviously I’ve not seen them in the flesh……

[@tr5065]

Other than the name, it shares little DNA with the original. No thanks. There are better/more interesting boats for the money.

[@djham2916]

Such as...? Please elaborate.

[@charlienevergold3654]

Pershing… Riviera, Hinckley if you have the $$$

[@jjjones4469]

It should be a lot faster I would have been a buyer for this vessel but needs to do 50 knots plus minimum needs 3 engines shame !!! Perfect med boat if it had the speed I would buy a riva or Pershing in front now shame As my parents had all the old Models as a day boat

[@pistonburner6448]

Sunseeker, Riva and Pershing are ALL 🇨🇳-owned. You sure know how to pick 'em.

[@PowerYacht]

@@pistonburner6448 Ferretti Group (Pershing, Riva) is 70% Chinese owned, probably less with recent Public listings in Honk Kong and Milan. Sunseeker is 90% Chinese owned. The real biggest difference though is that FG is managed mostly by Piero Ferrari, and Galassi. Also unlike Sunseeker FG never had an interest with moving production in China. Sunseeker wanted to do it in around 2012-14.

[@pistonburner6448]

@@PowerYacht Yes, as I said: 🇨🇳-owned.

[@MonicaHolly143]

​@@pistonburner6448and what's the problem with that ? Lmao

[@neilwharton720]

I think they have lost there way here with the foredeck layout it’s to fussy and certainly not practical, vision from the helm position also doesn’t look the best, the interior looks like a mobile home terrible, for the money there are much better boats out there.

[@benlovesboats2854]

It can’t be a proper Superhawk without surface drives, nice try though

[@hugoandreae3785]

Most Superhawks were actually fitted with sterndrives but I take your point. You certainly couldn’t fit sterndrives to this one!

[@benlovesboats2854]

@@hugoandreae3785 yeah you’re right Hugo, but the coolest ones like the 50 and the 40 at least had surface drives as options. I think I just live in a bygone era and prefer the muscle boats of the 90s, but I appreciate those days are gone now. Don’t get me wrong the new Superhawk is still a lovely boat and it’s great that Sunseeker are still looking at this format as opposed to just the big yachts. Great review too 👍

[@origin178]

The 65 Sportyacht looks far more fun, practical, and usable than this obese play boat. I think Sunseeker have made a mistake with this one, especially wasting their "Superhawk" brand on a design that is no more a Superhawk than a big bloated BMW Mini is a real Mini.

[@rule-of-thumb]

I was liking it until all the butcher's apron references 🤮

[@lajucb]

Sorry ,this boat leaves me cold. It comes across as a day boat trying to suggest you could weekend on it. Prefer a day boat or a cruiser. This seems confused andI I rather dislike it. Given loads of money, I wouldn’t touch this despite its glorious name.

[@sylvainsfo3832]

Why do you wear a life jacket on a 50+ft ? Because of you guys authorities will make this mandatory in the future.

[@hugoandreae3785]

Because health and safety regs make it mandatory when on the boat yard’s pontoons

[@sylvainsfo3832]

@@hugoandreae3785 which text?

[@hugoandreae3785]

@@sylvainsfo3832 It’s something which the Sunseeker boat yard insists on, I don’t know the exact rule

[@sylvainsfo3832]

@@hugoandreae3785 Then, why is it the same for others manufacturers ? It’s only to be more royalist than the King.. this will hit back as a boomerang.

[@shawnwood9875]

You had me until the main salon has no head room and a wet head in the main bathroom? Come on.

[@kokomo9764]

The main bathroom did not have a wet head. The salon had huge headroom.

[@kokomo9764]

What boat were you looking at? It wasn't the same one the rest of us saw.

[@shawnwood9875]

I’m not sure what video you saw unless you thought the forward room was the main bedroom but it wasn’t.

[@ironichumorist]

im literally afraid to watch hugo do this.....did he get through it without saying "gentleman"???

[@jarkkohenriksson7866]

I'm sorry but compared to the older and sleeker models this new one just seems bloated and overweight.

[@pistonburner6448]

Chinese company.

[@ramonrodriguez6692]

To call this a performance boat is pretty pathetic. Looks like a nice boat, but….it can do 38 knots!!!!….great, I’ll stick with a used Baia 48 Flash or 54 Aqua…..pretty pathetic to be reviewing a “performance” boat and be so worried about fuel economy……maybe I’d believe this was a performance boat if it had had triple IPS 1350’s….

[@TheLemouria]

With the due respect but this boat is everyyhing but not a superhawk... at least for me.

[@jjjones4469]

It should be a lot faster I would have been a buyer for this vessel but needs to do 50 knots plus minimum needs 3 engines shame !!! Perfect med boat if it had the speed I would buy a riva or Pershing in front now shame As my parents had all the old Models as a day boat