This is the Sunseeker Predator 60 Evo and it replaces the Sunseeker Predator
57 a very popular boat of which Sunseeker has sold over 100 models. There are three
engine options, two shafts of 900 and 1,000 horsepower or an IPS version with
725 horsepower. Prices start from just over £1.3m. So as I
mentioned there are three engine options on this boat two shaft drive and one
IPS, this particular boat has got the smallest shaft drive option which is a
pair of Volvo Penta D13s with 900 horsepower. Doesn't mean it's
sluggish though we got 33 knots today on a two-way run top speed and it means
that you can cruise anywhere between 20 knots like we're doing now for 200
liters an hour combined and really 30 knots if you're in a bit of a hurry but that
sweet spot is probably between 22 and 25 knots. Now the boat's got fly-by-wire
steering and a lot of the time that means the steering is overly light - you turn the
wheel and then after a second the boat reacts, but this boat reacts far more
quickly in that the steering is quite meaty despite being light and very easy
to move around. You've got quite a good feel you always feel the rudders going
through the water and it's agile as well you know it's a big boat this it's
good fun to chuck around a bit and especially if you're in a big following sea that
agility would be very welcome. It's quiet - we've got the doors open at the moment
as we're travelling along now and still I can talk at a normal volume, don't have
to raise my voice too much. It does mean that you hear a bit of squeaking coming
from the trim up here but I think that is just a trim issue, nothing to do with the
structure because in general the boat feels incredibly solid. It's been quite
choppy out here and it doesn't slice through like a knife but it certainly
romps through nice and comfortably. Really doesn't feel too bothered by the
conditions we've encountered today at the tail end of storm Brendan.
What about the driving environment? Well, generally it's very good, it's a really
nice clean helm. You've got tour two 16-inch screens here and they can actually be
controlled from the multifunction steering wheel. Of course they're
completely touchscreen but if you don't want to take your hands off the wheel
you don't have to. Reach forward and you can use the buttons here alongside the wheel hub,
but it means that there are very few buttons here. On the dashboard you've got
a few down here, stuff that you might use regularly then a lot of the functions
are in the Sea Mate system here, which controls wipers ventilation etc. You've
got a whole remit of different functions you can use through that screen there.
It's lovely and bright here as well because you have this huge sunroof and
even when it's closed, because there's glass in it, it's very bright and it means that
in hard turns you can sort of look through the roof and still see what's
either side of you. Quite a thick mullion to starboard here but because this
window extends a long way forward it's easy to put your head over here and it means
you can see if there's anything coming from the starboard side.
Generally the position is pretty good, I could probably do with this chair
coming forward a little bit more so you don't have to perch on the edge of your
seat, but when you're cruising you're just going to sit back anyway, probably
stick the boat on autopilot and let it do its thing, but the relationship
between the wheel and throttles is very good, you've got trim tab controls down here I
haven't used the trim all day, it's got a really nice natural balance, this boat
even when you're getting up onto the plane you don't feel the need to put the
tabs down. It runs nice and level. I don't have to touch those at any point. One of
the Predator 60 EVOs best assets is this massive carbon-fibre sliding roof
and it's great when it's shut because there's glass here but when it's open it
just transforms this main deck along with that door there, which slides down
into the deck. It feels like you've got two boats in one and on a warm day you can
open up this area completely and you're in touch with the environment. On a
winter's day you close it up, shut the door, turn the Eberspacher on and you can
go boating in just a t-shirt.
Some other nice points at this helm, if it's a bit too cold to have the roof
wide open but you want some natural ventilation you have this window here.
Fast-action as well, it goes down nice and quickly so you can get a little bit
of breeze in if you want. It also means you can stick your head out and shout at
your crew when you're coming alongside. The other thing is this section here, so
you've got a wireless charging map for a mobile phones, you've also got a slot for
an iPad with the charger built into it as well so if you're using an iPad with
Navionics for example as your backup navigation you have a dedicated slot for
it there. Now because this boat has a tender garage, which is big enough for a
Williams 345 jet rib, it means that the bathing platform is left completely clear.
This one's hydraulic so it goes down into the water. It actually has steps
built-in so you have an easy way to step from the platform back up onto the deck.
There's an option you can have a flip-down bench here on the transom so
you can sort of perch and look aft if the kids are swimming in the water, for
example, and there's also a crew cabin on this boat. It is an option, you access it
through here, it's pretty tight because the bed has to go underneath the tender
garage, of course, but as I said it's an option that some people may want. There's
also a little loo down there, but if you don't want the cabin you can just have
it as a really good dry storage space. Some other nice little touches include
the fact that the shore power and wash down cables are hidden behind a nice
little unit here in the steps and you also have a repeater for the Fusion a/v
system back here because you've got speakers under this moulding. Engine room
access is through a hatch in the cockpit, it doesn't matter whether you've got IPS or shaft
drives that's the way you get down here to the engine room and once down it's
very good. There's a bit of an intrusion back here from the tender garage moulding
but actually over the engine itself there's enough room for you to inspect
them, you can get around all sides and it's easy enough to do daily service
checks. Very tidy installation as well Sunseeker have done a good job here, not
full standing headroom, you can just about stoop like that but in general
it's a decent space. Now up here in the cockpit the seating
is biased to port but there is still a small walkway up from the bathing
platform so you can get down that side of the boat and forward and it's a
really nice seating area here. It's well protected by the overhang, the seating is
very, very comfortable and the table's in half now but of course it will go to
full size if you want to seat more people around. You could put a couple of
director's chairs here as well so you can get some people this side at the
table. You have a wet bar out here as well, really great place to serve this
area and here you have the usual stuff - you have a grill, sink and then inside
these two hatches you've got an ice maker and a fridge. This section here if you
have the optional joystick you can have a third station here, in fact you can
probably have one with just the shaft and the thrusters but if you wanted that
say if you're berthing stern-to in the Med it means you can come back here and
control the boat from just here and this is a nice little touch. Your bin is
tucked away in that section there but a really key feature that's come across
from the 57 (this boat's predecessor) is this door here that drops down into the
deck, so at the touch of a button, once you've obviously slid this section
across, the doors come together and he goes down into a void between the engine
room and the master cabin bulkhead. And then once that's right down you have
this brilliant connection between this internal seating area here and the one
outdoors and obviously it's very flexible you could have the roof open
and this closed door like we have now roof closed and this open. It makes it a
very, very flexible main deck and a very, very bright one, because as I've
mentioned when you've got this overhead with all the glass in it even when it's
closed it's lovely and bright in here and the windows are absolutely enormous.
Now elsewhere this is where your television lives, there's a little button
inside this cupboard here and what I like about this is that you don't have
to hold it down, you just press up and up it goes and does its job opposite the
dinette here. This table here, this is a sort of coffee table mode, it goes up and
down as well but it will also fold out like this and then there's a little
patch here and it just slides across. Really nice mechanism, then it's in the
middle of the dinette and it's more of a sort of dining table set up and there's
some lovely detailing going on as well, there's little touch of carbon fibre
here and there. This hand hold down here, this handle's a
really nice solid piece of metal, this incidentally is another fridge,
you've got a fridge out there, a fridge here, and a fridge downstairs. There's
plenty of cooling space on this boat and they like this sort of nice scallop look
on the back of the helm seats here. They're set a bit too far back for me
but they're very comfortable when you're sitting in them, they look nice as well,
of course. Downstairs we have more accommodation, let's head down there.
Now it feels quite traditional to be downstairs in the galley on a modern
sportscruiser, but I have to say I think this layout works really well. You get a
really big galley, I mean look at all the countertop space you get - massive sink,
four-ring hob, oven, loads and loads of storage and you know Sunseeker's boat-building
prowess isn't all just flash stuff, there's some really nice smart
boat building here, everything's got a catch on it, so it locks shut. There's fiddles
here so stuff can't come flying out. The boats look good but you know they don't
forget the importance of the practical side of boating as well. Loads of storage
up there, you have a dishwasher here and then you have your main fridge down here,
really decent size for you know what is essentially a boat you're going to be
using in the sun. But then you also have a dinette down here, if the weather is
bad you can tuck yourself down here you can imagine the kids tucked down here on a
rainy day, the PlayStation plugged into this TV here, you can get nice and cozy.
Obviously you're going to have some prying eyes up there, there's a lot of glass, people can
see you, it's a little bit more private down here. If you head right forward you
have the VIP cabin, it's a really good size
nice big beds, you can have scissor action berths there as an option, that's
the fixed double in there, there's a day head over there and it's en-suite to that
cabin as well and I should mention that if you don't want the dinette you can
have more storage here, it's like an extended galley, you get more countertops,
you get another fridge and you can have a washing machine there as well if you
want. There's another cabin here, this is the twin guest cabin, a couple of bunks
in there and then we have the master cabin amidships, which are going to have
a proper look at. This is a really great cabin, the main thing is how good the
headroom is I'm about 6ft and there's plenty of room above my head and
there's no intrusions anywhere as you walk around the cabin none overhead and none
the floor either. The floor's completely flat once you're down to the cabin you
know that you're not going to trip over anything or stub your toes. Storage is pretty good, you've
got a big hanging locker over on that side
and this is a nice little area here, little dressing-table, but inside you
have some more shelf storage, there's a safe and there's a couple of more
pop-out drawers as well and that attention to detail carries over to the
bedside tables. We've got leather and wood and nice stainless steel, bedside
light, you've even got a little tray, lined with stainless steel and leather for your
jewellery, and of course you've got the big windows either side, so you have water
level views, plenty of natural light gets in here as well, you have a nice en-suite
bathroom on the way out of the cabin. Something that's been catching me out
today is the little step that leads up to the helm here, I'm sure it's something
you get used to if you own the boat but I've been in out a few times and I've
caught my foot on it, so just something to watch out for if you value your
toenails, but there is a nice detail down here, which is that there's a little teak
step that will drop down so that when it's down you've got the sunroof open
you can get your head clear of the windscreen surround and you can look out
over the bow that'll be quite nice in really good weather or if you're berthing
for example. In replacing the Predator 57 with this 60 model, Sunseeker didn't
want to throw the baby out with the bathwater because that was a very
successful formula. They sold over 100 boats, so they've kept what worked, like
this massive carbonfibre roof and the doors that slide down into the deck, but
here in the interior they've just improved the attention to
detail and the quality a little bit, it just feels that bit more special and overall
it means that a package that was already very good is an even better all-rounder.