Axopar 37 T-Top
The Finnish builder started with a slippery hull, but it’s what comes next that will change the game: Think doing more with less.
When I first got a look at the Axopar 37, it was the cabin version at the Boot Düsseldorf show in January, and there was a steady drizzle falling from the leaden skies of a German winter. In the warmth of Hall 5, I peered into the fore and aft cabins that make this outboard-powered boat into a cruiser.
What most interested me were two factors: First, Axopar was doing more with less horsepower, using a pair of Mercury 350 XL Verados on a 37-footer (in the U.S. that LOA would very often see a triple installation; a 28 on the stand had a single!). The narrow-entry hull is light and uses a twin-step design to combine speed, handling, and efficiency. Second, the design seemed to focus on keeping the people on board low to the water. The hullsides were high enough, sure, but her fashion-forward (and noteworthy) profile felt low and sleek. Here’s the cool part, though: The designers of the 37 made the helm deck lower than the side decks that flank it, so you step down to the driver’s position. Bottom line, you feel like you’re riding in the boat, rather than on it.
But I have to say that while looking at the 37 in Germany, I felt like I was seeing a lot of interior space, with relatively little open deck area. Sure this gets you out of the elements, but where’s the fun? The cabin space translates to sunpads up top, rather than open decks. Cool, sure, but not for everyone.
Fast forward to the Palm Beach International Boat Show, where I saw the Axopar 37 T-Top for the first time: It was as if the Finn I’d met in Germany had shed her raincoat in favor of a swimsuit for fun in the sun. Where the house had been, there was now an open seating area, with a wide-open aft deck for fishing and a sunpad forward (located over the remaining double-berth cabin). Axopar creates a variety of models on each hull they build, using smart, modular designs so you can get the boat you want. Hmmm, what a concept. — JYW