USED BOAT: SUNSEEKER PORTOFINO 53
Classic lines, strong performance and stacks of space make this a great used buy
A recent thoroughbred at a surprisingly affordable price
“It’s first and foremost a really pretty boat, the proportions are spot on – a classic Sunseeker,” says Nigel Brown, describing the 2007 Portofino 53 that he bought from David Jones at Sunseeker Poole last year to replace a Sunseeker Mustique 42. He keeps the boat close to his home in Poole and uses it most weekends in the summer with his fiancée Lorraine for trips into the Solent, across to northern France and the to Channel Islands. Fitted with MAN 800hp diesel engines, it tops out at 34 knots and cruises comfortably at between 26 and 28 knots in most conditions. “We crossed the Channel in an F6 heading for Guernsey and only slowed to 24 knots. It went through it really nicely.”
But don’t think that this boat is all about looks and performance because it has so much more to offer. Launched in September 2003 to replace the Camargue 50, it was an instant hit, proving to be one of Sunseeker’s most popular models. The layout is as classical as the looks, this boat predating the full-beam master cabin that has since become de rigueur. Fitted out initially in high gloss or satin cherry (with an occasional boat in satin maple) and later in satin walnut, you’ll find the
ensuite master cabin in the bow ahead of a huge saloon. Further aft, the main guest cabin to starboard has two single berths and ensuite access to the day heads. The third cabin is on the port side with crossover beds. Interestingly, there was room for a washing machine in this cabin, which was a useful option when new and you’d think would make a simple retrofit job now, but it’s not quite that simple. “You can’t physically get a washing machine through the door,” says David Jones. “When specified new, the factory fitted it in build. We have done one retrofit of a washing machine but it had to be dismantled, taken into the cabin piece by piece and reassembled – a big job!”
A far more popular option was the hardtop over the cockpit; in fact, it’s rare to find a boat without one. When the Portofino 53 was launched, hardtops were still a novelty below 60ft and the one initially fitted to this model is quite unusual. Rather than a roof with a sliding section in it like a sunroof on a car, the entire roof section cantilevers back! It’s a little more agricultural than more modern systems but it does have the very real advantage that you’re left with what feels like a far larger aperture.
OPEN BOAT VIBE
With just a low, slim stainless-steel windscreen header rail in front of you and that big aperture overhead, the sensation at the helm is that of an open boat (although in truth, the roof doesn’t move that far back). In 2006, the entire hardtop moulding and mechanism was changed to a more modern design in which the roof is
With just a low slim stainless-steel windscreen header rail in front of you, the sensation at the helm is that of an open boat