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Completing
our sea trial of Sunseeker’s new Manhattan 56, we had just cleared
the inlet at Lighthouse Point, making our way down the Intracoastal, back
to the marina in Pompano, Florida. As we waited for the 14th Street drawbridge
to open, an express cruiser idled up alongside and I heard a feminine
voice onboard that boat exclaim “Wow!” From atop the flying
bridge, I turned toward the sound and was pleased to see that the voice
belonged to a fetching female sunbathing on the stern. My ego sank, however,
as I realized it was the Manhattan 56 that had caught her eye.
It’s
no surprise the 56 is an eye-catcher. Like others in the Sunseeker line,
she exudes contemporary styling with sweeping windows and a curvaceous
profile. However, as Sunseeker’s founder and managing director Robert
Braithwaite explains, “Despite her modern lines, she is rather traditional
in her proportions, with a big, wide hull that somewhat dominates a relatively
smaller-looking superstructure.” His point is valid: The yacht has
a well-balanced profile, avoiding the top-heavy look that characterizes
many contemporary designs.
But
good looks are just part of the picture. What matters more is performance,
and here, too, the Manhattan 56 impresses. With optional 800-hp Caterpillar
3406E-TA diesels, our test boat clocked a top speed of more than 36 mph
at 2300 rpm. Even after I cut the throttles back to a more economical
2000 rpm, the 56 maintained a respectable 30-mph cruise speed, while burning
less than two gallons per mile.
After
running the numbers in one- to two-footers, we took the Sunseeker offshore,
where the moderate breeze had kicked up the waves to a height of about
three feet, with a foot or so of underlying cross swell. The ride was
smooth even at top speed, thanks to a modified-V hull form that carries
a full 19-degree deadrise back to the stern, with steep convex bow sections
and a fine entry forward. Due to its high angle of deadrise, the hull
banks like a runabout in a fast turn, which is not what one first expects
in a 56-foot yacht, but she tracked straight and true with little rolling,
even in beam seas. Running trim was relatively flat, even without using
trim tabs, perhaps because of the extra lift provided by the faces of
semirecessed propeller tunnels.
Back
at the marina, taking a close look at all the features the Manhattan 56
offers, I even found myself saying “wow” on several occasions.
Though she’s the smallest in the Manhattan line (joining a 64 and
74), she’s comfortable and offers a lot of versatility. For example,
the aft seating area on the flying bridge converts to a sunpad, and a
removable table stows under the forward seats, so the spacious bridge
can be transformed to suit the needs of the moment.
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Sunseeker 56 continued > Page 1, 2,
3, 4, 5
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