Sunseeker 65 Sport Yacht: The SkyHelm, and the Tender Decision That Defines It

Photos courtesy of Sunseeker.

There are two Sunseeker 67-footers on one hull, and their specification sheets are the same document with a different name at the top.

67' 2" overall. 16' 8" beam. 5' 3" draft at full load. 83,357 lbs at half load. Twin Volvo Penta IPS 1200 at 2 x 900 HP on pods. 924 gallons of fuel, 211 of fresh water. Three cabins with a fourth optional, four en-suites and day head, plus crew. Up to 35 knots.

That is the 65 Sport Yacht and that is also the Predator 65. Every published figure on the two pages matches, line for line.

Which means the interesting question is not which is faster. It is what each boat asks you to do differently, and on this one the answers are a helm and a tender.

The SkyHelm is the reason this boat exists

There is no flybridge on this hull and no second helm station. Everything is done from one position on the main deck, which on a 67-foot boat is a design problem: the seating position that is comfortable at 30 knots is the wrong position for putting the bow into a slip.

Sunseeker's answer is the SkyHelm. It carries the IPS docking joystick and can be used in an upright position for low-speed manoeuvring - so you are standing, looking over the bow, seeing the corner of the dock. Then it lowers so the wheel falls into outstretched arms when you are sat low in the bespoke helm seats, which have carbon fibre backrests and an integrated centre console between them.

One station, two jobs, properly. If you drive your own boat, this is not a detail. It is the difference between a Friday evening arrival you enjoy and one you dread, and it is worth more of your attention on a sea trial than the top-end run will be.

Take the boat into a berth the width of the one you actually keep, with wind on the beam, and use both positions. That is the test.

The Beach Club, and what it takes away

The second thing this page sells is the aft end, and here Sunseeker is asking you to make a trade rather than handing you a feature.

The 65 Sport Yacht's Beach Club works by carrying the tender on the bathing platform. That frees the garage volume, which is then reconfigured as a room: direct sea access, a bar, a fridge, a BBQ, free-standing seating. For an owner who spends their best days at anchor with people in and out of the water, that is a meaningfully different boat.

Now look at what the Predator 65 does with the same space. Its page sells an extra-wide tender garage, sized for a Williams 345 jet tender and launched over a new diagonal sliding hydraulic bathing platform, with room left over for SeaBobs, inflatable paddleboards, diving equipment or racking.

Same hull. Opposite conclusions. One boat says the tender lives inside and the garage is a garage. The other says the tender lives on the platform and the garage becomes a room.

Neither is wrong. But you should know which describes your season before somebody hands you an options sheet, because it is not a decision you revisit cheaply.

Accommodation, and where the crew sleep

Three cabins take up to six guests, built around a full-beam master. Four en-suites and day head are listed, with a fourth cabin available.

The detail worth pulling out is the crew arrangement: a fully appointed crew cabin located forward of the garage. That means crew come and go without walking through guest accommodation, which matters more on a 67-footer than on a 90 because there is less boat to hide the traffic in.

Sunseeker describes the wider layout as modular, adapting between socialising and running hard. As always with modular layouts, the adapting happens at the order desk. Decide once.

The number to bring home from the sea trial

The technical tab gives a maximum of up to 35 knots. That is a condition you will hardly ever be in, so the setting you actually cruise at is yours to establish, and the trial is where you do it.

Run the boat at the rpm you genuinely intend to cruise at. Ask the dealer for observed burn at that rpm, in writing, on the day. Work your own arithmetic against the 924 gallons the boat carries. It takes fifteen minutes and it is the only number in this whole exercise that will describe your boat.

While you are at it, establish which engine package is in the demonstrator. The standard fit is twin Volvo Penta IPS 1200 at 2 x 900 HP, and Sunseeker lists a higher-output IPS option alongside it. A boat at the top of the range tells you little about a boat at the bottom of it.

Where else to look

At this length the two boats a buyer will realistically drive in the same month are the Princess S65 at 67' 7", the other British answer and within five inches on length, and the Azimut S7 at 71' 2", the Italian reading of the same brief on a slightly larger hull.

Drive all three if you can. But if you have narrowed it to Sunseeker, the decision is between two boats on one hull, and it is genuinely about you: do you want the helm that reconfigures, or the garage that swallows a Williams 345? Answer that honestly and the rest of the specification sorts itself out.

Talk to us about the 65 Sport Yacht

Questions about pricing, availability, or how the Sunseeker 65 Sport Yacht fits your plans — reach Tony directly at TS@MintedYachts.com or +1 (404) 805-9819, or start here.

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