Sunseeker 76 Yacht

The Sunseeker 76 Yacht is the entry point to the flagship end of the range. It is 77' 5" overall on a 19' 6" beam, with a 5' 7" draft measured at full load and a half-load displacement of 118,140 lbs. Accommodation is four cabins and four heads, plus crew quarters. Fuel is 1,585 US gallons and fresh water is 370 US gallons. Power is twin MAN V12-1400s at 1,400 a side, and Sunseeker quotes up to 32 knots. It is built at Poole in Dorset.

Two things set it apart inside its own line. It is the only one of the five Yacht models on MAN power, because from the 88 Yacht upward Sunseeker moves to MTU. And it is the fastest of them at 32 knots, ahead of the 100 Yacht at 30, the 88 at 28, the 95 at 26.5 and the 134 at 20. Speed in this range falls as displacement climbs, and at 118,140 lbs the 76 is the lightest boat in the group by a margin of over 52,000 lbs.

The draft figure is the other one to hold on to. At 5' 7" it sits sixteen inches shallower than both the 88 and the 95, which both draw 7' 0". Every Sunseeker draft is quoted as a maximum at full load, so that is the number to give a marina rather than a lighter figure taken off a brochure.

Sunseeker quotes up to 32 knots for the 76 Yacht on twin MAN V12-1400s, 1,400 a side. That is the highest maximum in the Yacht line, and it describes a flat day with the throttles buried rather than the setting you will actually run for six hours. That second number is the one to bring home from the sea trial.

One unit note, because it makes two spec sheets look like two different engines when they are not. Sunseeker states output in PS rather than horsepower, and the engine's model name is literally V12-1400. The gap between the two units is around 1.4 percent, so a figure quoted in PS and a figure quoted in HP for this installation describe the same engine.

The numbers that will decide how the boat behaves are the ones underneath the speed. Half-load displacement is 118,140 lbs, which is what the range's speed ladder is really tracking. Fuel is 1,585 gallons, the smallest tankage of the five. Draft is 5' 7" at full load, the shallowest in the line.

What to settle in writing before you sign: the engine package as rated, the rigged weight of your hull, tankage as fitted, and observed consumption at your normal cruising rpm from a sea trial on a loaded boat. Every one of those is free to ask for.

The 76 Yacht is laid out with four cabins, four heads and crew quarters. That is a full en-suite arrangement for four guest cabins with separate crew accommodation on a 77-footer, which is a genuinely dense layout at this length and puts the boat in the same accommodation bracket as boats six feet longer.

Beam is where the volume comes from. At 19' 6" the 76 is wider than the 77' 7" Azimut Fly 78 at 18' 10" and narrower than the 77' 9" Sanlorenzo SX76 at 21' 8", and beam over a comparable length is a better predictor of how a main deck feels than length is. Against the rest of the Sunseeker Yacht line it is the narrowest by some way, with the 88 at 21' 3" and the 134 at 26' 1".

The number worth a hard look is fresh water. The 76 carries 370 US gallons, and so does the 88 Yacht, a boat 52,277 lbs heavier with the same four cabins and crew. The 95 above it carries 462. Four cabins plus crew on 370 gallons is a watermaker conversation rather than a tankage one, and if you intend to be away from a dock for a week with a full complement aboard, settle how that water is made and stored before you settle anything about the joinery.

Ask for the arrangement drawing for your hull, not for the model, and read the equipment schedule attached to your own contract. On a boat that is offered with layout choices, the model name is not a specification.

The 76 Yacht sits in the most crowded segment of the large-flybridge market, and it has one clear argument.

The argument is speed on two engines with four guest cabins and crew below. Up to 32 knots on twin MAN V12-1400s, 118,140 lbs at half load, and a 5' 7" draft. Against the Princess Y80 at 83' 8", the Sunseeker is six feet shorter and carries 1,585 gallons of fuel to the Princess's 1,849, with the Princess quoting 33 knots on twin MAN V12-1900s. Against the Azimut Fly 78 at 77' 7", the two boats are within two inches of each other on length and the Sunseeker is eight inches wider in the beam, but the Azimut runs three Volvo Penta IPS drives rather than two shafts and carries 1,321 gallons. Against the Sanlorenzo SX76 at 77' 9", the comparison is not really a comparison: the Sanlorenzo is a 22-knot four-engine IPS boat built around a different idea of what an owner wants from the length. Take your own observed numbers off a sea trial of each and you can set them against one another on equal terms.

Inside Sunseeker's own line, the 76 is the length where the flagship group starts. The next boat up, the 88 Yacht, is 86' 7" and 170,417 lbs, so the step is over nine feet and more than 52,000 lbs with nothing between them.

The 76 Yacht fits an owner who wants flagship accommodation at the smallest length that will carry it. Four cabins, four heads and separate crew quarters on 77' 5" is a dense arrangement, and the boat delivers it while still drawing 5' 7". If your cruising involves thin water, sandbanks or a home berth with a real depth limit, that draft is the reason to buy this boat rather than the 88 Yacht, which draws 7' 0" for the same cabin and head count.

It fits an owner who values speed on a manageable platform. Up to 32 knots on twin MAN V12-1400s is the highest figure in the Yacht line, and it comes from the lightest hull in the group at 118,140 lbs half load. Two shafts, two engines, one straightforward package.

It fits someone who intends to be involved. There is crew accommodation aboard, but at this size the boat can be run by an owner who wants to run it, with help rather than a full permanent complement.

It is the wrong boat if you need long stretches away from a dock with a full guest list. Fresh water is 370 US gallons for four cabins plus crew, the same figure the 52,000-lb-heavier 88 Yacht carries, and the 95 above it carries 462. Settle water-making capacity early.