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unseeker is refreshingly frank about the origins of its latest launch. The 95 Yacht, introduced in the summer and making its public debut this autumn, is built on the same hull design and engineering package as the 28m, which wowed the crowds at the London Boat Show a couple of years ago. “We always try to get two boats out of a platform – it was always the plan to develop the 95 from the


28,” explains the Poole boatbuilder’s co-founder John Braithwaite. “The main requirement is to ensure that there is a difference between them, and from other models in the range – you don’t want to be stealing market share from yourself.” The differences between the two vessels are instructive. While the 28m is essentially a big fl ybridge cruiser, the logical endpoint to a range of products that starts at 52ft, the 95 Yacht would appear to represent the beginning of something. With its raised pilothouse design, it not only looks considerably more substantial – although according to Sunseeker, it’s only about a foot (30cm) taller than the 28m – it also offers a level of interior volume that its sister yacht cannot even aspire to. The shipyard might regard it as a development of the earlier model, but when you’re aboard the 95, it feels like a completely different boat. It’s all about the main deck, and that long continuous sweep from


stem to stern made possible by lifting the wheelhouse out of the way. A substantial and well-proportioned saloon communicates equably with the formal dining table amidships and a generous cockpit, shaded by that long overhang. The optional fold-out balcony on the starboard side provides splendid views for your dinner guests while over to port, a large professional galley is just the other side of a discreet sliding door. The changes to the saloon layout are little more than tweaks,


but already the 95 seems like a much bigger boat than the 28m. When you’ve admired the view from the balcony, take a stroll along the starboard corridor, past the steps that lead up to the wheelhouse and the neat day head, and into the owner’s cabin.


The commercial spec galley is kept separate for professional crew


Tall windows and cutaway bulwarks allow wonderful views out from the saloon


For once, the word ‘suite’ doesn’t do it justice, and even the


hyperbolic ‘stateroom’ so beloved of advertising copywriters needs to look to its laurels. This is a truly impressive living space, worthy of the swishest inner-city loft apartment. It’s not particularly spacious, but that’s what makes it such a successful piece of design. The bow is noticeably narrowing as it nears the stem, but by organising the space on both decks, tucking the shower and head under the sleeping cabin, and linking the two levels with an expansive mirrored landing and two curved companionways, the effect is not only spectacular but also totally unexpected – as if you’ve somehow strayed on board a 40m. The idea of split-level owner’s accommodation in the bows is not new – Taiwan-built yachts from the likes of Drettmann and Johnson


The dining table amidships looks out over the folding balcony


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