Hunton Powerboats announces XRS52
British luxury performance powerboat builder plans new flagship express cruiser as well as new driving skills course.
In the wake of the big January boat shows in London and Dusseldorf, there are big developments afoot at Britain’s famous Hunton boatyard.
The famous Hunton yard in Hampshire has released a preview of its new flagship, the XRS52 express cruiser.
For a start, there is an update to the company’s plans for its new flagship model. While it was originally going to be the EQ52 – a thoroughbred 70-knot, 52-foot missile with the characteristic narrow-beamed posturing of a race machine, it is now going to be a slightly broader and (very slightly) more modest 65-knot express cruiser called the XRS52.
Broader internals will transform the useability of the XRS52.
It’s been almost a decade in the making and is apparently the result of extensive collaboration between the Hunton design team and the renowned Eidsgaard design house. They now plan to use that extra half a metre in the beam to generate a choice of hardtop or open cockpit, twin or triple engines and petrol or diesel propulsion. Down below, the two cabins will both now be ensuite and up in the cockpit, a modular seating system will dial some extra versatility into the DNA of the new boat. Of course the XRS52 is not due to arrive until the late spring of 2016 but you can grab a sneaky peek via their freshly launched video teaser on Youtube.
Compare the XRS52 to the Hunton XRS37 that featured in boats.com feature 5 of the best express cruisers.
Hunton Academy – new powerboat driving school
And that leads us very nicely to the second Hunton development: a new driving school known as the Hunton Academy. The point is simply to train people to drive a Hunton powerboat to its full potential - and the Academy Principal, James Brooke, is well suited to the task. With extensive experience as a Royal Marine, an RNLI crewmember and an RYA Yachtmaster Instructor, he is confident that it will be a great success: "Hunton is a brand of performance boats unlike any other, delivering the highest quality of British design and engineering. At the Hunton Academy we teach people how to harness power and control adrenaline as we demonstrate exactly why Hunton has such a phenomenal reputation." If that appeals to you (and frankly, why wouldn’t it), visit the Hunton website for more.
www.hunton.co.uk
The layout options are expected to be much more versatile.
