Sunseeker's 134 Superyacht reaches Poole for her fit-out

Sunseeker's 134 Superyacht has made her way along the Dorset coast from Portland to Poole. For the yard the move closes the first phase of construction: the boat that arrived in Poole has her hull, her main deck and superstructure, and the machinery that will drive her.

What Portland built

Over the past months Sunseeker's engineering teams in Portland laid the foundations of the yacht, moulded the hull, fitted the main deck and the superstructure and installed the critical systems that power and stabilise her. The list Sunseeker gives is the one an owner's surveyor reads first: engines, generators, shafts, propellers, stabilisers and the core hydraulic systems, together with the network of fuel, fresh water, grey water and black water lines that runs through the whole vessel.

None of that will be visible on handover day, and all of it decides what the boat is like to own. Getting it in before the joinery arrives is the order every yard aims for, because pipes and cables are far easier to route through an open hull than through a finished saloon.

What Poole adds

In Poole the yacht moves into Sunseeker's dedicated Superyacht facility, and the work changes character. Wheelhouse technology, electrical infrastructure and the onboard systems are integrated there, side by side with bespoke cabinetry, the interiors and the finer detailing. Sunseeker describes it as the stage where engineering meets artistry. For the owner it is the phase in which a year of choices becomes cabinetry and rooms.

Extreme Black

The decision that will make the boat recognisable is the owner's: a bespoke hull finish called Extreme Black. Sunseeker's argument is that the yachts people remember belong to owners confident enough to make a statement, and that black sharpens the lines and the proportions of a boat this size. The yard expects her to be known at first sight, at anchor off Monaco, cruising the Bahamas or coming into her home port.

Dark paint is also the most demanding finish a yard can be asked for. Every ripple in the fairing shows, a dark hull runs warmer in the sun than a white one, and the paintwork needs more care over the years. None of that argues against it. It argues for asking about the paint specification and the maintenance plan in the same meeting as the colour.

Where she sits in the fleet

Sunseeker's model page gives the 134 Superyacht a length overall of 40.45 metres and a gross tonnage of 346. That is roughly eight and a half gross tonnes per metre, inside the band the Raneris desk calls a normal modern motor yacht, and well below the 500 GT line where the rules change. The same page lists a beach club at the waterline and a flybridge above, and a range of up to 1,600 nautical miles at 10 knots.

At a glance