SUNSEEKER OCEAN 156

With spectacular internal accommodation on all three decks, Sunseeker has pulled off a packaging masterpiece with its all-new 82ft superyacht

- WORDS: Hugo Andreae

Size does matter, it turns out, at least when it comes to a certain type of boat. What started off as a gradual trend to squeeze ever more volume from a sub-24-metre category hull has evolved into a full-blown space race. Sunseeker, Ferretti, Pearl and Azimut are all at it, building upwards and outwards to maximise internal capacity, particularly in the key 80-100ft sector, but it’s Princess that really seems to have nailed it, first with its controversially styled but very successful X95 ‘superfly’ and latterly with its slightly shorter but arguably even more impressive X80.

For a while, Sunseeker was left looking a little flat-footed. Its beamy Ocean 90 may have offered impressive space on its main and lower decks, but without a raised pilothouse or fully enclosed upper deck, it couldn't match the X95’s sheer volume. The hastily conceived Ocean 182 was a decent attempt at bridging the gap, but adding a roof to a top deck that was originally designed as an open flybridge was never going to be as effective as a purpose-built tri-deck design.

That's where this new Ocean 156 comes in. A clean-sheet design on an 82ft platform with internal accommodation on all three decks, it takes full advantage of the layout to create one of the most spacious and versatile 80-85ft craft the world has ever seen.