The Sunseeker Tomahawk 37 gets a cool rating of 'positively arctic' from us, encapsulating the easy cool of the late '80s
Launched in 1989 and penned by successful race boat driver and designer Don Shead, the Sunseeker Tomahawk 37 echoed many of his race-winning hulls, with a deep vee that has a 25-degree deadrise amidships and is still running at a knife-like 23 degrees at the stern.
Above the waterline, the form is as simple as it is beautiful. Low, narrow and sleek, the windscreen frame is a gorgeous sweep of stainless steel and the slim radar arch jutts provocatively forward.
The layout is equally simple with a large sunpad over the engines aft, allowing the cockpit to be sunk low into the boat ahead of it. There’s a curved bench seat aft and then a helm and navigator seat either side further forward.
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Duck below and you’ll find a double berth in the bow ahead of U-shaped seating and a compact galley opposite the heads. Not a boat that prioritises cruising then. No, this is a boat for looking good and going fast. Very, very fast.
Available with Mercruiser or Volvo Penta petrol engines, the 330hp 7.4 litre V8 motors from either manufacturer were the pick of the bunch at launch. There was a diesel option, twin 200hp Volvo AQAD 41s, which gave a fuel-efficient 37 knots. But not the right noise. Those V8s were once memorably described as “sounding like two TVR Griffiths having a tug of war in a distant tunnel.”
When we tested the boat with the 330hp Volvo petrols and duoprop sterndrives, we saw 45 knots. Sunseeker later added even more powerful twin 420hp Mercruiser 502 Magnum motors to the options list, lifting the top end past 50 knots.
The interior takes second billing to its performance and looks
Better yet was the handling. In heavy seas off Poole we ran downwind at an easy 38 knots, occasionally so airborne that the props were clear of the surface. But it really showed its mettle when we turned around and prepared ourselves for a slow and wet slog back upwind.
“Looking down at the gauges after a couple of minutes we realised that we had clicked the throttles into the same position as on the downwind leg, and we were running back at the same 38 knots. Sure it was windy – 40mph of it we were making ourselves, but nothing wet hit us in the face, provided we kept our nerve and didn’t slow down. All in all, a perfect match of engine and boat”.
Sunseeker Tomahawk 37 specifications
Year: 1989
LOA: 37ft 2in (11.2m)
BEAM: 10ft 6in (3.2m)
ENGINES: Volvo Penta or Mercruiser V8 330hp petrol
SPEED: Up to 50 knots
PRICE: £74,000
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