The British luxury boat building brand Hunton Yachts produces stylish, quality, luxury yachts that are hand made in Hampshire England.
Hunton Yachts was created in 1979 and arose from one man’s vision. Jeff Hunton, a passionate offshore powerboat racer, sought to build the most complete luxury performance boats on the market with accommodation to match.
Now Fiona Pool, the company CEO is on a mission to expand production at the British-based business to “40 to 50 yachts a year”. a former banker at Goldman Sachs and Bank of America in The City of London, she intends to expand the company over the next five years and grow the firm’s revenues to the US$50m mark by tapping the international market for luxury yachts.
Hunton, first entered the first ‘Cowes/Torquay/Cowes’ races back in 1975. He went on to compete in eleven races and the passage to a remarkable career was born.
Perfecting his own designs, established Hunton in 1979, with the clear aim to design and build genuine high-performance yachts affording luxurious accommodation.
By the turn of this century, Hunton had established its name as an innovative designer and builder of high quality performance craft, even integrating materials like Kevlar reinforcement into their hulls as far back as 1987.
The first Kevlar reinforced boat in fact was the XRS, a model denominator that has been handed down to the XRS43 grand tourer that is now the firm’s flagship model.
The XRS43 was the boat used during the chase scenes in the film Sahara starring Mathew McConaughey and Penelope Cruise.
The Gazelle 23, his first design, won ‘Cruiser Class A’ in the 1980 British Offshore Powerboat Championship. Subsequently, Jeff went on to win the title six times.
What he learnt from racing has enabled Hunton to build increasingly customer-focused boats with a performance and handling second to none.
Today these boats achieve speeds of up to 70 knots – fast for a 13.1 metre cruiser.
However, speed is not the only distinguishing aspect that makes them stand out from the crowd in the marina and among its peers.
All the firm’s boats, be it their nimble XRS37 luxury yacht, to the soon to be launched XRS54 luxury cruiser, are hand-crafted with an attention to detail and quality of finish rarely seen for a craft of this size.
Individuality is a hallmark of haute luxury. The builder boasts its own 360 bespoke yacht configurator with over a million combinations of colour and trim. Be it from exterior paint effects and two-tone finish, to sophisticated and elegant detailing in the saloon and luxurious fabrics.
Hunton designed the twin-stepped hull bottom with precise geometry that lets it run fast yet safe. The boat can leap from 15-39mph in less than two seconds, moving up the speedometer to 65mph without missing a beat.
It is made to cruise the Mediterranean or the waters off Miami in style and comfort. It’s not a racer, but is designed for cruising in a sleek, sexy fashion, with the power there if you need it. No other boat made in Britain today compares for looks, quality or handling.
In order to create the ‘practical accommodation’ a carbon-fibre foredeck tops the Kevlar hull, adding strength, stiffness and lightweight properties to the structure and creating a welcoming cabin below.
Good head height is provided, while the open-plan interior space offers a comfortable salon, separate heads and shower, a luxury galley and double berth in the forepeak.
Stainless steel trim and high-grade marine leathers upholster the aft sun-pad and C-shaped cockpit banquette. The race-style seats come with double stitching on the exterior upholstery.
For clients in warmer climes, the air-conditioned salon provides a welcome respite from the sun in comfortable surroundings. The teak sole, quilted Alcantara upholstery and wood trim present subtle and understated quality.
In the cockpit there is everything required to enjoy a day out on the water, with a wet-bar and refrigerator located to port, a waterproofed hi-fi system, a teak-lined bathing platform, a wraparound banquette and a double sun-pad that hydraulically rises to reveal one of the neatest engine bay’s around.
Almost a decade in the making, the forthcoming launch of the Hunton XRS54, a new breed of luxury cruiser, encompasses everything one would expect from the legendary boat builder.
This new model comes with a choice of hardtop or open cockpit, twin or triple engines, petrol or diesel propulsion, two cabins (both with bathrooms), modular cockpit seating, cutting-edge electronics and a top speed of 55 knots.