Hunton XRS 37, SUNBIRD

Broker’s Comments

Not all boats are born equal.

The Hunton XRS 37 was never a shrinking violet from its birth in 2004, and her timeless hawk-like lines derive directly from Jeff Hunton’s experience of the offshore endurance powerboat racing scene, and his 6 victories in the British Offshore Powerboat Championship.

With a slender 8’6” beam, her hull sits on a 25 degree aft deadrise – sharpening midships to 28, and this translates into a fabulously cushioned ride and exceptional handling – a true knife through butter sensation!

Her long, lean dart of a bow is drawn aft to a graceful rise at her screen, and the cockpit wraps around her crew in another nod to her racing heritage. Her deeply-upholstered seating has been re-trimmed, with a sunpad aft, well-protected sunken seating forward, and two bolstered helm seats sit just aft of the high screen, with the helm having a sensational driving position. Chromed throttles fall directly to hand, and a gorgeous laser-cut stainless steel dash houses white-carded engine gauges. A proper, snug driver’s environment for a boat that wants to be pushed, and rewards the engagement of her helm.

Below decks her arrow-like profile translates into a cosy, saloon, separate heads to starboard and a small, but perfectly-formed, galley area to port. The forward triangle naturally forms a double berth – and it is all beautifully done – but please do not expect a midships berth to be shoe-horned in. This is a true performance hull and delivers true performance boating.

She is currently owned by a powerboating enthusiast, who took his time in finding her (these are rare birds indeed) and then undertook to strip out her engines and DPR drives for a full rebuild and extensive overhaul, at the same time having her cockpit re-trimmed and taking the opportunity to clean and repaint her machinery space to achieve a level of detailing rarely seen in a leisure yacht.

She is thus an exceptionally fresh example of this iconic performance sportsboat and should be seriously considered by anyone who values being able to run at speed through weather that would hold lesser breeds in the harbour.

Fantastic!

Owner’s Comments

SUNBIRD’s Volvo Penta D6-370 engines had done just over 50 hours when we purchased the boat in September 2022. She was a nice boat but not up to our standards and as there are only twenty one XRS 37s (19 with diesel engines) varying from Yanmar 315hp through Volvo D6 350hp and up to Volvo D6 370hp. We wanted a 370hp boat and following 2 years of looking found SUNBIRD. She is hull 19 and believed to be the last diesel boat made, as the last 2 were petrol. Total boat hours recorded at 898/890.