A new boat name from a new boat dealer? That’s not an easy pitch when it comes to savvy UK buyers. However, the boat in question here has something of a pedigree and the dealer seems a bit special too. Why let unfamiliarity come between you and what could be your ideal boat?

The Absolute range of progressive, stylish Italian sterndrive sportscruisers comes from designers previously involved in Gobbi and Atlantis, so their CVs are not in question. The chap who brings them into the UK is a lifeboat man (instant respect for him) who seems to spend his entire working life criss-crossing the Irish Sea (instant respect for the boat) from his base on the Isle of Man to give demonstrations to would-be buyers.

This kind of can-do attitude tells you plenty about the man behind UK dealer Ocean Nautic and quite a bit about the boat. So when an invitation was offered to test the latest 39ft Absolute sportscruiser we headed straight for the Isle of Man… only to find out the test was to be held in Italy.

The Absolute range runs from this new 39 on to a 41 and the 45ft flagship. Having two models so close together in a three boat line up may sound odd, but the technical specifications make sense of it: the 39 is just 37ft (11.3m) long, while the 41 comes in at over 42ft (12.8m).

The Absolutes look the very image of the modern sportscruiser. More than that though, they are the most North European, British even, of Italian sportsboats. That is meant as a compliment, because the end product will find many a fan over here. Italy is not shy of a good designer or two but where Absolute may score bonus points is with its interiors that mix Mediterranean chic with some real warmth, all in a well-proportioned layout. If my memory serves me well, this manages to do what no other builder has on a boat of this length: and that is fit a proper en suite to the guest cabin as well as the forward master. A beam of almost 13ft (4m) – which is at least a foot wider than the competition – might be one good reason for the 39’s extra space and specification.

Outside the style is certainly individual with the 39, like all Absolutes, sporting a forward raked radar arch that starts further aft than most, following the line of the transom and tender garage, something of a luxury on a boat of this length. Aside from these novelties, the 39 cleverly ticks the design must-have boxes, such as the vertical ports cut into the blue top sides, the rising deck mouldings along the stern quarters and some aggressive side screen angles that are, dare I say it, very Sunseeker Portofino.

Another more individual feature of the range is that all of the boats are sterndrive powered. Hardly a surprise on the 39, but for the 45 it is a fact that may raise few eyebrows and perhaps pose a few questions for the deep vee hull from Absolute president, part-owner and designer Sergio Miggi.
On the subject of build, there are precious few places to get inside the guts of the hull with the saloon sole closed off, making it difficult to give a really thorough assessment. The strengthening, where it is visible, looks on the money: the frames may not look quite as chunky as, say, those found inside a Fairline but nevertheless the finish is perfectly good. Ultimately, the 39 impresses with its laudable attention to matters of on-deck practicality and safety.

If the 13ft (4.0m) beam does not affect the performance, it certainly makes itself known below decks where, along with 6ft 3in (1.91m) headroom, there is a genuine feeling of space when you enter the saloon. Glasswork and linings of a fashionable light green hue (I know it’s fashionable because it’s the same shade those swankier gastropubs use) and light American oak cabinetry do their bit to open up the accommodation, while the vertical ports that border the saloon are a great interior design feature with a practical sideline in light and ventilation. All six can be opened up when safely at anchor.

Shape and substance are what add the warmth mentioned earlier. Any spare surfaces are covered in oak. Bulkheads curve, sculpted deck heads add interest and hardly a trace of bare GRP is to be found. The standard finish for the saloon seating is a washable material, but the optional dimpled leather hide (£1875) looks and feels a winner. Cushions for the U-shape bench pull out to present flow-coated stowage bins, while more precious articles can be packed away in eye-line lockers.
An option worth considering is the oak entertainment panel that fastens itself to the rounded ‘feature’ bulkhead. This centralises the audio and visual systems and positions them so that you and your guests get a bird’s eye-view from the sofa. Another standard oak cabinet hides away the galley’s counter-sunk hob and sink with more stowage below plus another fridge. The hob is an electric-only option so you either wait until you’re marina bound or fit a genset.

Although the forward master quarters are usually the biggest cabins, the difficulty normally revolves around how well the builders have done with the guest cabin amidships. To its credit, Absolute has come up with a great compromise between space and specification. As well as the en suite, you have more standing headroom than usual, with the 6ft 4in clearance extending much further into the room than most. Stowage is good and the twin-bunk-to-double-berth layout chosen is, for me, the best option for a guest cabin. Access into the en suite toilet and shower room is fine and the clean, stylish compartment has its own porthole.

The forward master cabin and its en suite are larger and enjoy more stowage, as you might expect. Long overhead lockers, under-berth drawers and a large hanging locker mean that longer cruises should require few stops to the local laundromat. The interior finish is impressive, with LED mood lighting, illuminated light switches, stitched leather trim around the berths, and even fiddled edges to surfaces, a rare bonus allowing you to actually put things on them!Like most boats in this class, Absolute has neglected to offer any compartments for the plentiful lockers.This, like your crockery, flies in the face of the boat’s sporting ability.

Sharing the same LOA and aggressive looks, this Absolute has a very obvious rival in Sunseeker’s Portofino 35. Where the boats differ, however, is with the aft cockpit and stern deck sections. Whereas the Portofino goes for the more common aft seating layout in its cockpit, our test boat features a tender garage and sunpad, a fact that places real pressure on the remaining cockpit area.

A combination of the moulded side screens and the radar arch creates plenty of shelter for those loafing around on a very comfy sunpad, its design creating an incline for your back and a further raised section of headrest, while your feet can brace against a stainless steel rail. Across the stern the Absolute looks huge, mainly because it is, but also because the design opens it up with symmetrical entrances to the portside deck or the main cockpit entranceway. Tall flanks do close the bathing platform’s outboard edges in, but they also create secure access for side decks. The garage door opens up in a sprightly fashion and inside there is room for a 8ft 9in (2.7m) dinghy. If you intend to house a RIB, you might want to add an optional electric winch and a roller for the bathing platform edge.

Apart from a ludicrously complicated canopy design, practicalities are another strong feature of the deck specification. A hidden compartment under the sunpad cushion provides fender stowage compartments and a neat inlay for a lifebuoy and boathook. The side decks may not be widest, but excellent access, well-positioned grabrails and a high toerail all help. The foredeck is superbly gripped with none of those shiny bits some builders insist on placing just where you would normally tread.

As already mentioned, the all-Volvo line-up of 260hp four-cylinder D4s and 310hp D6s suits the boat’s intentions very well. Whether my gut feeling that the smaller engines may be the best option for the 39 is right needs to be tested on the water, and I hope the UK dealer offers us the chance. Where the smaller engines will surely have the edge on their six-cylinder counterparts is on engine room space.

When compared to sportscruisers with a traditional cockpit seating plan, tender garaged boats have a trickier time accommodating the engines on two counts. The first is due to the low set sole of the garage severely inhibiting the clearance above the engines, the second is quick, easy access for repairs or maintenance.

On access, Absolute has gone for the usual companionway hatch with stainless steel step down to the bilge level. The hatchway itself seems unnecessarily tight considering there appears to be the space to make it wider. Once inside, a GRP tread plate runs across the front of the engines and even with a 5kW generator fitted there is room to move across them. The finish is quite busy down here, something may well change on later boats when cable runs, plumbing and pumps will be better organised.

Fuel pre-filters areaccessible, but because of that poor clearance above the engines you need to approach the raw water filters from on high. Fortunately Absolute has created a three-piece sole for the tender garage, making it far easier to remove.

Not only does the Absolute look a bit like the Portofino, it rides rather similarly too. Sunseekers tend to run bow up and so does the 39. Fitted with the 310hp Volvo D6 diesels the boat has plenty of weight sat aft but it also has plenty of power, reaching a healthy 36-knot top speed that should translate to something nearer 38 knots in our cooler climate. This kind of performance suggests that the smaller, cheaper D4 option is well worth a look. The 260hp on offer from the lighter four-cylinder engines should still return healthy figures, while perhaps levelling out the trim.
But enough of the maybes. The reality here is a boat that performs with utter composure and verve. Despite its beam the ride is soft over the waves, while the steering’s response and drive through the turn remains strong. The bow-up style of ride needs to be harnessed into a head sea, the standard-fit tabs lowering the trim for a more comfortable approach. The tabs can create a certain tenderness above 28 knots, but if you are running in to the kind of sea that requires tabs at 28 knots you probably won’t care, will you?

Turning onto a following sea the ride needs no help in conquering the conditions. With thumping great clouds of spray all about us, just one single drop made its way inboard. Running across the rev range the boat definitely prefers to be above 2400rpm and 18 knots. Once you hit 2500rpm and 20 knots and a bit of tab is added, everything seems to fall into place. From here it is a matter of choosing a cruising speed to suit your mood. Anywhere between 2800rpm and 3200rpm will return plenty of pace without entering the upper, less economic ranges of the engines.

As with most of today’s top-drawer sportscruisers, the leg trim has an effect on the balance and poise of the boat, but not so much that it can hurt the ride if you get it wrong. Happy to run between –4 and +2, the legs can be pushed out further still, but while the ride remains perfectly manageable, you lose on performance with a drop in speed.

At the helm, a drop-away style bolster seat might just take two, but more likely it will remain the sole preserve of the skipper. An aggressively angled dash looks the business and matches the boat’s style perfectly, delivering a sensible layout with space for a 7in display dead centre. Other features include a neat ‘bits’ tray under the three-spoke steering well, but navigators beware – there seems to be no place for a chart to be laid out. On longer journeys and with the boat trimmed, the seated position should work well and the standing ergonomics are pretty much faultless.

If there is one part of the market that takes no prisoners, and offers an unbelievably strong group of challengers vying for our affections, it is the market for 40ft sportscruisers. Name any marque, and you can guarantee that it will boast a fast, capable, drop-dead stylish offering at this level. Fairline, Princess, Sealine, Sunseeker, Windy... all present and correct. But the Italians have a habit of coming up with great boats with the rather useful and attractive addition of low pricing. So can the Absolute steal a march on its rivals with some good old-fashioned value for money?

A fairly comprehensive standard specification means that the £206,470 (inc VAT) price for a D4-powered boat and £218,561 (inc VAT) for the D6 is a fairly attractive starting point, not least considering that figure includes teak decking to the cockpit and bathing platform that could easily put £5000 on the final outlay with other builders.

That said, you will still need to build the £2605 canopy set into your calculations, a bow-thruster may be wanted, as would the optional holding tank. I would also like to see an option for a larger water tank, as 50gals on a boat with two bathrooms won’t go far. Remembering that this is a 37ft boat, albeit one with twin en suite cabins, a price tag of around £210,000 means that life will not be easy for the Absolute (good as it undeniably is), as our rivals panel below illustrates. And with Atlantis due to launch its own 39 model any day now, this market is gearing up for one hell of a fight – one where the only guaranteed winner should be you, the buyer.

Ocean Nautic

Tel: 01624 627752
Email: sales@oceannautic.com
Website: www.oceannautic.com