Leave it to a high-performance aftermarket tuning company to put more oomph into a speedboat marketed as a megayacht tender. The former is Brabus, the German firm known for its work with Mercedes-Benz, among others. The boat is the limited-edition Brabus Shadow 800, built by Finnish shipyard Axopar Boats. Premiering this week in Europe, she’s available for U.S. shores, too.
The 37-foot (11.2-meter) Brabus Shadow 800 combines Axopar’s nautical engineering with Brabus’ penchant for style and speed. Specifically, she employs the twin-stepped hull of the Axopar 37 Sun Top. She further runs with twin 400-hp Mercury Racing 400R, racing outboards. For steering ease, she employs Mercury’s joystick control. Shallow waters should be no issue, either, given the draft of 2’8” (0.85 meter). Neither should be making fast work of fun. In fact, Axopar says the Brabus Shadow 800 maxes out upwards of 50 knots and cruises at 35. With speeds like that, she can do more than shadow her mothership. She can venture well ahead to scout out anchorages.
As for style, the boat subtly changes the 37 Sun Top styling. She shows off Brabus’ signature black and red color scheme outside. Inside, black, white, and gray complement the cozy compartment, with seating, berths, a TV, and a stereo system. (Note that gray is available as an alternate hull color. Note, too, that you can choose other tones for the interior.) Standard touches further include black-painted stainless steel hinges, rails, cleats, and even cup holders. In addition, if you are a Brabus fan, no doubt you’ll appreciate its signature carbon fiber covering for the dash.
With a beam of 10’8” (3.3 meters), the Brabus Shadow 800 offers seating fore and aft. The hardtop shades the driver and aft seating, while the forward seating doubles as a sunpad. Passenger capacity is 10.
Axopar plans to build just 20 of these boats. Pricing starts at €397,500, which includes VAT. (Nautical Ventures is handling U.S. sales.) Besides the above-mentioned Mercury package, you get twin GPS/plotters, a VHF, and other electronics as standard equipment. Underwater cameras are available as well. Most notable, though, each buyer gets a Garmin Quatix 5 marine watch. It links to the Garmin units onboard to give you depth, speed, wind, and other data at a glance. It even lets you control the autopilot.
Barry
Would love to see this with a pair of Seven Marine outboards. Actually seems like the advertised power is rather tame for this package. Good looking machine nonetheless.