There are boats, there are fancy boats, and then there are boats that look like they were designed after someone asked a supercar to take a gap year at sea. The BRABUS ULTIMA 55 lands squarely in that last category: a 55.8-foot hydrofoil luxury catamaran that appears to have mistaken the ocean for a private autobahn.
Built through BRABUS’ collaboration with Sunreef Yachts, the ULTIMA 55 is the first luxury catamaran from that partnership, and it is not trying to be shy about anything. It brings the wide, stable footprint of a multihull together with BRABUS’ usual blacked-out, carbon-fiber, please-do-not-touch-the-upholstery energy. In normal human terms, it is a floating lounge. In BRABUS terms, it is a graphite-black performance machine with enough deck space to make your current patio feel personally attacked.
The official BRABUS page lists the catamaran at 55.8 feet long, or 17 meters, with an 18.4-foot beam. Then, because apparently a regular 18.4-foot-wide yacht was not dramatic enough, lateral folding platforms can drop down on both sides and expand the aft deck area to 24.9 feet wide. That is the sort of feature you deploy when your guests need more room for lounging, dining, and quietly deciding whether their life choices have been sufficiently maritime.
A Supercar Brand Went Full Floating Villa
The exterior is where the ULTIMA 55 makes its first extremely expensive argument. BRABUS describes a Graphite Black design with an exclusive carbon-fiber concept, including exposed-carbon front and rear wings, carbon-fiber LED roof lights, illuminated BRABUS-logo pillars, ventilation trims on both sides, and a custom roof rack. The result is less “nautical leisure” and more “stealth vessel that has a favorite espresso machine.”
Underneath the mood lighting and deck furniture, this thing is very much a performance machine. BRABUS lists twin 10.8-liter six-cylinder engines, each producing 533 kW, or 725 hp, for a combined 1,450 hp. The company says that is enough to push the luxury catamaran past 40 knots, which is fast enough for your brunch plans to require maritime situational awareness.
The more interesting party trick is the hydrofoil system. BRABUS says the advanced foils generate lift beneath the surface, raising the hulls higher above the water. Less drag means more efficiency, more stability, and the unnerving sensation that your very large boat is trying to hover. It is the nautical equivalent of a rich person learning parkour.
Here is the practical version of the madness:
- 55.8-foot luxury catamaran developed by BRABUS and Sunreef Yachts.
- Twin 725 hp engines for a listed total of 1,450 hp.
- Hydrofoil system designed to lift the hulls and reduce drag.
- Folding side platforms expand the aft deck from 18.4 feet to 24.9 feet wide.
- Two accommodation layouts support either four or six guests, plus one crew member.
- BRABUS-style carbon fiber, leather, Alcantara, lighting, and blacked-out exterior detailing.
The Deck Expands Like It Has Weekend Plans
The aft deck is the main outdoor living area, and it seems specifically engineered for people who believe “sitting outside” should involve hydraulics. The side platforms lower to create a wider open-air stern, while the large transformer sunpads can fold into settees when everyone suddenly decides to sit upright and pretend this is a meeting.
There is also an extendable carbon-fiber table that can be configured for dining and social use or retracted to open up the deck. BRABUS notes an electric barbecue grill and wet bar modules with integrated prep, storage, and service functions, plus a separate bow sunpad area. Basically, the boat is prepared for three different kinds of lounging before you have finished deciding what sunglasses to wear.
| Area | What BRABUS Lists | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Aft deck | Folding side platforms and transformer sunpads | Turns the stern into a wider social deck |
| Bow | Large central sunpad | Separate open-air lounging zone |
| Galley | Induction cooktop, electric oven, sink, refrigerators, ice makers, storage | Real onboard living instead of snack-bin survival |
| Helm | Widescreen navigation and control station | Centralized vessel and onboard system controls |
| Entertainment | 43-inch lift-up TV and Bowers & Wilkins Marine Series sound | Because apparently the sea also needed a media room |
The Interior Is Where The Boat Starts Wearing Leather
Inside, the ULTIMA 55 leans hard into the BRABUS supercar connection. The saloon uses BRABUS “Moonstone” Masterpiece leather with the brand’s “Triangle” stitching pattern, Alcantara on the ceiling, exposed carbon fiber around the helm and trim components, and aluminum-accented flooring with illuminated BRABUS logos. This is not the kind of cabin where you throw a wet towel on the sofa unless you enjoy being quietly removed from a guest list.
The helm has a widescreen navigation and control station that brings navigation data, vessel monitoring, and onboard functions into one display with a dedicated BRABUS user interface. That means the person driving gets a command center while everyone else gets to ask whether the boat is “doing the flying thing yet.”
The saloon also gets the domestic comforts that separate a luxury catamaran from a very fast fiberglass anxiety machine. BRABUS lists an induction cooktop, electric oven, sink, refrigerators, ice makers, and integrated storage compartments. A 43-inch television is built into the countertop and rises electrically, which is exactly the sort of feature that makes watching weather radar feel like a Bond subplot.
Accommodation is available in two layouts. The standard configuration includes one master suite, one VIP stateroom, and one crew cabin, supporting four guests and one crew member. The alternate configuration uses three guest cabins and one crew cabin, supporting up to six guests and one crew member. Either way, nobody is sleeping under a pile of life jackets unless the itinerary has gone dramatically off script.
Specs For People Who Measure Relaxation In Horsepower
The published numbers are suitably ridiculous, but also useful if you are trying to understand what this thing actually is. It is not a little runabout wearing fancy upholstery. It is a substantial multihull platform with a 4.6-foot draft, a 1,500-liter fuel capacity, a 10.5 kW generator, and classification listed as B – 12 / C – 20. In other words, it is very prepared for your floating-houseboat fantasy to become a logistical spreadsheet.
The ULTIMA 55 is also one of those products where the funny part is that the practical details are genuinely impressive. A wide deck, configurable sleeping arrangements, real cooking equipment, serious propulsion, a stabilizing hydrofoil system, and entertainment hardware all exist in the same glossy black object. It is absurd, but it is not a prop. It is a real request-only luxury catamaran built for people whose idea of a weekend escape includes carbon fiber and a crew cabin.
Reality returns wearing boat shoes here: BRABUS lists the ULTIMA 55 as available by request, with pricing on request. That is luxury-speak for “if you have to ask, you are probably still allowed to look at the pictures.” The official product page includes a request form for buyers who want to inquire directly through BRABUS.
Images via BRABUS.
Key Details
- Product: BRABUS ULTIMA 55 hydrofoil luxury catamaran.
- Makers: BRABUS and Sunreef Yachts.
- Length: 55.8 feet / 17 meters.
- Beam: 18.4 feet, expanding to 24.9 feet with platforms open.
- Power: two 10.8-liter six-cylinder engines, each rated at 725 hp.
- Top speed: listed by BRABUS as 40+ knots.
- Layouts: four or six guests, plus one crew member.
- Availability: request-only through BRABUS, with price on request.
For most of us, the BRABUS ULTIMA 55 will remain an aspirational object, somewhere between yacht, supercar, and floating billionaire patio. But as an object of product design, it is wonderfully excessive in the exact OddityMall way: a hydrofoil catamaran that takes the sensible idea of a stable multihull boat and says, “yes, but what if it also looked like it could valet itself at a nightclub?”
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Hydrofoil system adds a genuinely unusual performance angle | Price is not publicly listed |
| Folding platforms create a huge aft deck | Request-only buying process is not casual shopping |
| Twin 725 hp engines deliver 40+ knot performance | Large luxury catamaran ownership is its own lifestyle |
| Interior mixes leather, Alcantara, carbon fiber, galley, and media features | Not exactly a low-maintenance weekend toy |
| Four- or six-guest layouts add practical flexibility | Subtlety has very clearly left the marina |
Where to find This Hydrofoil Luxury Catamaran Has Folding Deck Platforms
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