Nimbus reveals the Sport Coupé 35

In car language a coupé is the sporty one, low, sleek and fast. In Nimbus language a Coupé is the boat you live on, at home, warm and quiet under a solid roof, with the galley up in the saloon and everyone together around the table. The new Nimbus Sport Coupé 35 is a Coupé in both senses of the word.

It is built on the same hull as the Sport Tender 35, made to run fast, dry and steady when the waves pick up. Like the Tender, it is made for almost every activity on the water, fishing from the stern, swimming from the balcony, an afternoon in the sun on the foredeck. On top of that sits the comfort and craft of a Nimbus Coupé, a dry, comfortable saloon where everyone travels together. The result is a boat to drive in all kinds of weather and a boat to live on, all year round. It is a boat for the crossing to the island in the morning, dinner across the bay in the evening, the weekend at anchor and the holiday onboard.

Today Nimbus shows the first rendered images of the boat. The Sport Cruiser 35 series has three models on one hull, the Sport Tender, the Sport Weekender and the Sport Coupé. The Sport Tender 35 made its world premiere at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September and has since been nominated for European Powerboat of the Year 2027 in the 10 to 14 metre class, with the winners named at boot in January.

The new boat was designed as a Coupé from the first sketch. Every element serves a purpose, the water it will meet, the job it has to do, the people onboard, which is what Scandinavian design has meant at Nimbus since 1968.

“We designed the 35 hull to do everything a day on the water asks of it. That makes the Sport Coupé versatile, ready for almost anything you want to do. And we wanted the most comfort while you travel, so we gave it everything a Nimbus Coupé is known for. Put the two together and you have a new kind of Nimbus Sport Coupé.”

/ Joacim Gustavsson, Chief Designer at Nimbus

The result is the feel of a heavy boat, solid, steady and quiet in the sea, in a light boat that rides on top of the waves. There are no creaks and no squeaks, the planing threshold is low and the spray stays down, and it is the stiffness, more than the weight, that keeps the ride free of slamming in a choppy sea, even when you hold your speed. On the same hull, the Sport Tender 35 reached 48.5 knots with twin Mercury Verado V8 300 in Mercury Marine’s sea trials in August.

The Sidewalk and a bigger saloon
The Sport Coupé has the Sidewalk, the asymmetrical deck layout most Nimbus Coupés are built around, the design that won the 365 Coupé European Powerboat of the Year in 2012. On the starboard side the side deck is extra wide, from the aft deck to the bow, so it is easy and safe to get on and off along the whole side and to move freely between the foredeck and the aft deck. On the port side the deck is raised, and the space goes inside, to a bigger saloon and to generous headroom on the way down to the mid cabin. The raised deck has steps shaped into it, so the foredeck is easy to reach from either side. And with the side door at the helm open, the skipper can manoeuvre standing on the side deck when coming alongside.

Overhead, a solid roof takes the place of a canvas one and keeps the saloon quiet and dry. Glass roof hatches over the saloon slide open to the sky, and fixed glass sections in the roof that reaches out over the aft deck let the daylight in where people spend their afternoons half outdoors.

At the helm, easy in and easy out
The helm sits to starboard, beside the Sidewalk, and it is built for the person who drives, docks and steps ashore. A new side door slides open straight onto the side deck. It has an aluminium frame, a newly developed handle with an integrated lock and generous seals, so it closes solidly and quietly. Below it, a small side gate in the hull (known in the US as a dive door) opens for stepping straight off onto the quay. The gate is shaped to sit flush against the hull, with a recessed handle and magnets that hold it shut. The skipper can step out, take the lines and step back in without climbing over anything.

With Mercury Joystick Piloting and an integrated bow thruster, docking and close-quarters manoeuvring become calm and simple. It takes the edge off a tight docking situation or a busy harbour, and one person can bring the boat alongside alone.

The helm itself is the same clean helm as on the Tender, with as little as possible in the way. What has to happen fast sits closest to hand, the throttle, the wheel and the wipers on paddles at the wheel, now standard, with the horn and the volume on the wheel too. Everything you have time for, the bilge pump, the navigation and anchor lights, sits in a small display, and the main switches are controlled from the helm. A single 16-inch or two 12-inch displays sit at arm’s length, running Nimbus’s own interface with clear pages for the harbour, the boat and driving. The dashboard is in matte anthracite, so nothing reflects in the windscreen. On the passenger side, to port, there is room for the stereo and the charging points, and the VHF sits in the roof.

The saloon, the heart of a Nimbus Coupé
The saloon is built for the way a Coupé is used, for travelling together and for staying. A dinette takes the place of a U-sofa, so the table is big enough for a real dinner with plates and glasses on it, and it changes with the day. Under way, the front sofa flips to face forward, so two passengers ride looking the way the boat is going. In the evening, lower the table and lift out a cushion, and the dinette becomes a lounge to stretch out in with a blanket and a film on the optional screen of up to 40 inches that folds down from the roof. For a night onboard, it makes up into a bed.

The galley sits up in the saloon with everyone, built in as part of the superstructure. It has a gas or electric hob, a double sink with a generous mixer tap, cupboards with drawers hidden inside and an overhead cupboard. The fronts are clean, with no handles or knobs to catch on, because the galley is a place everyone passes many times a day.

Room to stay below deck
Below deck there is more room to stay than on the Tender. A fore cabin with a larger and wider double berth, wardrobes as standard for the longer trips, a head with a shower, and a mid cabin that is easy to get into thanks to the headroom the raised side deck gives. Ventilation is built in and out of sight, with an opening port in every window, and the big foredeck hatch does two jobs. The bags go straight down when you arrive, and the warm air goes straight out after a hot day in harbour.

“Historically, the Coupé is what Nimbus is best known for. Our Coupé owners live with their boats, with family and friends, all season long, so the cosy things matter to them. Cooking up in the saloon with everyone around, a lounge to sink into at the end of the day, a canopy that closes in moments when the rain comes in. That is peace of mind. The Sport Coupé brings all of it to the 35 series, and it is a seriously good-looking boat.”

Jonas Göthberg, Commercial Director and Brand at Nimbus

The foredeck is a big part of the boat, and it is made for much more than sunbathing. It is close to the Tender’s, the foredeck people at Cannes sat down on and stayed, and it changes depending on the activity. Without cushions it is a working deck with secure, non-slip footing for boarding, handling ropes and moving freely. With the cushions and the sun beds it becomes the biggest place onboard to lie in the sun. With the table up, eight people sit around it for lunch, high up with the view ahead. It is made for sun, swimming and long afternoons outdoors, more so than on any Nimbus Coupé before it.

The aft deck and the canopy
The aft deck is more protected than the Tender’s, built around an L-shaped sofa with a backrest all round. Five or six sit around the table, six easily with an extra chair. The sofa rearranges with the day. Set the table for dinner, fold the backrest halfway forward to sit facing the stern with your feet towards the bathing platform, or put the table away and fold the backrest flat into a sun bed. The side balcony folds out down to the water at anchor, and with the sun bed out beside the saloon it is one of the nicest places onboard to spend an afternoon. For owners who fish, the sofa seat folds up to give room to stand at the stern, the fillet surfaces are built in, and a fishing rack, available as an accessory, gives hip support and a steady place to stand.

The canopy was designed in from the start. The two side panels stow in fabric covers at the door posts and pull out in moments, and the aft panel folds up into the roof and disappears into hatch. The aft deck goes from open and airy to closed against wind and water, and it stays light under the roof glass with the canopy up. A sliding glass door joins the aft deck to the saloon as standard. As an option, an electrically lowered window and a folding glass door open the two into one room, as on the 495 Coupé.

The lines of a sports coupé
The boat has a forward-raked windscreen, the direction the 495 Coupé set for the Nimbus Coupés, and it is the first Nimbus Coupé after the 495 to have one. With the long sheer line of the 35 hull it gives the boat a bolder, sportier silhouette.

“Above all you want a Coupé that works really well, and you also want a really beautiful one. Some things we never compromise on, generous decks, proper handholds and a side door worthy of a Coupé. It should be and feel very solid in every detail.”

/ Joacim Gustavsson

The right engines for the boat
Nimbus has a clear view on power, the right engines for the boat. It is offered with Mercury outboards, a single V10 or twin V8 300, and the twin V8 suits this hull very well. For owners who prefer an inboard there is a Volvo Penta D6, which brings the look of an inboard boat and a large bathing platform, with stowage in the platform and a big locker under an extended sun bed.