Axopar 29 Sun Top Review: Axopar's Open-Roof Adventure Boat

Axopar's tenth-birthday boat

Axopar launched its first boat, the 28, in 2014 and built its reputation on it. Ten years later, at Boot Düsseldorf in January 2024, the Finnish builder replaced it with the 29 range: the enclosed 29 Cross Cabin and the open-roofed 29 Sun Top covered here. A center-console 29 CCX followed later that year. Founding partner Jan-Erik Viitala used the anniversary to describe Axopar as the leader of a genre it created, adventure boating, and the 29 is the clearest statement of what that means.

The Sun Top is the sociable version. Where the Cross Cabin closes the helm in with sliding doors, the Sun Top keeps a hardtop with a sliding canvas roof, borrowed from the 37 Sun Top, and builds the cockpit around a U-shaped sofa. It is a dayboat first, with optional cabins for the nights you want them.

Higher bow, sharper steps: what changed from the 28

Axopar says the 29 hull was redrawn for better hydrodynamics and efficiency, with a more defined, more fluid shape. It is still a twin-stepped deep-V with a knifelike entry, quoted by Yachting at 22.5 degrees of transom deadrise and by Soundings and BoatTEST at 22 degrees. The bow is higher with more flare, Viitala told Power and Motoryacht it was raised about ten centimeters, and the walkaround side decks are wider.

The builder claims fuel economy up to 30 percent better than before and says efficiency is virtually unchanged anywhere between 22 and 32 knots, with a fast cruise around 37 knots and a top end near 48 knots. Fuel capacity grew to 105 gallons, enough for more than 200 nautical miles at moderate cruise, according to Axopar. Those are builder figures; the independent test below is a better guide for twin 200s.

• LOA 30 feet 7 inches, beam 9 feet 10 inches (BoatTEST)
• Dry weight 6,393 pounds
• Draft 2 feet 8 inches
• 105 gallons of fuel

On test with twin Mercury 200s

BoatTEST's Capt. Ken Kreisler ran a Sun Top with twin 200 hp Mercury four-stroke V6s, four people aboard and 60 percent fuel, for an approximate displacement of 7,428 pounds. Top speed was 50.3 mph (43.7 knots) at 5,700 rpm burning 32.2 gph. At 4,500 rpm the boat made 35.7 knots on 20.6 gph, and at 5,000 rpm 40.5 knots on 26.8 gph.

Those numbers say two things. First, real-world top speed with twin 200s lands a few knots under Axopar's 48-knot headline, which likely reflects a lighter boat or the 400 hp V10. Second, the efficiency curve is flat at speed: at 35 to 40 knots the boat still covers roughly 1.5 to 1.7 nautical miles per gallon, which is the stepped hull doing its job. Kreisler found the boat highly responsive and happy through hard S-turns.

Single-engine buyers can choose a 300 hp V8 or 400 hp V10 Verado. A single saves weight, cost and maintenance; twins give redundancy, better low-speed control and easier resale in the US.

The sliding roof and a cockpit built for company

The hardtop's canvas roof slides open manually as standard, with an electric version optional. Under it, two bolstered pilot and co-pilot seats swivel and slide; tilt them forward and you find a wet bar and stowage in the base. Turn them around and they face a dining table in the middle of the cockpit, where a U-shaped settee with a four-position backrest can become a forward-facing bench, an aft-facing bench or, with the table lowered and a filler added, a large sunpad.

Aft, owners choose from an open deck, more seating with a table, a wet bar, or an aft cabin under a ram-assisted hatch that doubles as another sunpad. Larger fender boxes flank the aft deck, and the side fender box can be fitted as a top-loading fridge. A folding light mast and optional ski frame finish the deck.

The multicabin: storage, head or berth

Forward, C-shaped bow seating with storage beneath is standard, and L or U-shaped sofa packages with a table turn the foredeck into a dining spot or a big sunpad. Lift the center seat and a step-down ladder leads into what Axopar calls the multicabin.

That space can be a dry locker for paddleboards and fenders, a head compartment with an electric freshwater toilet under a hatch and a clever fold-down sink, or a full-length sleeping cabin. Combine it with the aft cabin and the boat can sleep two couples, or two adults and two children, for a night. Nobody will mistake it for a cruiser, but for island hopping it is enough.

Thruster, windlass and the electronics that matter

The equipment list is where Axopar pricing climbs. For US use, a bow thruster and windlass are worth having on a boat with this much windage under the hardtop. Twin Simrad NSX 12-inch displays, HALO20+ radar and an RS40 VHF were on the test boat, along with a night-vision camera and Clarion audio. A 110-volt shore power system with charger is optional. Trim tabs are on the options list too, and on a stepped hull they help fine-tune running attitude in a crosswind.

Upholstery is Silvertex as standard with alternative colors including Baltic, Cobre and Sandstone. These choices matter less for value than engines, cabins and electronics.

Costs, ratings and early resale

Twin 200s cruising at 35 knots burn about 20 gph, so a 100-hour season might use 1,500 to 2,000 gallons of gasoline. Annual costs of roughly $12,000 to $25,000 cover storage, insurance, outboard service, bottom paint if kept in the water, and canvas. Trailering is possible on a 9-foot 10-inch beam with permits in many states.

The 29 carries CE category B and C ratings, which BoatTEST explains as built for offshore use in winds up to Force 8 and coastal use to Force 6. Resale is still forming, but the Axopar 28 has held value well, and the brand's network of more than 100 dealers in over 55 countries keeps demand steady. Expect twin-engine, well-optioned boats to resell best.