Two nominations from one 11.85-metre platform
Axopar has secured two major European award nominations for different versions of its new 38 range. The enclosed 38 XC Cross Cabin is a finalist in the Best for Adventure category of the Best of Boats Award 2026, while the more open 38 Sun Top has been nominated in the up-to-14-metre category of the European Powerboat of the Year 2027 awards.
The pairing is notable because both boats are based on the same 11.85-metre platform while targeting different styles of use. Axopar has made modularity a central part of the range, allowing the hull and core engineering package to support all-weather cruising in the Cross Cabin and a more open, social deck plan in the Sun Top.
Cross Cabin nomination focuses on adventure use
The Best of Boats nomination reflects the 38 XC Cross Cabin's emphasis on protection, range and year-round usability. Its enclosed wheelhouse provides shelter in poor weather, while large sliding openings allow the cabin to feel much more like an open boat when conditions improve.
Axopar offers the platform with twin 300hp or 350hp outboards, and the company says the twin-stepped hull can exceed 45 knots. Below and around the wheelhouse, overnight accommodation, galley provision and optional bathroom facilities extend the boat beyond day use without pushing it outside Leisure Boat Guide's under-12-metre remit.
Sun Top takes the same engineering in a different direction
The 38 Sun Top's European Powerboat of the Year nomination puts the spotlight on the open-air side of the range. It shares the core platform and driving philosophy with the Cross Cabin but is arranged around a more exposed social deck, giving buyers who boat mainly in warmer climates a different balance of shelter and outdoor space.
That platform approach is increasingly common among production boatbuilders because it spreads development work across several clearly differentiated models. For owners it can also make comparisons easier: hull behaviour, propulsion choices and much of the engineering remain familiar while the superstructure and day-to-day use case change.
Awards will be decided later in the season
The Best of Boats 2026 winners are due to be announced during Boat & Fun Berlin in November, while the European Powerboat of the Year 2027 result is scheduled for boot Düsseldorf in January. The nominations therefore do not constitute wins, but they place two versions of the same new platform in front of separate international judging panels.
For the sub-12-metre market, the double recognition is useful because it shows how much variation can now be built into one production architecture. The 38 XC and 38 Sun Top are not simply trim alternatives; they are intended to make the same fast platform work for markedly different climates, crews and cruising habits.