Frauscher 1414 Demon sea trial: Flat out in Europe’s coolest superboat

If looks could kill, then the Frauscher 1414 Demon would slay everything in its wake. But is its performance as deadly? Hugo Andreae takes it for an early-morning spin in Palma to find out…

Every year at the Cannes Yachting Festival there is a small section of the marina next to the swinging pontoon across the entrance to the show that seems to be reserved purely for cool-looking boats.

It’s here that you’ll find the Italian style icon Wally and German performance brand SAY Carbon Yachts, giving punters something to ogle while they wait for the swing bridge to close.

But dominating one entire side of the unofficial Cool Dock is a fleet of boats from an altogether more unlikely source – land-locked Austria. Frauscher has been building boats since 1927, initially small wooden sailing dinghies for the Austrian lakes before switching to elegant motor launches and runabouts in the 1950s and 1960s.

Strict local emissions laws meant Frauscher was one of the early pioneers of electric boats too, an option it still offers on many of its smaller boats today, but in 2005 it launched an altogether different style of craft.

Abandoning the classic retro curves and traditional colour schemes of its predecessors, the 686 Lido adopted a much leaner, cleaner, more modern look with a near vertical bow and angular features that appealed to a younger, edgier audience.

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It set the tone for an entire new range of ultra cool modern day boats and weekenders culminating in this flagship model, the Frauscher 1414 Demon. We shot a video tour of this at the Boot Düsseldorf boat show in January and described it as “Europe’s coolest superboat”.

More than 80,000 people watched the video, loving what they saw but asking whether its performance lived up to its looks. Stefan Frauscher, who along with his brother Michael now runs the yard, invited us to find out for ourselves.

Fast forward to the end of April, two days before the start of the Palma International Boat Show. It’s 6.45am and the sun hasn’t yet risen over the hillsides surrounding Port Adriano Marina. Stefan is busy mopping dew off the gunmetal grey flanks of the test boat (painted to match the owner’s Audi R8) and even in this half light it looks stunning.

Read Hugo’s full review of the Frauscher 1414 Demon in the August 2023 issue of MBY, which is out now.

Frauscher 1414 Demon specifications

LOA: 45ft 8in (13.91m)
Beam: 12ft 10in (3.90m)
Displacement (dry): 10 tonnes
Fuel capacity: 1,200 litres
Water capacity: 200 litres
Engines: 2 x Volvo Penta 440hp D6 Duoprop
Top speed on test: 39.3 knots
Fuel consumption: 70lph @ 20 knots
Range: 274nm @ 20 knots / 695nm @ 6.7 knots
Noise: 70 d(B)A @ 20 knots
RCD category: B for 12
Starting price: €1,029,000 (ex. tax)
Price as tested: €1,280,000 (inc. VAT)