![grand banks boats lost to time grand banks boats lost to time](https://dallasgateway.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Trinity-River-Boat.jpg)
As we got closer, I could see what he meant-our props were churning the sort of lethal-looking black muck that industrial-strength ports all over the world serve up. Instead, the Malaysian skipper onboard did the deal, after explaining that local knowledge was needed to negotiate the dicey depths near the haul-out slip. Ready, Set, Whammo!Īlthough I mightily wanted to, I didn’t get to slide our 55 into the TraveLift’s slings, a memorable event for any former Grand Banks owner.
#Grand banks boats lost to time zip
Sound levels were whispery, at least until we attained 2000 rpm, and running attitudes were wholly optimum, going from zip at idle to a maximum of 4 degrees at WOT, with no out-of-the-hole excesses. Dialing ’er back into the displacement realm, however, produced a whiff of thriftiness, with a fuel burn of just 6.2 gph at 7.9 knots and a burn of 11.2 gph at 9.5 knots, with ranges of 1,147 and 763 nautical miles respectively. The average top speed I recorded was 22.4 knots while burning 71.6 gph.
![grand banks boats lost to time grand banks boats lost to time](http://heathcaldwell.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Illustrious_Midshipmen_-_small.7434616_std.jpg)
Our speed and other runs had gone off without a hitch, thanks to near-wraparound sightlines at the lower helm station (I abjured the upper station due to the rain, even with the hardtop), three sets of gutsy, pantograph-type Exalto windshield wipers, a dashboard setup that put our Raymarine electronics suite (including HD Color radar) at an easy-reading angle, and my Stidd’s sweetly adjustable altitude and cushy upholstery.
#Grand banks boats lost to time trial
My experiences an hour or so earlier, during our sea trial on the relatively smooth but rain-drenched Johor Strait, had been equally gratifying. Combine all these factors and you’ve got the sort of superior close-quarters equanimity I was enjoying on the Sungai Laloh. And finally, she also has a deep and torquey 2.4:1 gear ratio in her transmissions a hefty, irrevocable displacement of almost 40 tons and a keel substantial enough to seriously resist wind-induced lateral movement. Moreover, she has two prop tunnels, a design element that cuts draft and puts more blade diameter, more blade area, and more maneuvering oomph into the water.
![grand banks boats lost to time grand banks boats lost to time](https://www.houmatimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/img_1805.jpg)
And I’d already seen a sizable chunk of it during a tour of the big Malaysian yard in Pasir Gudang where Grand Banks continues to focus its boatbuilding energies these days, despite the footprint-broadening acquisition of Aussie-based Palm Beach Motor Yachts last year and the appointment of Palm Beach founder and champion sailboat racer Mark Richards (see “Grand Plan: Faster, Smarter,” opposite) as Grand Banks CEO.įor starters, the 55 has a robust powerplant, with two 715-horsepower Cummins QSM11 diesels and a V-drive configuration that concentrates engine weight aft and thus adds a bit of living space to the interior. There was plenty of savvy, traditional engineering behind all this boathandling poetry. “Then,” he adds, “you have something that burns much less fuel but can go faster than ever before.” The overall point, he contends, is to take weight out of the boats responsibly and use running surfaces that are super-efficient. And he’ll also incoporate a construction approach he’s used to great advantage at the boatbuilding enterprise he founded in Australia, Palm Beach Motor Yachts, whereby heavy, conventional hull-stiffening bulk is diminished in favor of glassed-in bulkheads, floors, and furniture that perform the same structural functions. Additionally, he says he is going to modify all or most of the Grand Banks running surfaces, to make them speedier without having to add horsepower. Richards, who’s a high-profile ocean sailor and eight-time winner of the fabled Sydney-to-Hobart race as well as a very successful, long-time, hands-on Aussie powerboat builder, is obviously on a quest to modernize, “to build smarter, faster, and more efficiently.” And to that end, he says that laminates, not only in the 55 Aleutian but in every other vessel Grand Banks markets over the upcoming years, will feature more coring materials than ever before, finer, denser fabrics, carbon fiber in top-hamper applications (to cut weight and improve transverse stability) and vinylester (as opposed to cheaper, less resilient, less blister-resistant polyester) resin throughout. Prior to my test of the Grand Banks 55 Aleutian RP, I had the opportunity to talk with new Grand Banks CEO Mark Richards (seated on right) about his plans for the company’s future.