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48C Silverton Convertible

Discussion in 'Silverton Yacht' started by Bigden, Jun 9, 2007.

  1. Bigden

    Bigden Guest

    We are thinking of purchasing a 2004, 2005 or 2006 Silverton 48C Convertible. Can anyone give me any insight on this vessel?
  2. Goodlife

    Goodlife New Member

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    Nov 18, 2010
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    Location:
    columbia island
    I am looking at the same vessels. Wife loves the layout as do I. More cruise than fish, which is also what we want. Need to know sea worthyness if I travel South. do I need to stay in the ICW or can I cruise the coastline if I pick my days?
  3. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    You can cruise the coastline, but definitely pick your days. Silvertons are light and tend to yaw alot in a quartering sea. They also break up a bit in rough seas. Not my favorite boat. I put them on a par with Carver.
  4. I too, am looking at a 2006 45 Silverton Convertible. My wife and I really like the layout , but my Father in Law says it is not a very well made boat, He also said the Volvo Penta D9 575 HP engines are not very good either. Also, Seaworthiness, I've read something, where someone took a 45 from the North East down to Florida in 6' seas with no problem. Does anyone have experience, or any input regarding this boat. Thanks.
  5. PacBlue

    PacBlue Senior Member

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    The father-in-law needs to do a bit more homework. The Silverton Convertible's hull was designed by the Donald Blount firm that has had their hand in many of the successful production and custom SF designs, hard to argue with that pedigree: http://www.dlba-inc.com/sportfishing-boats/

    The integral staircase to the Bridge is a big plus for may. Construction is not Hatteras/Viking grade, but she will take more than you can and with the Blount hull is quite seaworthy. They do use the powder coated steel I-Beam Engine Stringer set-up that Viking so successfully has used.

    It seems to be a better performer with the 715hp Volvo Penta D12, here are some numbers I found for the D12:

    upload_2018-8-28_12-46-15.png

    Could not find numbers with the Volvo Penta D9's, but these are for the 45C with Cummins QSC 8.3 540 hp, should be similar, although I think they have the mph/kts data transposed.
    upload_2018-8-28_12-48-21.png
  6. Thank you for that information. So she is a sound boat, I just need to know about the D9's, 575 HP engines
    Where can I find the Boating Test Performance Data for a 2006 Sea Ray Sundancer Sportsman with 8.1 Horizon Mercury engines.
  7. PacBlue

    PacBlue Senior Member

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    I have had good luck with Volvo Penta D11’s and D12’s. VP does a good job of making sure builders install their product the right way and Silverton had plenty of VP resources to make sure they were an approved installation. A lot of Detroit Diesel distributors are VP distributors so you have a good service network. The D9’s are a good fit under 600hp, with D9’s you get about a 23 knot fastcruise/28 knot max boat and with D12’s you get a 28 knot fast cruise/32 knot max.

    I use the “old fashioned” way to get boat test data - google it.
  8. Thank for the information and your time.
  9. Prospective

    Prospective Senior Member

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    Excellent post PacBlue. I have always liked the 45C and 48C. The layout is excellent and fit and finish appear to be very good with quality hardware, materials, and systems. It also appears to a have a much more practical layout for someone like me who likes the convertible look/overall arrangement but is really a cruiser and not a fisherman. I've had good luck with the older generation Volvo TAMD74's in my boat and would not hesitate to own Volvo's again. I too had heard the hull was a Donald Blount design. I have to imagine the ride is equivalent to, if not better than my Ocean based on weight alone. But for some reason people love to hate on Silverton as not being a quality builder. For now I'm sticking with my Ocean but I could see moving to a 45C or 48C at some point. With 4 kids the 3rd SR would be a plus. And the stairs and flybridge layout are far superior to what I have now. Look forward to the opportunity to crawl around in one at some point.
  10. Pac Blue,

    On that test performance data sheets, the GPH would be for 2 engines? I just looked up my 2006 340 Sea Ray, for the 8.1 MerCruisers and the data report was for 2 engines.
  11. PacBlue

    PacBlue Senior Member

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    Yes, the GPH is for both engines in the boat test data above.

    A quick snapshot of VP Factory Fuel Consumption Data (per engine):

    Volvo Penta D12 - 715hp:

    upload_2018-8-30_9-39-13.png
    And the Volvo penta D9 - 575hp (could not find 540hp data):

    upload_2018-8-30_9-40-52.png
  12. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Hard to compare diesel to gas engines less than half the horse power with 14' difference on length.
  13. Atlantic H

    Atlantic H New Member

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    Oct 10, 2018
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    nj
    I'm looking to buy a 2006 Silverton 45C, with Volvo Penta D9 500 HP engines with 400 hours on them. My present boat has gas engines, which I like to service myself. Can anyone tell me about these D9 engines. Also, the 45C is 42,000 lbs., what would cruise and max speed be. I know some of the sport fishing boats have 700 + HP engines, are these 500's undersized?
  14. Chesapeake

    Chesapeake Member

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    Hey Atlantic H - Did you move forward on the 45C? Thoughts on her?