Hatteras GT-54 Sportfish or Viking?

Lol! Very diplomatic of you, I bet that Hatt rips up though .

I did hear that rumour about the Viking's as well, back when there was that debacle about the Bert and the "front fell off".

Far

Many thanks for the tour of the the Hatteras. Great boat, my younger son and I watched as you cruised in to anchor and she is absolutely the best looking SF On offer by the major builders. Then to see the quality up close confirms why there is no argument in choosing her over the others. The engine room was like a Passagemakers, everything easy to get to and for me almost full stand up through out. Congrats again.
Regards to your wife and was a pleasure meeting you all, see you on the water and wish you many tourney wins and happy family voyages.
Cheers.

Hello Liberty I was very interested to read this forum as I am looking at the GT54 and the 63, how is the boat going and are you happy with it. I am also Australian based and have considered Assegai and visited Viking and Hatteras. Your comments would be appreciated.

Hi Marcus, welcome to Yacht Forums.
I've personally been on the GT54 - Liberty, and for a production vessel she was a great pick, and anything Australian built in the production world (Riviera / Maritimo), was a class below. I'm sure Liberty will chine in soon.
I've also had the pleasure in working for Assegai many moons ago and have been on a few of there builds. They do have great sea keeping abilities eg, Magumi 44' has a 21deg deadrise up to amidships and I believe her hull is built from western red cedar - solid construction - like all there builds. The only negatives with there builds is they do have that 'work boat' feel when it comes to her interior - like all Assegais. Maybe they could produce some more head room for the accommodation to be picky. They also still build them a little to old school for todays market which has a knock on effect with the labour costs. Great boat though and would say leading the custom side of things in Aus. There's also Obrians, but they feel like a cheaper version of an Assegai.
Will you be using the boat for charter work, or private use...?

Cheers

Far

Good Morning Far thanks for your response. The boat is for private use and I got pretty well advanced with Assegai as I really rate them as a boat, but we couldn't come to agreement. I looked at the 56 Obrien, Kekoa is a very good boat, but the finish is not to Assegai or Hat/Vik. I like the Hatteras and as I said I have been to the plant and have test run and they impress, my only reservation is both are older releases and little has been upgraded since the release. I will be very interested in Liberty's comments. It was a great read the hole forum.

I ran a 63' GT today and the ride was pretty good, but it was pretty calm and boat was light on fuel which I think made it ride a touch bow heavy. The 63' was a 4 stateroom boat and all staterooms had a usuable amount of space and decently sized.

The 54' GT is a very impressive boat and best ride in it's size and class by far though.

Capt J thanks for your input.

Can I ask a few more questions about your experience with the GT54, the ones you have been on C18 or C32, did they have seakeepers if so what size? Capt J did you fish on the 54? How did it fish, in particular chasing a fish? When I sea trialled backing down it was a bit wet, the transom is lower than what I am used to.

My original discussion with Hatteras was a GT60 but they are not making anymore, the GT54 is closer(probably larger) than the two Australian custom boat producers of a 55-56.

The only gt 54's I've been on had C32's and no seakeepers. The transoms are a little low but make it much easier to boat a fish. Backing down is ok, so long as you don't overdue it with lots of power. But easy to spin the boat when backing down. When they're lighter on fuel the transom does come up quite a bit.

I'd second CaptJ comments about the transom height and fishability, however Australian fishing seems to be done in all conditions . Cheers

Far