Convertible or MY, advice requested

A budget would help clarify what boats would meet your requirements. How much do you want to spend, how fast do you want to cruise, and how many people do you normally cruise with?

A convertible poses some isolation issues for the captain when everyone else is below in the cockpit or main salon. I personally do not mind it, but you may not be used to it coming from an social - centric Express.

As far as Convertible’s go, I would not have the Tiara in conversation when you have a 47/48 Cabo as the preferred choice in that size, assuming you are not looking at boats newer than 3 - 5 years old.

The newer generation Hatt 6o MY is very capable but very thirsty as well,. A Pilothouse MY is a good compromise to have the captain near the “action” and you can fish off a Fleming quite well.

It would seem your assumption was wrong for you. Only you can determine what fits you.

As to what you found, I share some views along similar lines. I'm a very infrequent, and never on my own boat, fisherman. I won't consider a boat without a lower helm. Also, I'm trialed Hatteras MY's and found the same noise issue. Also been on a couple of older SF's on fishing charters. It seems to be the combination of Hatteras and CAT that make it unbearable to me for a cruising boat. I have been several times on a Viking 66' with MTU's and found it far less noisy and actually love that one boat. Still a SF isn't for me as I want a lower helm in addition to the upper. Plus I like the larger flybridges on some MY's.

It seems you desire 52-60' with speed and range. Is a flybridge important to you? If not it opens up a lot of coupe and express style boats. If so, it's somewhat more limited. I'm not sure 52' is going to feel any different than a 48', and 60' might a little but you may find you want to stretch the size you're considering. If fishing is important to you, then you might try other SF's. If not, I'd suggest Sunseeker Manhattan's and Fairline Squadron's might be worth looking at.

You haven't mentioned the age or price range you're looking for. You mentioned a Fleming 55. That would definitely give you range, but not the speed you're seeking. Incredible boat though. Don't overlook boats like Cheoy Lee and Horizon in your search.

As my “handle” implies I love motoryachts especially Hatteras. I presently own a Viking 54 Sport Yacht (MY on a Sportfish hull). I cruise at 22-23 knots and I also desire more speed especially when going to the Bahamas. I don’t have the time right now to go slow but am looking forward to that time. I was contemplating a convertible in the 62 range but have decided against it and will own the Viking till my retirement boat. I decided against it for the following reasons: most SF lack stairs to the flybridge we cruise with 2 dogs and my wife has knee issues, most SF’s side decks are narrow with no railings (I cant see sending my wife or daughter around the side to get to the bow to handle lines, anchors, launch dinghy etc), most SF rely on isinglass or the equivalent as a windshield, so if it rains or the spray is flying I think visibility is compromised (it obviously doesn’t bother the many SF owners so maybe this is peculiar to me). In defense of a SF as a cruising boat is the salon is up high with a lot of windows, the speed, the ability to carry a large dinghy, probably easier to get on and off of, easier access to the water from the cockpit. If you like traditional lines there is not much out there that will give you the speed and non European lines. Hatteras made a 63 pilot house MY that fits your budget and I think will get you the speed. They are mostly CAT powered so I don’t know about the noise aspect. Viking also made the my boat with a 6’ cockpit but they quit making them in 2000 or so. They are getting old and the updating is expensive and can get in the way of cruising plans. Good luck with your search

You asked for a runner-up to a Fleming 55. Check out Offshore; Grand Banks Aleutian; Outer Reef, and possibly a Krogen Express 54. If you don't mind "off brands" you could look at a McKinna pilothouse -- I think they made a 57 or 59. They may be above your price range, but Sabre makes a 54 and there are one or two for sale.

Forgot to include Marlow, Ocean Alexander and Horizon as possible substitutes for a Fleming 55.

Zen, have no way to judge whether a convertible could fit your requirements, but some random thoughts:

The noise factor you experienced may have been influenced by exhaust type. Side exhausts, for example, would likely be louder than underwater exhausts. Noise may also have been impacted by whether that boat had a bridge enclosure or not, if so whether it encompassed the aft section of the bridge, etc.

The ride you experienced may or may not have been representative. I expect some hulls work better than others, not matter the "category."

There's another type of bridge boat, sometimes called a sedan bridge, or sport bridge, etc. Often shares some similarities with sportfishers and convertibles, but usually the most obvious difference is an extended bridge deck... which in turn covers the cockpit (at least a bit) and can also influence sound levels from engine exhaust and sea water flow past the hull. (The usual trade-off versus a sportfisher/convertible is visibility aft, especially while docking; not insurmountable.)

There are several other boats in the 48-50+ area that have stairs (not a ladder) to a flying bridge: Sea Ray, Meridian, (older) Maxum, Silverton and Ovation, etc. Not a recommendation, and many of these aren't in the same class as some of the brands you've mentioned... just other options to explore if stairs are critical.

-Chris

Defever's are quite nice....I do not think the lovely Fleming can cruise at 20knots... Really 18+ knots puts you into a convertible. Most motor yachts like to run between 10/18 knots, any harder is just a strain on them over all. Another thought is to look at "Down East boats" ; "Lobster Yachts" ..etc like Eastbay, Hinckley, Lyman-Moorse, Sabre....They have speed, good sea capability, run fairly quite and efficiently, and are not as "hulky" as a motoryacht. Making them more easy to handle/dock being it's mostly the two of you that's a plus! Keep in mind those big boat love AC electric , lugging around two 50amp power cords to the closest dock power pedestal can be rough at the end of a long run day...
Good luck! You will find something nice for sure.

There are a lot of urban legends floating around.. thinkgs like motoryachts being hulky and harder to dock... that’s BS.. a MY withba pilothouse is a breeze to single hand and actually much easier than a FB only boat.

same with cruise speeds, while typically not as fast as sportfish of the same vintage there are plenty that can cruise 20 to 25kts. It only takes fuel .

I m not a big fan of Defevers, they re mostly trawlers and the quality isn’t that great. Neighbor or mine had a 49 which wasn’t impressive

That's true Pascal, no disrespect to the MY boats. Ran and worked/maintained my father's 1971 55' Pacemaker all wood boat for years. Was generally a breeze to dock. just walk right out of the pilot house to the deck grab the spring line and pop it on , put one in gear an you are set. But there were times she could be a beast.
That being said , I have my 42'er for sale and my eyes on the 53' Hatteras MY's....which I like and are just in my budget. The ones that need TLC that is.

I ve never really noticed cats being louder but i ll admit i dont jump from boat to boat as much as you do. I think a lot of it comes down to how well the builder insulated the boat...for instance, the taiwan built johnson 70 with 3412E i used to run was much louder than the 84 lazzara with C32s i run now... and burned a littl more fuel despite being much smaller.

It all depends how one uses the boat but sound level underway isnt a top criteria as you spend most time anchored or dock. I d argue that generator noise and exhaust location is more importat.

Absolutely CATS are louder and especially CATS in Hatteras. As we were looking at some initially and that was one reason we went elsewhere, a couple of examples. Hatteras 60 with 2 x 1135, 78 decibels at cruise, 83 at WOT. Incidentally, almost precisely the same as Sea Ray 650L with same engines. More noise than a 63' Riva with 2 x 1360 MAN by a couple of decibel.

Then a Hatteras 100 with 2 x 2600 CAT, 80 at cruise, 85 at WOT. By comparison, PM 85 with 2 x 1500 MTU maxes out at 60 decibels and WP 130 with 2 x 2895 MTU also maxes out at 60 decibels.

I'd argue that all noise levels are important but I do not want 80 decibels on a 60' or a 100' Motoryacht. I don't want to have to yell to talk for 8 or 10 or 24 hours underway.

I would be very interested in decibel levels on a WP 112 with twin 1900 hp CATS as that might give a better indication of how much is engine vs boat. Similarly, I'd be interested in the levels on a 100' Hatteras with MTU's.

I have to chime in. Nothing is going to go as fast as the express, unless it's a power cat. The one that was tied up near us in Funchal last month was 58ft Pachoud. I took a "ride" on it with an insurance inspector. It literally leapt into action taking 20-30kts inside of a mile. The flybridge could easily seat 10, and couldn't hear the QSM11's until we went down to the lower helm. Quality of the hulls was excellent upon inspection. Plenty of fuel and water. Watermaker helps a lot.

Now if you want to stay with conventional hull, I'm a large trawler fan. Not much speed, but it'll get you there. I see the 71ft "Hooligan" is for sale in Indonesia. It's a Buehler design, steel hull.

Well this is why it s good to have the purchase agreement subject to sea trial before survey to make sure the boat performs as you expect. It s obviously a bit difficult to do a quick sea trial in real work conditions but at least you get a feel for the boat, performance, noise etc

You could find sister ships available for day charters or overnighters. A few years back we did a day charter with some folks that were looking into buy a johnson 70 and wanted to see how it ran