Sportfishing boats for cruising?

You want an honest response… my wife and I are selling our home to become permanent live aboard. I grew up on boats. I actually grew up on ss 36’ Pacemaker convertible/sport fish. We used her for traveling and tournaments. For trips it was awesome we got there days ahead of you and got the better slip and probably the better table in the restaurant because you hadn’t made it there yet, lol! Yes these more speed with that more fuel consumed. Most trawlers have one engine and are slow going… convertibles are generally twin engines double the maintenance and triple your speed. So I can say we decided after a pros and cons list we decided on a 1988 Ocean Yachts 44 SS. She has 2 staterooms and two heads. That’s more than any trawler we looked at. My wife felt to cramped in the trawler. My wife has the fish door directly to the dock to walk the dog without any lifting. Plenty of pros for us. The engines and generator were just totally torn down and rebuilt with paperwork. The interior is like new. The bright work needs to be done. But that’s my specialty. I have to remove the bow rail and reseat it. So simple things need attention. This is the kind of boating I grew up with and it’s the only kind I know. I wouldn’t know where to begin on how to back a trawler up into a slip. Trawler is to high and I can’t see enough like I can on a convertible on the flybridge.
Good luck on your choice!!!

Interesting discussions. I have been away for a while but back again. So this is my dilema… This summer we went down the st lawrence river to Gaspe. Going there was interesting but safe. But coming back, going est to west was a challenge. Tempeture changes within an hour or so and we hit 8 foot waves. I have a sea ray 47 and while its a very good boat it is not constucted for that weather. The admiral is still mad at me…Ok so this is my dilema… I have more than 40 years in sailing and motor boats. I have been on the east coast, the great lakes and the bahamas and have quite a bit of experience. I am looking for a category A boat or close to it. I am looking at SFs, hatteras or viking enclosed,would probably add 4 windows , 2 in each room, add a dinguy lift at the back.Add proper railing to keep everyone safe. Lengh between 55 and 60 feet.Price appx 700 thousand. Now my dilema is other boats seem to offer better solutions . I am also looking at Maritimo and Riviera.Cantius is nice but i do not think its a category A boat. Trawlers have their good sides but i hate going all the time at tutle speed… I like the safety of going a 25 mph if weather or time is of the essence .So does it make sense to modify SFs the way i previously described or should it be better to just go to a near category A boat. I am ready to wait a year or so to see the prices of used boats go down. I know prices of fuel are hight at present and will stay so for the predicable futur.But i am preparing for the next 10 years.My projects include the eastern loop, the estern coast and the carabbeans west and east. So i need a safe boat that can go slow or fast and have all the amneties a long cruise requires. 4 to 6 months. We are 2 of us opreating the boat. Guest once in a while. So if any of you have any suggestions to help me solve my dilemna , i would be greatfull.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by “add four windows, 2 in each room”? Are you talking about adding porthole type windows in staterooms to a boat that has none?
What have you been finding in 55-60, enclosed bridge for 700k? I’m assuming you’re looking at a bit older hulls? Are they in the 25 kn cruising speed range you desire? Are you looking for a project boat or turnkey, add fuel and go?

Do you mean literally CE certified as Category A? Or just "same as" or "close enough"?

What do you mean by "enclosed?" Enclosed flybridge? Or...?

Add four windows? Portholes or portlights? Where? Staterooms? Or...? Why?

Better solutions to what? And why is that a dilemma? If they suit you better, why not go with one of those?

Maritimo and Riviera seem to have decent enough reputation. Probably others might suit, too. Cabo? Depending on age, Bertram?

Cantius isn't exactly a flybridge sorta boat, no matter whether Category A or not.

You might also consider boats similar (sorta kinda) to sportfishers but with different names: sport bridge, sedan bridge, etc. Palm Beach? Eastbay? Et cetera... Or maybe almost any type with solid hull at least below the waterline? (My preference.)

-Chris

Adding 4 windows in main room and 2 windows in vip . Appx 15 by 12 inches to make it less cave like. Prices are going down on these boats du to season,interest rates and cost of fuel. Would probably buy a convertible that are more available and less costly in the 2005 2010 range. Have seen some available. Do not know their condition but would have them inspected seriously…add fuel and go with small refit. Looking for Category A or some very seaworthy boats . I have been looking at some english boats but do not know how seaworthy they realy are..Like i said i am retiring in 12 months and still must sale my own boat. So i am shopping seriously. The dilemma is to find a seaworthy boat both the wife and i feel safe in to go where we want to go. If there alternatives to hatts or vikings and are as safe, i would definetly consider. Thanks

How do you know the hull is strong enough in these areas to add these windows???? I sure as heck wouldn't buy a boat that someone did this too. Hull also has to be strong enough once you cut all these holes in it, so it doesn't flex in a sea and crack all of these windows. NO WAY, NO HOW would I do this.

Agree with Capt J, you don’t just cut holes and add “windows” in “rooms” on a boat.
We have all been newbies with great ideas and no clue, been there, done that.
Slow down and listen carefully to advice from those who have boated before you.

You want a European CE Category A?

Great idea, but don’t start cutting holes and add windows unless you are a Naval Architect and a Master Shipwright, otherwise the Cat A vessel could get swamped and sink in the first gale.

Ok well not exactly a newbie… but i appreciate the opinions. So tell me how can one of the better built boats in america that also make a 60 foot motor yatch with a lot of windows stays afloat in the first storm… if you cannot transform a SF into a cruising sensible boat that does not feel like a cave.That being written,any suggestions for a category A boat or very close to that can navigate waters like the very difficult st lawrence river and do the eastern loop and eventualy the carabbeans??

Your post is very confusing. 40 years experience but you re talking about cutting windows in the main room…

if you re planning on heading to the Caribbean (not the Bahamas) then yes sea worthiness is critical. No idea what class A is…. Yes a quality sportfish (Viking, Hatt, older Bertie etc ) will work and so will some quality motor yachts.

by now, after 40 years you should understand that few boats will be able to pound thru 6 footers at 25kts…. And 6 footers between the Bahamas and the Carib, as well as between islands down there is pretty much a best case scenario

I also have to wonder about comparing the “eastern loop” which I assume means the great loop with the Caribbean… The great loop is pretty much an inland and near coastal and the “Caribbean” is in a completely different level

Norseman,by the way i have navigating for over 45 years in europe and all over north america. I am just trying to find the best solution for a confortable and safe boat. Thanks

The earsten loop is down the st lawrence river , around new brunswick and nova scotia , traverse to maine and up the hudson river back to the ontario lake. A very technical and fairly difficult navigation voyage. To be done safely with a categorie A boat if possible. And i know what a categorie A boat is…

I was scratching my head on that too. Is class B a Bayliner?

Class a must be Aicon
Class B must be bayliner
Class C must be Carver
Class D… no not Delta… DeFever ?
Class E…

Okay, I think I get it. Cpt Duffy sounds to be a boater of many years. Now looking for a boat to go further and include some open ocean passages. Wants to be safe, wants to be able to go fast-ish and spend lots of dollars on fuel. Seems to be thinking sport fish. But...not a dark cave. And his current SeaRay 47' is not the boat.

The trouble is there is no such thing as a ocean capable sport fish/battle wagon that I can think of that has large windows in the salon and in the hull.

I can't think of anything.

His SeaRay is not what he wants for his project. Everything that has windows is like his SeaRay: Prestige, Canthius, Azimut, more SeaRays, Marquis.

I don't see putting portlights in the hull for the staterooms as the best option. They are not there for a reason in these Vikings, Hatts, Berts and Vikings.

I am going to recommend a Sunseeker Predator 64 with my search criteria set up from $500.000 (who know? you might find a sleeper)- $900K ( yes I stretched your budget a bit). 2000 to 2015, again expanding the list. In the USA.

Is the Sunseeker Predator a CE cat A boat? I don't follow the logic here as there are Cat A boats that manufacturers will not jump through the hoops to qualify for the A rating. There are A boats that just tick the boxes required for Cat A and the boat will have bulkheads crack when the boat shivers a bit too much due to poor layup schedule...

Otherwise you have to go slower and get a displacement or semi displacement trawler style boat to gain the windows and comforts.

Now my final recommendation, get a modern sailboat with hull windows and put on Christopher Cross 'Sailing'. Takes you away mate I'm actually not kidding.

Because they are built specifically for those windows before they leave the factory. The hulls are heavily reinforced in those areas to accomodate the loss of strength from the window cut outs. I have also seen three hull windows crack from the hulls flexing too much. Comfortable and safe has nothing to do with adding windows. I'd just add some extra LED lightbulbs and keep the boat safe.

Really?
Mind, I have no reasons to doubt of your knowledge/experience, but as an Italian and as a Mediterranean boater, I never (and I mean it!) came across any boater who know what exactly the CE Recreational Craft Directive is all about.
What most boaters know is just the CE categories synthetic description, i.e. the brief statement that Norseman included in his post #107 (for CE-A category - there are other similar descriptions for B, etc.).

Trouble is, the technical requirements and procedures required to qualify for CE-A category approval are nothing to write home about, to the point that for boatbuilders it's just a matter of deciding which category to go for, depending mostly on the value they place to the higher category from a marketing standpoint - nothing else.
In fact, there is no such thing as a "normal" pleasure boat that anyone in his right mind would consider safe in 4+ meters breaking waves created by sustained F8+ winds - regardless of CE category.

There are several examples I could make of boats built to Cat-A specifications, which are waaaaay LESS seaworthy than others for which the builder just preferred to apply for CE-B (whose conditions are already a stretch for most pleasure boats, particularly the planing ones).
But I think the following is one of the most self-explanatory: it's a pretty common 40 feet open boat, whose builder was one of the first to jump on the RCD bandwagon, strictly for marketing purposes, and decided to build all the models in their range to Cat-A specifications.
As a result, believe it or not, this boat is Cat-A certified, in case you might be interested to consider it.
The good news is that you could as well cut windows in her hull, because if you would be mad enough to go out with her in Cat-A conditions (just because that's what it says on the tin), I'm pretty sure she would fall apart anyway, with or without them...!

Perhaps by "main room" you mean the master stateroom? In any case... as others have said... taking a Sawzall to a sportfish/convertible hull and plugging the resulting holes with portlights would likely be a big safety step backwards. And a big move away from the whole idea of CE Cat A certification (even if sometimes that certification might be more of a paper exercise than a true safety rating). One possible exception I might offer is if somebody like Viking (or Hatteras or whomever) might do that for you on one of their previous models. Doubt it, but you could ask.

Otherwise, I suspect you'd be better off buying a boat already designed for and fitted with stateroom portlights, if that's what you want. Possibly anything Italian, English, Australian, Turkish, Marquis, Meridian, Sea Ray, et cetera, whatever made since approx 2005 or so, maybe (with included portlights)... and maybe shop amongst those for a solid hull underneath the waterline... and hope a boat 10' longer and much heavier than your 47 Sea Ray is enough more comfortable for you.

You didn't say, but I've guessed your 47' Sea Ray is the Sedan Bridge model? If so, approx weight 37,500 lbs. A Sea Ray 550/58' Sedan Bridge, for comparison, weighs approx 52,000 lbs (solid hull below waterline)... and already comes with portlights in all stateroom. Not a recommendation, just an observation... but IOW, it may be that just moving to a bigger boat can get you closer to where you want to be.

And then choose to limit yourself to weather (and sea states) you might feel more appropriate to the boat.

FWIW, the only CE Cat A powerboats I've read about that are said to be able to "easily" (?) survive a role are models from Elling.

I meant to say earlier that adding "a dinghy lift at the back" may also take you a step in the wrong direction. Following seas can be a PITA if you have a dinghy lift on the stern. And BTW, even crossing stern lines at the dock can be an exercise in futility if you have d dinghy back there. FWIW, we have a hydraulic swim platform with dinghy mounted... and have a rigid stern mount on the previous boat... and even coming down off plane sometimes takes some finesse.

-Chris

Thanks for the thoughtful reply and experience. Although in short hand that’s what I was trying to convey. We are under a similar understanding.

In generally putting a port hole with metal (steel/aluminium frame) would add strength, and if flexing exists it should help in reducing it.
The real problem here is the coring. Nearly all boat builders bar none use some type of coring above the water line.
If you do this in a balsa cored (even old PVC core where not great) hull you got to be extra careful to water seal epoxy coat where you put the windows.
Or else you start putting that hull integrity to toast.

Most sportfishers are generally build stronger then a standard boat and laminate per laminate they usually carry that 5-10% more.
So I suspect it is even more a non existent issue.
Sportfishers do not fit any hull windows, for two reasons.
One is that most of them think they do not look pretty and it disturbs the lines.
The second is that over the years port hole windows tend to leak water and need a reseal after some years, and the extra work water intrusion might create (water in furniture and or leather etc).
Its fair to say this last is more a thing of the past as new sealants have also improved and today I see twenty year old boats without water leak problems.
Correctly some might argue that is will also depend on the use of the boat, which is an argument I would agree to.

In reality you can get most CE B boats into the A category. The real test is balance and how the hull reacts to weight on load line.

A CE B10 can get a CE A8. Meaning that, with B category it is certified to carry ten persons with A it can carry 8.