Review: Garcia Yachting's GT54 "Le Trawler"

The ensuite head makes good use of allocated space. Restyling might include a segregated shower for subsequent hulls which would be easy to do by incorporating the day head area.

The amidships master stateroom is ideally located for full beam maximization and comfortable underway snoozing. The stateroom, with king-size walk around bed has dual function with a work area to starboard with a slide-out desk, numerous cabinets and shelves, and large underbed drawers. Nightstands with drawers flank the centerline bed. Incredible stowage with the understairway space behind cabinet doors is utilized as a walk-in closet with hanging locker and dresser.

The port side of the stateroom is dedicated as the spa area and is tastefully concealed with wall-size sliding panel doors. The separate head with washer/dryer is forward.

With the sliding doors open, the visual space is enlarged; the practicality of this ensuite concept seems to becoming the prevalent layout. Behind privacy doors is the full-size glass enclosed shower with wooden bench seat and flooring insert.

The closed window blinds offer privacy should a dinghy be passing by for an up close and personal peek. With the window dressings raised and the panel doors open, 3 vertical windows offer a spectacular water view on port side, and on starboard provide for idyllic viewing while performing desk duties, as well as letting copious amounts of natural lighting bathe the suite.

The watertight aft deck hatch provides entry to the lazarette. The lazarette forward bulkhead houses the watertight entry door to the engine room, thus creating two watertight compartments below deck. The engine removal hatch in the salon is bolted watertight and soundproofed. With 4’6” engine room height, the engine room allows for maneuverability with all servicing items having easy accessibility. The height of the engine room was considered as a factor for stability, and the philosophy of Le Trawler goes against the engine room height necessitating “wedding cake” boats that require additional stabilizing systems such as active fins and flopper-stoppers.

Organization in the engine room includes grouping of systems. All water related equipment is on port side; Victron Energy System and electricals are on the aft bulkhead. Reverse cycle air conditioning and secondary diesel heating is on the starboard side. Easily accessible heavy-duty gray and blackwater extractor pumps (with manual back-ups), and exhaust for main engine, wing engine, and generator are starboardside.

The friendly Cat is fed from the baffled fuel tanks to port. The 3056 is a professional marine continuous duty engine designed to run 20,000 hours between rebuilds, or good for about 6 circumnavigations. Fuel filtration consists of 3 filters for the main engine with the ability to change filters without switching over to the wing during the process. The complete synchronization of the propulsion system includes the 185hp Caterpillar, ZF reduction ratio of 2.9:1 and the 4 bladed 34” x 24” custom New Zealand prop. Quiet operation is assured with the cushioned mountings, Centaflex couplings, and the wet exhaust via Halyard reinforced polyester silencer water separator and flexible exhaust hose.

The Volvo 75hp sail drive engine is also seawater cooled with wet exhaust. It is electronically controlled from either the pilothouse or flybridge. The Volvo 4 blade folding prop is wing engine designated.

The GT54 is definitely an ocean-going, new addition to the trawler community, crossing the Atlantic on a near maiden voyage to attend the Annapolis and Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Shows. With exceptional Euro-style, low fuel consumption and Plan-B provisions, it's a welcome new entry to the US and abroad. As I flew back to the States, writing this review in an oh-so-cramped, last class seat, I began to appreciate my time aboard the GT-54; a boat that may (and will!) change perception of what a trawler should look like and how this new entry to the market could very well push trawler sales past displacement speed.

Le Trawler achieves a max speed of 10.5 knots, a max draft of 5’5”, and displaces 32 tons laden. With a LOA of 56’4” and beam of 16’1”, Le Trawler provides a comfortable interior for plush living quarters. After spending about 20 working hours aboard the GT-54, over the course of 3 days, I can confidently say that the Garcia Yachting team consists of a group of professional, extremely bright, energetic, creative, young entrepreneurs who have been able to combine their sailing passion into successful boat building. It was both educational and inspiring. <end>

("Details" of the GT-54 are on the next page)

by Judy Waldman
Photos: Copyright Antoine Soubigou / Garcia Yachting​

Specifications:

Length: 17.20 m
Lwl : 16.50 m
Bmax: 4.90 m
Draft: 1.68 m
Displacement: 26 tons light - 32 tons laden
Engine: 185 HP
Max speed: 10.5 nds
Cruising speed: 4000 nds
Water capacity: 540 L
Architect: Saillard / Darnet et le Quément

For more information contact:

Garcia Yachting
Route de vire - Z.I. Ouest
14110 Conde Sur Noireau, France
Garcia Yachting

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DETAILS​

You've heard of a bare-bones transport, right? Here the GT-54's hull is being moved from one shed to another, to begin interior build-out and receive her superstructure. As you can see by the weld outlines, a minimal number of plates is used to form the shape of the hull, keeping stength up and labor down.

Once the bare hull enters the fit-out shed, attention to insulation begins to minimize the effects of sound, temperature, and vibration. The hull is sprayed with 1 1/2 inches of self-extinguishing fireproof polyurethane foam, followed by 2 inches of rock wool, then 1 ¾” sound insulation, and finally a perforated aluminum face is fixed to rubber mountings. In this picture (facing forward) the engine room firewall is seen.

From a top down perspective, you can see the layers on insulation that make up the firewall. I cannot explain the roll of toilet paper above the holding tank.

All interior furniture is isolated with atomic sound insulation with no piece of metal in the living quarters not insulated. The additional insulation for these areas include sheets of a rubber based material that are cut to measure, but can be peeled off at a later point for installation of new equipment. This rubber padding is the extra layer for interior noise separation and absorption.

The emergency tiller. With a wing engine, 2 sails, 2 steering stations, 2 props, skeg protection, not sure why you would need an emergency tiller, but leave no return to port in question is the Le Trawler philosophy.

Look! A penny in the bilge and we’re not sinking! Not that this is an old wife’s tale, but it isn’t applicable to quality built yachts of this era. Today’s aluminum yachts have pre-treated aluminum, insulated hulls, isolation transformers, galvanic isolators, sacrificial anodes, and a scientific understanding of how to separate dissimilar metals - all of which help to protect the vessel from corrosion issues from within and outside the boat. Additionally, modern day marinas no longer have the derelict rust buckets barely afloat nor the dangling dock boxes that were also a source of earlier problems.

Extractors: a custom ENAG intake and extractor system for air to maintain ambient temperature and for the 24v black and gray water overboard pumps. The hoses are reinforced flexible anti-odor so don’t read too much into the huge air extractor being located directly above the blackwater pump-out.

There are 5 raised seawater inlets confining all water entry within the engine room and making visual inspection and the changing of the Vetus filters both simple and fast. There are a total of 5 thru-hulls and subsequently 5 raised inlets: main engine, wing engine, generator, air conditioning, and watermaker.

Fluid monitoring and management systems are clustered at the starboard side of the lower helm. Short of a dipstick, it doesn’t get easier than this.

With 9 persons aboard, Le Trawler is CE certified Category A, meaning that the vessel is approved for extended voyages where conditions may exceed Beaufort scale force 8 winds and wave height above 12 feet. Serious.