Trawler selection

The Hatt LRC's have held their value because only a handful of them were built. With soaring fuel prices, they've become much sought after. They were rock solid boats, but the fleet is approaching 40 years old now. Judy Waldman has sold a bunch of LRC's throughout her career, probably from every manufacturer in the biz. I'm certain she can provide insight. Hopefully she will chime in soon...

If you're open to an 80's boat, the Atlantic Motoryacht 47' is solid. There are just a few around. The company seems to be long gone, but they were Hargrave designed and built in FL.

Thanks for the intro! Welcome to the great world of enjoying the journey as well as the destination.

The Hatteras LRCs are great boats, especially for voluminous liveaboard space; however, like Carl says, they are getting quite aged. I sold a Hatt 58 LRC last year that was in very good condition but the upkeep and continual replacement has been a bit overwhelming even though the new owners were experienced. They still have a lengthy "to do" list. And they picked the best condition of the lot at the time. Nonetheless, Hatteras LRCs are a quality and popular vessel.

Lots of trawlers in the 58 foot range and there is a selection in your price point. The more flexible you are in your parameters as to age, price, size, and location, the more choices you will have.

Aside from fuel economy, trawlers usually offer other benefits such as stability, volume, safety, redundancies, range, etc. Careful to not get confused by "fast trawlers" because the attributes I just described aren't usually applicable.

My caution to you is coming from a sportfisherman to a 7-10 knot boat: you are going to feel like you're going backwards or the "are we there yet" syndrome might become your redundancy.

Lots of trawler info on YF so use the search button, go through the threads, and fire away with your questions.

Judy

There are so many excellent trawler choices and I say this as someone who has no personal interest in trawlers but is just impressed by them. As with any other boat, determining your desired uses for the boat are key. You have some of the leading sellers such as Grand Banks, old standby's such as Fleming. Kadey Krogen has earned a tremendous following. You have Nordhavn with their excellent reputation for long distance cruising and even ocean crossing, although while I think they're a good boat, I do believe some of their elite reputation is also a bit of a tremendous marketing effort. They are a great boat but not the only one. Speaking of Judy, I've been quite impressed with Bering which I've seen her have many in her listings. Something about them that just grabs me. Then there are boats that are exceptional for certain uses such as the Beneteau Fast Trawler as demonstrated making the Great Loop Trip.

I think honestly there may be more good choices in trawlers than any other type of boat. In general the workmanship, the dependability seem so solid. Also for those that don't go on trans-ocean runs, their use is generally not abusive and they're taken better care of that some other types.

In my Webster's, a trawler should be a rugged, seaworthy craft. I fear the Big Loop would become a Big Roll in a Beneteau! Not a well-built boat.

There is a dust collecting 58 lrc next to us in Jacksonville FL. The listing starts rather high but I can see allot of needs including getting off of the dock.
If you can not find it on a sales search, PM me and I'll point you the the brokers page.

On the other hand, It's an 8 knot boat. Down hill, with the wind and some imagination, might see 10 (naa).
We have an old 58 MY, run at 8 to 10 knots. When we need to shoot an ugly inlet, or push faster or move out of a front, we can and do well.
We do this on a quarter of the up-front cost. Yes, we consume a little more fuel, but cost of boat vs cost of operation,,, we think after 10 years, were still ahead.

Here's a YF review by JW...

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/cheoy-lee-yacht/11331-review-cheoy-lee-68-long-range-cruiser.html

I agree. I ran a swift 44' trawler from the Miami show up to Stuart, I think 2 years ago. We we're in a 3-5' beam to aft quarter sea. That thing was very very wet. But it had a horrible ride. It would roll over some, then snap back to center REALLY fast almost like you were going to get whiplash. We named it the "swifter wetjet" LOL

I did most of the great loop in a 58' searay SB and it was a great boat for it. We didn't have to take anything down to get under the bridges and had good visibility. Fast or slow depending on how you wanted to run it. The side decks and cockpit were low enough that it was easy to handle the locks and fenders. Another good boat I believe would be those late 90's 52' Hatteras MY's.

However, if we're speaking trawlers I would say some of the Grand Banks, Fleming, Marlow, and the other usual ones......I wouldn't discount the older Hatteras 53's if run like a trawler and run up every once in a while, or one with natural detroits.

With respect, read Judy's comments on purchasing a 30 or 40 year old vessel and note that there is still a "lengthy to do list" on a quality Hatteras of this vintage. Then take into account the lost time and high expense involved in this list. You may find that in the end, investing more in a newer quality brand Trawler that will maintain much of it's value at resale, may just be more logical than kidding yourself that buying an older, quality boat is more economical.

Many times it is a roll of the dice, especially on a 58' boat with multiple systems that will require renewal and renovation.
Count on one thing, lost time while the boat is worked on at the yard.
I spent a lot of time and money bringing a 1980 Ocean Alexander Mk1 up to standard and, although I don't regret it because at the time a "project" was fun for me, I would NOT do that again, just for the lost hours we could have spent on the water.
Cheers,
Kafue

Would you attribute that to her hull shape (bottom),....or ??

There is a really nice DeFever 60 cockpit in Seattle for sale. Year 2005 and well equipped. Twin JDs and lots of tankage for those longer offshore passages. I've been on the vessel and see little wrong, if you like tank stout well built DeFevers that is. "Shannon" is its name.

I looked at the specs of the 44 and the thing that stood out to me was the weight. The light displacement is only 23,957 pounds. I have a 44 foot Riva which is by no means a great rough water boat but the weight of it unladen is 28,881 pounds. This is in spite of all the superstructure the Beneteau has that the Riva doesn't. By comparison a Grand Banks 43 Heritage at half load is 42,000 pounds. I think of the Swift Trawler as clearly a canal, ditch, and inland type boat. While there are many factors in ride other than weight, I think the weight differential one sees here is clearly going to make a difference in ride such as that experienced. This is before even looking at hull design.

Interesting, so all of those 'semi-displacement' types that probably seek some some lighter weight so they can begin to plane are going to be of less ride quality?

I wouldn't generalize like that, not quite that far. Now, will displacement hulls tend to ride better in rough conditions? Yes. But the two aren't mutually exclusive. Hatteras has long made boats that provided some speed and had excellent rides. They remain heavy compared to their competition. Some obtain speed more by design and the use of more power. The Grand Banks I used in that comparison is semi displacement.

Will a well constructed steel hull boat in this range ride better? Probably.

All boats remain compromises and the choice comes down to use. If 95% of one's boating is in calm protected waters, the owner may well sacrifice some ride for speed or to save money. That doesn't mean the ride has to go from great to horrible. Maybe it's just slightly less good. Safety becomes a factor, but even among generally safe boats one might be more comfortable in rough conditions than the other.

There may also be occasions where one finds a 60' of one brand and a 40' of another ride about the same, but the 60' provides extra space and value so they prefer it. Others want the smallest they can feel safe in.

Are you speaking of its build quality, or design, or ....??

I'm still trying to get my mind to accept this weight factor overriding the hull shape factor in a 'displacement' power vessel,...in terms of ride quality ??

Well, I didn't say "overriding". However, in this comparison, there isn't enough of a difference in hull shape to offset the weight differential. We're not talking one boat with a revolutionary hull design and the other with an awful design. So, I come back to weight as an important element. It's one of many factors but back to the Beneteau versus a Grand Banks, I believe the weight is a huge factor in the comparative ride.

Look at something like the 50' Berings at 115,000 pounds. At trawler speed in rough water, that is of huge value. That's a part of the ride of steel yachts.

Everything else being equal, weight is a huge factor. There is a lot of value in lessening weight when it comes to speed and economy, but the down side at displacement speeds in rough water is also there.

I might ask if you recall what sort of speed you were traveling at when this occurred? Do you think some of this very wet, horrible ride could have occurred as a result of 'pushing' this 'semi-displacement' hull design??