ksanders
Moderator Emeritus
I never said Grand Banks were displacement hulls. I have been referring to economical, low-power “trawler style” boats that most people associate with the term “trawler.” My complaint remains, if you want a quality motor yacht that goes 18+ knots, you have a plethora of boats to choose from. If you want the equivalent of the 120 hp Marine Trader, GB, Monk etc. of yesteryear, they are nearly non-existent. As for semi-planing being a “marketing term,” I refer to Eric Sorensen’s discussion of different powerboat hull designs in his Guide to Powerboats.
The problem you have with that kind of boat is it represents a limited marketing opportunity for a boat builder.
Plenty of people want to travel the world and the expedition boat business seems good for the likes of Nordhavn, Selene, KK, just to name the big players.
Not so many people want to be forced to go slow in a boat that cannot fulfill their dream of crossing oceans.
Thats why you see very few of these boats being built.
But... plenty of people want to go slow much of the time with the option to go faster when they want to, even if it is not very often.
This is a fairly popular market with all kinds of boats being made, from italian styling, to more traditional looking boats, and boats with the "trawler look".
Here is a link to the Helmesman 46. Beautiful pilothouse "trawler" boat.
https://www.helmsmantrawlers.com/helmsman-trawlers/46-pilothouse/
standard engine is 500HP +-
Why??? A smaller engine could maybe lower the price by $20,000 or so...
People want the faster available cruising speed the larger engine represents.
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