Grand Banks 62, the best of both old and new
The new Grand Banks 62 is another great example of the modern transformation of this iconic brand. Grand Banks is known for their ageless trawlers that are still coveted and cruised extensively around the globe. The boats they build today pay homage to their roots with salty good looks and exquisite joinery but use design and innovative technology to deliver speed, efficiency, and excellent seakeeping in a fast twin engine motoryacht configuration.
The Man
To better appreciate the boats, you really have to understand the man that is the driving force of Grand Banks modernization, Mark Richards, Grand Banks CEO and chief designer. I have known Richards for many years and while he is affable and friendly at the bar or the boat show, when it comes to boats, he is nothing but driven.
“My Grand Banks stewardship that began more than 11 years ago didn’t start with asking about how we can keep doing everything the same as everyone else,” says Richards. “Instead, the mission is to focus on how can we lead the way and deliver ground-breaking designs that represent an entirely new era of long-range cruising.”
Mark has won line honors in the Sydney to Hobart race an astonishing nine times aboard a 100-foot Super-maxi racing yacht called Wild Oats XI. I have seen Wild Oats up close, and she is an incredibly complex racing machine. She features a hydraulically controlled canting keel that levers a 12-ton torpedo shaped ballast, a hydrofoil wing, retractable centerboards/daggerboards, and sports sail area of 9,871 sq ft plus a 9,472 sq ft spinnaker. It takes incredible control, strategy, and drive to command a vessel like this not to mention to dominate when racing her.
You may be thinking, OK, he knows how to race a giant sailboat but what does that have to do with building powerboats? Mark’s drive for perfection translates across everything he does. To be honest I don’t think he can help it. It is just the way he is wired. When I first met Mark in the late 90s, he was building Palm Beach Motor Yachts, a relatively new brand at the time, outside of Sydney, Australia. When touring the factory with him you couldn’t help but be inspired by his effervescent confidence and his attention to detail. He assigned each person working on the boats their own vacuum cleaner and insisted that they clean up as they worked. I have never seen a factory as orderly or tidy as this and this carries over to today for both Palm Beach and Grand Banks.
When the board of Grand Banks Yachts was looking for new leadership, they took notice of Mark who had both the boat building skills and the force of personality to take the company to new heights. In 2014 they purchased Palm Beach Motoryachts and appointed Mark Richards the CEO of what is now known as the GB Marine Group. Grand Banks Yachts Limited has been a publicly traded company on the Singapore Stock Exchange “G50” since 1987. Their boats are manufactured in a massive 700,000 ft² (20 acre) factory in Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia across the straits from Singapore. Mark has expanded and refined this factory to produce the modern cruisers he designs and builds at the quality level he demands.
The Boat
The new Grand Banks 62 uses Mark’s proprietary V-WARP® Technology which incorporates both the unique hull form and its high-tech construction. A fine entry forward cuts through the water which then streams along the hull in an even, unencumbered fashion. There are no hard chines, strakes, or tunnels to disturb waterflow as the hull transitions smoothly and flattens aft to around eight degrees of deadrise. The result is a semi-displacement hull that moves cleanly through the water.
The use of modern construction materials and techniques ensure that the hull is both strong and lightweight. Vacuum infusion delivers precise resin-to-E-Glass ratios. The use of both unidirectional and multi-axial fibers further strengthens the composite hull which is then fused directly to carbon fiber included in the structure, bulkheads, deck, and superstructure of the vessel.
The completed warped, semi-displacement hull is both incredibly strong and hydrodynamically efficient. The buoyancy, stability, and lift of the hull form bring the boat on plane easily and reduce fuel burn when underway. The hull shape also allows for a boat with a lot of accommodation space without sacrificing speed and efficiency.
I was able to get aboard the new Grand Banks 62 at the Palm Beach boat show. Her dark blue hull and teak decked swim platform and cockpit beckoned a closer look. The cockpit is open and airy with aft seating abutting a meticulously gloss varnished folding leaf teak table under the cover of the flybridge overhang above. The salon connects to the cockpit through a door but also a lowering window that allows pass through from the u-shaped aft galley. While other galley options are available, I think the central location of the fully equipped galley is ideal as it can be a serving area while entertaining and connects both aft to the cockpit and up the stairs to the flybridge but also forward into the salon. Silstone quartz counters shine atop satin finished teak galley cabinets. For those not tall enough, overhead storage is electrically actuated to lower down for easier access.
Grand Banks 62 Helm
Grand Banks 62 Salon
The salon lounge is comfortable and includes a dining table with twin swivel chairs opposite. Bench seating forward has great visibility through the three paneled windshield, the helm pod and controls are to starboard, and there is room for guests to port. Another complete helm station on the flybridge above features twin Stidd adjustable helm seats. Beneath the lighted flybridge hardtop there is lounge seating with a table for alfresco dining. An AB Alumina 12 ALX RIB with console steering and a Yamaha 30 HP outboard is cradled aft with a Steelhead ES1000 davit for launching. For ease of docking there is also a convenient fold out wing station in the cockpit.
Pinned in at the boat show, I was unable to operate the new GB62 Flybridge, but I previously tested a GB60 Skylounge which features the same ultra efficient V-WARP® hull. The weather was not ideal during that sea trial, but the boat sliced easily through the short chop with little or no spray. She accelerated smoothly with very little bow rise and carved sharp turns with little effort. On that test our top speed with 800 HP engines was 28 knots so the manufacturer’s claim of the new GB62 going over 30 knots with her twin Volvo D13 900s seems reliable. They say she can cruise comfortably at 27 knots, and at 20 knots fuel efficiency is 38 gph which calculates out to an over 700 nautical mile range with a10% reserve. Slowing down to 10 knots the range more than doubles, giving her nearly 2,000-mile-long passage making capabilities. For docking convenience, the GB62 offers Twin Disc variable speed transmissions and joystick controls including an integrated bow thruster. Volvo Penta D13 1,000 HP engines driving shafts are an option, or for those preferring pods IPS 1200s which are also D13s is another option.
“There is simply no other long-range cruising design on the water like this new Grand Banks,” says Richards. “The principles you’ll see in the Grand Banks 62 define the 60 series, and indeed our entire range. Less weight. More strength. Less fuel burn. More range. More speed, less resistance, and of course all this means more efficiency, resulting in lower emissions.”
Below deck accommodations feature all the comforts of home on the GB62 with ambient and direct lighting, extensive finely finished teak paneling, quartz counters, plush fabrics, multiple heads, and a full-sized washer and separate dryer. The master stateroom has an athwartships king island bed, plenty of storage and a large ensuite head with a separate shower. There is also a substantial VIP cabin forward with a queen island bed and its own ensuite. The third cabin, or should I say the third and fourth, along with their ensuite head are unique. Peering in from the foyer there are twin bunk beds, but upon entering the cabin steps lead down to a connected cabin that features another double bed. From that cabin a third head with a separate shower is accessed by stepping back up. It is a little quirky, but I actually really like it. It is not the biggest cabin but all the beds, including the twins, are large enough for adults. The ceiling height varies and ranges from a low spot of 5 7” at the base of the double bed to over 7’+ in parts of the head. I am just under 6’ and didn’t bump my head anywhere. I can see this cabin used for a couple with kids, packed with multiple kids, even teenagers. It could also be used for extra crew on passages or doubled or tripled up for guy’s or lady’s week. It is just a really versatile cabin that takes advantage of usable space in the center of the vessel that is often overlooked. For some reason its coziness makes it kind of cool.
Grand Banks 62 VIP Stateroom
Grand Banks 62 Stateroom Double
“Our buyers appreciate our philosophy that speed, range, and efficiency are not mutually exclusive,” says Mark Richards.
The new Grand Banks 62 is a nice addition to this line of venerable cruisers that combines advanced hull design and construction with pleasing lines and high-quality finishes. Richards’ dedication to perfection shows in the way these new boats are built as well as the way they perform but he hasn’t forgotten their origins. He has somehow managed to maintain an aesthetic that looks salty and remains true to the brand without appearing old fashioned. The GB62 stands as a modern relative of her forebearers but with added pizzazz, proving that you can get the best of both old and new.
Grand Banks 62 Flybridge Specifications
Length Overall: 68’ 10” (20.98m)
Length on Deck: 62’ (18.9m)
Beam: 19’2” (5.8m)
Draft (with shafts): 4’7” (1.4m)
Draft (with IPS pods): 4’4” (1.34m)
Fresh Water Capacity: 317gal (1,200l)
Fuel Tank: 1532 gal (5,800l)
Holding Tank: 79 gal (300l)
Displacement: 72,091lbs (32,700kg)
Standard Power: Volvo Penta D13 900HP 6-cylinder, 12.8-liter w shafts
Optional Power: Volvo Penta D13 1000HP 6-cylinder, 12.8-liter w shafts
Optional Pod Power: Volvo Penta D13 IPS1200 6-cylinder, 12.8-liter w pods
Price supplied upon request
