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Hatteras GT-54 Sportfish or Viking?

Discussion in 'General Sportfish Discussion' started by Liberty, Nov 18, 2011.

  1. Liberty

    Liberty Senior Member

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    Comparing Riv and Hatt? ... Well ... they both make white boats ... That's about it, I think. :rolleyes:

    Actually there was a Viking 55 parked on the next pier at the Hatteras Official Launch/Lunch at Marina Mirage today. I have never seen the spider cracked gelcoat issue myself before. Wow. Not good. 100% of the entire topsides.
  2. 84far

    84far Senior Member

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    Lol! Very diplomatic of you, I bet that Hatt rips up though ;).

    I did hear that rumour about the Viking's as well, back when there was that debacle about the Bert and the "front fell off".

    Far
  3. Kafue

    Kafue Senior Member

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    Many thanks for the tour of the the Hatteras. Great boat, my younger son and I watched as you cruised in to anchor and she is absolutely the best looking SF On offer by the major builders. Then to see the quality up close confirms why there is no argument in choosing her over the others. The engine room was like a Passagemakers, everything easy to get to and for me almost full stand up through out. Congrats again.
    Regards to your wife and was a pleasure meeting you all, see you on the water and wish you many tourney wins and happy family voyages.
    Cheers.
  4. Marcus Hogg

    Marcus Hogg New Member

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    Hello Liberty I was very interested to read this forum as I am looking at the GT54 and the 63, how is the boat going and are you happy with it. I am also Australian based and have considered Assegai and visited Viking and Hatteras. Your comments would be appreciated.
  5. 84far

    84far Senior Member

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    Hi Marcus, welcome to Yacht Forums.
    I've personally been on the GT54 - Liberty, and for a production vessel she was a great pick, and anything Australian built in the production world (Riviera / Maritimo), was a class below. I'm sure Liberty will chine in soon.
    I've also had the pleasure in working for Assegai many moons ago and have been on a few of there builds. They do have great sea keeping abilities eg, Magumi 44' has a 21deg deadrise up to amidships and I believe her hull is built from western red cedar - solid construction - like all there builds. The only negatives with there builds is they do have that 'work boat' feel when it comes to her interior - like all Assegais. Maybe they could produce some more head room for the accommodation to be picky. They also still build them a little to old school for todays market which has a knock on effect with the labour costs. Great boat though and would say leading the custom side of things in Aus. There's also Obrians, but they feel like a cheaper version of an Assegai.
    Will you be using the boat for charter work, or private use...?

    Cheers

    Far
  6. Marcus Hogg

    Marcus Hogg New Member

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    Good Morning Far thanks for your response. The boat is for private use and I got pretty well advanced with Assegai as I really rate them as a boat, but we couldn't come to agreement. I looked at the 56 Obrien, Kekoa is a very good boat, but the finish is not to Assegai or Hat/Vik. I like the Hatteras and as I said I have been to the plant and have test run and they impress, my only reservation is both are older releases and little has been upgraded since the release. I will be very interested in Liberty's comments. It was a great read the hole forum.
  7. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I ran a 63' GT today and the ride was pretty good, but it was pretty calm and boat was light on fuel which I think made it ride a touch bow heavy. The 63' was a 4 stateroom boat and all staterooms had a usuable amount of space and decently sized.

    The 54' GT is a very impressive boat and best ride in it's size and class by far though.
  8. Marcus Hogg

    Marcus Hogg New Member

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    Capt J thanks for your input.

    Can I ask a few more questions about your experience with the GT54, the ones you have been on C18 or C32, did they have seakeepers if so what size? Capt J did you fish on the 54? How did it fish, in particular chasing a fish? When I sea trialled backing down it was a bit wet, the transom is lower than what I am used to.

    My original discussion with Hatteras was a GT60 but they are not making anymore, the GT54 is closer(probably larger) than the two Australian custom boat producers of a 55-56.
  9. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    The only gt 54's I've been on had C32's and no seakeepers. The transoms are a little low but make it much easier to boat a fish. Backing down is ok, so long as you don't overdue it with lots of power. But easy to spin the boat when backing down. When they're lighter on fuel the transom does come up quite a bit.
  10. 84far

    84far Senior Member

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    I'd second CaptJ comments about the transom height and fishability, however Australian fishing seems to be done in all conditions ;). Cheers

    Far
  11. Liberty

    Liberty Senior Member

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    Hi Marcus

    I had the Hatt for 2 years and 600? engine hours. Very well built boat. Really good handling. We had her in some appalling conditions, but you know that's Australia and the Pacific Ocean. Our delivery run from Sydney demonstrated how good she was. She turned lots of heads.

    The Hatt people are great. Really, really good actually. I suspect Viking people aren't too different. Of the two companies, the Hatt 54 was better for our seas than the Viking 50 but there are a lot of Vikings sold. Not a fair comparison anyhow.

    If I were to make a fairly uneducated comparison between Australian custom boats and an American production boat is that the Australian ones tend to have a deeper V for our seas, but the American boats are designed go faster. The benefit of designing a boat for yourself is you can get the ride for the conditions you are going to use her in and of course Australian custom boat builders are more familiar with our seas.

    I think Assegai make awesome boats but if I were building a custom game boat I would also look at getting Norman Wrights in Brisbane to build it. They are truly excellent and do amazing work including full rollover pilot boats. I have just taken delivery of a spectacular Wrights 15' dinghy as a fishing tender for North West. Great yet down to earth people.

    As much as I loved fishing on the Hatt however (one afternoon we got 5 blue marlin and a short bill spearfish in 3 hours), I found more and more of her time was spent in the bay with guests aboard. The layout of a gameboat is centered around a single room - the saloon, and it was getting very small with two families aboard.

    I sold her and changed pace entirely to a passage maker - a most beautiful Fleming 65 - which we absolutely love. For a boat we frequently live aboard for weeks at a time, with guests, having 4 entertainment areas is awesome. My fishing is now fly and reefs by tender. The Fleming is a stunning vessel but of course entirely different to what you are looking at.

    Regardless of your choice 1150HP a side Cat C18 Acerts were plenty fast enough. You will almost never open up a C32 in our sea conditions, and you will have a heavier boat, more fuel, higher servicing, less space in the engine room and for all those reasons eventually a lower resale.

    Good luck!
    Liberty