Grand Banks Yachts

[GenS70]

https://www.facebook.com/GrandBanks/vide...676662256/

[weijian]

https://www.facebook.com/GrandBanks/vide...676662256/

It would be great if you can include more than just a link to a video.

Moderator

[GenS70]

Watch the video, look out for the part where Mark Richards the CEO of Grand Banks say: We are ready for business

[GenS70]

CRUISING LIFE

New Video Shows the Changes at Grand Banks, Previews New 60 Flagship
By Peter Janssen · On March 13, 2017

There’ve been a lot of changes at Grand Banks recently, ever since the company acquired Australia’s Palm Beach Yachts and named Mark Richards, the Palm Beach president, as the head of both companies in 2014. Richards, pictured above inspecting the hull of the new Grand Banks 60, is one of the most successful sailboat racers in the world, having won the fear-inducing Sydney-Hobart race a record eight times. At Grand Banks’ factory in Malaysia, he’s used his racing expertise to build high-tech, low-weight, low CG, faster and more fuel-efficient hulls. The flagship 60, with three staterooms and two heads, is predicted to top out at 32 knots when it’s launched this summer. Tom Whidden, the former head of North Sails and one of the most experienced America’s Cup sailors ever (serving as tactician on three winning campaigns) and his wife Betsy have ordered hull number one.

more : http://cruisingodyssey.com/2017/03/13/ne...-flagship/

[GenS70]

Grand Banks reports fiscal 2016 results
Posted on September 6th, 2016
Written by Jim Flannery

A resurgent Grand Banks Yachts Ltd. reported a profit of $1.47 million for the year that ended June 30, reversing a net loss of more than $3.5 million the year before.

The Singapore-based company reported a 49.7 percent increase in revenue and said the profit was its highest in eight years. The boatbuilder attributed the turnaround to measures it started to put into place in 2014 after it bought Palm Beach Yachts.

“The turnaround in the financials is mainly the result of two things,” said David Northrop, of Holland, Mich., Grand Banks vice president of sales and marketing and its director of North American and Latin American operations. “One is obviously the addition of Palm Beach Yachts, which is a very fast-selling product line for us right now.

“It’s that, coupled with our new direct-distribution approach, which has had a major 9 percent impact on our margins. In this business a 1 or 2 percent impact is big.”

Northrop said the comparison between the 2015 and 2016 fiscal year financials is an “apple-to-apple” comparison because it is the first two full years that the company has owned both the Grand Banks and Palm Beach yacht brands.

The dramatically improved sales volume, margins and net profits also reflect the integration of the Grand Banks and Palm Beach brands, which took time to accomplish, he said.

Palm Beach, based in Australia, has tripled its production since Grand Banks acquired it, Northrop said, but 60 percent of its yachts are now built at Grand Banks’ Malaysia plant, the rest in Australia. Northrop said an exchange of personnel, technology and information between the brands has benefited both and improved the bottom line.

Grand Banks said in an Aug. 29 statement that it also has streamlined operational efficiencies, strengthened its marketing and improved manufacturing processes.

“We have set in motion a corporate transformation, starting with the integration of both our brands,” Grand Banks CEO Mark Richards said in the statement. “The group is now in a stronger position and we look forward to the launch of our new yacht models.”

Northrop said Grand Banks will debut a Palm Beach 42 and an East Bay 44 at this fall’s boat shows; a Grand Banks 60 in March of 2017; a Grand Banks 52 in the fall of 2017, and an East Bay 52 in 2018. It also expects to launch at least one more Palm Beach model at the fall 2017 shows, “but we’re not ready to disclose yet what that will be,” he said.

The Palm Beach 65, though not new to Australia, will be seen for the first time in the United States at the 2016 Newport and Fort Lauderdale shows, Northrop said.

Richards described the Grand Banks-Palm Beach order book as “healthy,” with more than $25 million in new yacht orders as of June 30. A month earlier, it was at a seven-year high of almost $29.5 million. A total of 53.7 percent of the June orders by dollar volume originated in the United States and 46.3 percent in Australia, the company said.

Grand Banks sells new and brokerage yachts through company-owned sales offices in Fort Lauderdale and the Rowayton section of Norwalk, Conn. Northrop said Grand Banks is gearing up to spur brokerage sales with a new website, GBmatch.com, which will work like a dating website, ”discreetly” matching prospective Grand Banks buyers and sellers at a private online venue.

Two thousand dealmakers registered to use the site during a 30-day period this summer. It was scheduled to become active in mid- to late September, with Grand Banks brokers assisting as requested in the matchmaking.

“There’s a lot of product that’s going to be around through GBmatch that has not currently been available in the marketplace,” Northrop said.

more: https://www.tradeonlytoday.com/2016/09/g...6-results/

[GenS70]

Grand Banks Yachts Charts New Course as Tide Turns
March 4, 2016
|
Jennifer LH Tan


Australian sailor and boat-builder Mark Richards has been heeding the siren call of the ocean ever since he was six.

The Chief Executive Officer of SGX-listed luxury yacht manufacturer Grand Banks Yachts Ltd became a shipwright apprentice at 16, and embarked on a professional yachting career four years later.

Adopted by an English couple, Richards grew up in picturesque Palm Beach, situated at the end of Sydney’s long stretch of northern beaches.

“I started sailing when I was six, and I’ve loved boats my whole life,” said the eight-time champion skipper of the annual 628-mile Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

“Sailing and boating are in my veins.”

Richards retired after 10 years of professional yachting to establish Palm Beach Motor Yachts in 1995.

“Professional sailing was very demanding – I was in two different countries every month and had been dragging my family around the world for years. By then, the kids needed a proper school,” recalled Richards, who led Australia to victory in the 2003 Admiral’s Cup, and represented the country in two America’s Cup regattas.

“Some clients approached me to build custom yachts for them – that’s how I started my boat-building business.”

Palm Beach initially constructed bespoke yachts measuring 60 feet to 65 feet, mostly for customers in the United States. The specialist sailing yachts were meticulously designed and crafted with cutting-edge materials and a full suite of customisable options.

In 1999, Richards added powerboats to his repertoire with the launch of the Palm Beach 38 – dubbed the gentleman’s cruiser. He also set up a new factory in the suburbs of Berkeley Vale, about an hour north of Sydney.

Subsequent models helped Palm Beach clinch the Best New Power Boat award two years in a row in 2010 and 2011 at Newport International Boat Show.

Two Become One

In April 2014, the paths of Grand Banks and Palm Beach converged when the Singapore-listed company announced it would acquire its Australian peer for A$10 million in cash and equity.

“Grand Banks had been looking for quite a while to buy another company, and after being introduced to each other by a mutual contact at a boat show, we started a dialogue,” Richards recalled.

The rest is history. Richards was appointed CEO of the enlarged Grand Banks Yachts group in August 2014.

Grand Banks has a legacy that dates back to 1956. Its stunning yachts are constructed with beautiful, tight-grained Malaysian teak, sport a classical design, superb engineering and precise detailing. They generally sell for around US$900,000 (S$1.3 million) to US$3.5 million (S$4.9 million).

The Group was listed on the Singapore Exchange in 1987 and upgraded to the Main Board in 1993. Between the 2005 and 2015 financial years, Grand Banks averaged annual revenues of S$64.7 million. It reported four consecutive annual losses between FY2010 and FY2013, returned to the black in FY2014 but swung into the red again in FY2015.

The Group, which was placed on the Singapore Exchange Watch List in December 2011 following three straight years of net losses, exited the Watch List in October 2014.

Since then, the tide has shifted.

Grand Banks swung to a net profit of S$1.59 million for the six months ended 31 December 2015, from a net loss of S$1.21 million in the previous period. It also has a healthy order backlog of S$31.9 million.

Creative Cross-Pollination

The union of both companies has proven to be mutually beneficial, Richards said.

“Palm Beach’s sales exploded through Grand Banks’ network, while Palm Beach was able to help improve Grand Banks’ construction techniques and introduce modern-day technologies, which they weren’t using before.”

The Group’s boat-building capacity – with facilities in Australia fully occupied and those in Malaysia seeing improved utilisation rates – has now been aligned across both brands and locations. Cross-pollination of manufacturing techniques and materials sourcing has boosted efficiency and output.

In particular, Grand Banks benefited from Palm Beach’s more refined approach to hydrodynamics in the construction of hulls. This has resulted in smarter use of materials, increased strength and better weight distribution, which in turn has enhanced performance.

Its yachts were well-received in last November’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show – the world’s largest. It shipped a new model, the compact yet luxurious Palm Beach 42, in the second quarter ended 31 December 2015, and debuted the elegant Grand Banks 44 Eastbay at the Miami International Boat Show in February. It will also participate in the Singapore Yacht Show on 7-10 April.

The Group plans to launch the sumptuous Grand Banks 60, a line of high-performance yachts, in the fourth quarter of 2016.

“We need another six to 12 months to fully streamline production processes within the enlarged group and restructure the foundation to make it solid again,” said Richards.

“We’re revamping the business from every aspect. It’s important to set each stage in place before moving on to the next level.”

The Group will focus on organic growth – which has huge potential – in the immediate future. “Grand Banks’ manufacturing facility offers exciting prospects, but we need to get the recipe right first. Palm Beach had the right recipe, but on a much smaller scale,” he added.

Turning the Titanic Around

One recent strategic initiative reaping huge rewards is the switch to a factory-direct sales model. This allows commissions traditionally lost to dealer sales networks to be reinvested to create better products, service and customer experiences.

“I took a lot of criticism for this decision because it’s so abnormal for our industry to do this,” said Richards. “But the figures you see today are generated from 80% of the impact of that move, and I am really happy about it.”

Commission rates in the boat building industry have been “pretty warped” for a long time. Dealers can make as much as 10%-20% in commissions, while builders – those who are doing well – only get 5%-6%, Richards explained.

Grand Banks has also hired a team of professional salespeople based throughout the US to build relationships with clients. Even so, these staffing expenses amount to a fraction of the cost of selling through a dealer network, he said.

“The world has changed. If you can do it yourself, why not do it yourself?”

But there are considerable challenges involved in running the business, Richards admitted.

“There’s a lot of responsibility involved in managing a listed company, but I’m enjoying it. There’re also many challenges in the production process – trying to turn the Titanic around by 180 degrees is no easy feat,” he said.

“Every day, we have to make decisions on the fly, and ensure we’re making the right ones to stay ahead.”

The Group is also diversifying its revenue streams with a brokerage business in the US, which helps owners who want new yachts to sell their existing boats. This sideline can be profitable, Richards added.

Smoother Sailing Ahead

Meanwhile, the global luxury boat industry, which has been roiled by turbulence, appears to be steering into calmer waters.

Australia is generating “great sales” but demand in Southeast Asia and Japan remains slow, partly due to fewer marina berths and relatively higher berthing rates. “Most people are not really big boaters in this part of the world,” Richards noted.

In comparison, luxury boating in the United States is massive. “Most people underestimate how big the American market is, and there’s a lot of money in the luxury mid-size powerboats segment. Now, it’s taking off big time.”

US boat enthusiasts buy and sell their yachts every few years, but after the Global Financial Crisis struck, demand dried up.

“The American consumers have not bought or sold their boats for quite a few years, and they’re ready now. It’s amazing how many people can afford a two million-dollar boat these days,” Richards said.

After tackling the US market, which accounts for more than half of global sales, Grand Banks will focus on Europe. “If we do America well over the next 12 months, it will set us up to target the next part of the world – Europe – which hopefully will be up and running by then.”

And the Group is well-placed to ride the industry recovery.

“Grand Banks is one of the most iconic boat brands on the planet. Quality and reputation is everything in our industry, and we have both well and truly in hand. If we can create a beautiful, quality product, it will always sell,” he said.

Banking on Beauty

For Richards, the design process is intense and time-consuming, but totally satisfying.

“It’s all about building beautiful things. The ideas just happen – usually they come at 2am in the morning, so I sleep with a notepad next to me,” he said.

“I write them down during the night, and when I wake up the next morning, they’re all there. Eventually, these ideas become reality.”

Many Grand Banks clients are experienced boat owners who have many good ideas of their own. “We mix our ideas with their ideas, and things just evolve,” he added.

An eye for detail, balance and proportion is also essential. “A good understanding of the ocean is a big plus – you need to build something that is resilient in tough seas.”

Not surprisingly, Richards gravitates towards perfection and performance. He owns a Mach II Moth – a dinghy that skims over the water surface on hydrofoils – and drives an Audi R8.

“The Mach II Moth is such good fun – it’s a very cool little flying machine on water,” he said.

Outside of work, and apart from the occasional yacht race, Richards, who has two daughters aged 23 and 28, usually ends up far from the ocean, like skiing in Colorado. “I’m always dragged away from the water by my family,” he said with a laugh.

Describing himself as “fussy”, Richards hopes to build his own boat one day. “There’s a beautiful marina berth at home just waiting for it. I’ve no time now because I’m too busy building other people’s boats!”

A Grand Banks 50 could be a yacht he would construct for himself. “It has a very simple design, with little clutter – it’s beautiful, efficient, and performs well.”

With a flash of self-awareness, he admitted: “But I could well be my own worst customer.”

Perfection and beauty aside, Richards also values people.

“I was taught early in life that being good to people is important. If you treat people well, they will do anything for you. If they look after you, you must look after them,” he said.

“I cannot run this business by myself. The people who buy the boats, as well as those who design and build the boats – they are all key.”

more: https://www.kopi-c.com/single-post/2016/...Tide-Turns

[karlmarx]

It has been 8 years since the GFC decimated demand for luxury yachts, and GBY appears to remain mired in a challenging environment. One sign of this is that there has not been any dividends distributed since FY09, marking the end of the previous luxury yacht boom.

Dividend history
FY09: $1.7m
FY08: $3.7m
FY07: $3.3m
FY06: $2.4m

As competitions is aplenty and customers expect new designs every now and then, GBY has to reinvest most of its earnings just to build capabilities that allow it to keep up with customer expectations. The low demand for yachts and concomitant lack of economies of scale in production results in inefficient operations.

FCF history
FY17: -$0.1m
FY16: -$5.6m
FY15: -$4.2m
FY14: $1.2m
FY13: -$14.4m
FY12: $4.6m
FY11: -$6.4m
FY10: -$10.1m
FY09: -$1.4m
FY08: $9.9m
FY07: $10.7m
FY06: $21.3m

Over the past 12 years, only $5.5m of free cash flow was generated in total. And this includes FY06 and FY07, which were the two years with highest FCF. Excluding these boom years (FY06 to FY08) of the last cycle, total FCF since the start of the current cycle from FY09 is negative (-$36.4m). This explains why GBY was eager to attempt a massive $45m placement in 2011, in spite of having a very healthy cash balance and no debt. While the placement was eventually voted down, it tells us that management was very aware back then of the cash burn they will be facing, which is what we are seeing today. Nonetheless, a placement was eventually done in 2013 to Lim Kok Thay, raising $5.2m. A rights issue was done a year later, raising $12.1m.

The fact that GBY is still standing today can be partly attributed to these fund raising activities, but mostly to management's conservative approach to financing. GBY had no debts since FY06, although in the past 2 years it began to have some; about $2m or so.

The net effect of all these on the long-term shareholder is evidently not so good. No dividends, share dilution, and a cash call. Whether the management has done well or not, I cannot judge. But clearly the economics of the industry has not been great. It remains to be seen whether the acquisition of Palm Beach, and the new CEO, will turn things around.

The latest quarterly can be found here:
http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/GB1QFY20...eID=478143

[dydx]

It has been 8 years since the GFC decimated demand for luxury yachts, and GBY appears to remain mired in a challenging environment. 

I agree the 2009 GFC has hurt sales of luxury yachts, but demand and sales - especially for modernised yachts with the latest technologies including improved fuel-efficient engines and great designs - have gone back up again. It is also fair to say that GB suffered during the intermittent years after Livingston Senior retired and his son Livingston Junior took over as CEO (until Dec 2012).

Now GB has Mark Richards - a driven, experienced and talented sailor and leader - as CEO (since Aug 2014), and the business appears to be looking up again. A relevant point: Never underestimate what a good leader can do and achieve for a business.

[GenS70]

http://cruisingodyssey.com/2017/09/28/we...long-legs/

We Test the New Grand Banks 60: Fast and Smooth with Some Very Long Legs

By Peter Janssen · On September 28, 2017
This is all you need to know about the gorgeous, all-new Grand Banks 60, the flagship of the legendary builder’s fleet: As we were cruising down Long Island Sound at 24 knots a few days ago, the ride was so smooth, so quiet and so comfortable, that Sue Weisman, the owner’s wife who had just spent a busy day provisioning her new boat, went below to take a shower. She emerged 15 minutes later, smiling and happy. No fuss, no muss, no problems. A hot refreshing shower, just like home, at 24 knots. Don’t try this on many boats.

“This is a totally different kind of boat,” Mark Richards, the CEO of Grand Banks, said a few days earlier when he walked me and George Day, my Cruising Odyssey colleague, through the new 60 at the Newport boat show. “You’ve got to take a ride to believe it.” I did take a ride, and I do believe it.
The crew on board the 60 on this picture-perfect, blue-sky, late September day were hardly new to boating, and they all were more and more impressed by how the boat performed the more time they spent underway. There were six of us: Gary Weisman, the new owner, who had retired four years ago as the president of North Sails, living in San Diego. An ardent fisherman, he and Sue had owned a Bertram 38 at first and then a Riviera 47 for 15 years. “We used it a lot, fishing in Mexico,” Weisman said. In fact, they put 50,000 miles on the Riviera. But now he wanted to do some long-range cruising as well as occasional fishing, so he turned to Grand Banks.
Then there were Tom Whidden and his wife, Betsy. Whidden, one of the best sailors in the world and a long-time America’s Cup tactician, had just been inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame the previous day. Living in Essex, Connecticut, he is CEO of North Technology Group, which includes North Sales and EdgeWater Boats. The Whiddens have just bought a Grand Banks 60, and they expect to take delivery of it over the winter. “I’m relaxed about it,” he said. “I know I’ll have it for next spring.” The 60 will be their third Grand Banks. They just sold their Eastbay 55. “I loved my old boat,” Whidden said. “But then I found out what this new one is all about and I wanted it.” Also on board to get everyone acquainted with the systems on the new 60 was Hank Compton, a managing director of Grand Banks and Palm Beach Motor Yachts who lives in Singapore and works out of the factory in Malaysia.

We met on the boat at Norwalk Cove Marina in Connecticut, the day after the Norwalk Boat Show, where the 60, hull number three, had been the star of the Grand Banks’ display. It had been introduced to the U.S. market at the Newport show the previous week. The six of us were going to ride down the Sound and East River to North Cove Marina on the lower Hudson in the Battery district of New York City. After an overnight there, the Whiddens and the Weismans were going to take the boat to Cape May, New Jersey, and then Annapolis.
This was the first time the Weismans had been on their new boat, and as Sue was busy unloading boxes of clothing and dishes, Gary turned on the Fischer Panda 25,000i genset. “Is it on?” Whidden asked. The Fischer Panda 25,000i generator was so quiet and the Grand Banks’ soundproofing was so good that we couldn’t hear it. Weisman turned it off and then on again as we listened and finally detected a very slight sound just over the low hum of the Seakeeper gyrostabilizer that was warming up.  

A three-stateroom, two-head, luxurious long range-cruiser designed to be run by a couple, the 60 is the result of Richards’ revamping of Grand Banks since he took over as CEO in 2014. One of the best sailors in the world, Richards has won the grueling (and occasionally deadly) Sydney-Hobart race a record eight times. An Australian, he was the founder and CEO of Palm Beach when it was acquired by Grand Banks in 2014 and he was put in charge of both companies, totally revamping the Grand Banks factory in Malaysia. Drawing on his high-tech sailing background, Richards built the 60 with state-of-the-art, light-weight materials to give the boat a low center of gravity for stability and a warped hull for performance over the entire speed range. (As I found testing the boat on Long Island Sound, this works: It topped out at 31.1 knots, but dialed back to 7.3 knots it had a range – with a 10 percent reserve – of an incredible 5,026 nm.)
To keep the boat’s weight down, the deck and flybridge are fully carbon infused; all vinylester resins and a cross-linked Corecell foam core make for a highly efficient power-to-weight ratio. Monocoque construction bonds all the bulkheads and interior furniture directly to the hull and deck for extra strength and quiet. The hull has a fine entry and almost flat, lift-producing sections aft with only 8 degrees of deadrise at the transom. “The hull is incredibly efficient,” Richards said. “Look at the wake underway; you could almost run a straightedge on it.”

Standard power comes from two 725-hp Volvo Penta diesels, but this boat has two 1,000-hp Cat 12.9 diesels paired with Twin Disc MGX transmissions with EC300 controls and Sea Torque enclosed shaft system. The bow and stern thrusters are proportional for total fingertip control while docking. The boat has a CE Category A rating for safety.
The 60’s lines are clean, flowing and contemporary. Standing on the bow in Newport, looking back, Richards said, “She’s pretty, isn’t she?” Yes, definitely, but the new boat also belongs in the classic Grand Banks family. “The Grand Banks brand is phenomenal, legendary,” Richards said. “We revived it. This still has lines of the 42, one of the most popular cruising boats ever. It has family ties.”
Time for full disclosure: I’ve been a Grand Banks fan for decades. In fact, I owned a 36 Classic for many years, cruising it from Fort Myers on the Gulf Coast of Florida to the Keys and then up the East Coast to Norwalk Cove, where I lived aboard for a few years. I loved the boat. My wife did too, although on our subsequent annual summer vacations to Nantucket she would tell her friends, “It’s stately, but it’s slow.” I have to admit that at eight knots (on a good day) it did take a while to get anywhere. And over the years, I’ve tested Grand Banks in many parts of the world – Singapore, Istanbul, the Bahamas, the San Juans – and once had a memorable voyage on a Grand Banks 49 uphill from San Francisco to Seattle.
Looking at the new 60 from the side, you can see the traditional Grand Banks’ long, sleek sheer line, gently broken amidships, accenting the length of the boat. From the bow, the hull has a lot of flair, almost a Carolina flair, unusual for a Grand Banks but designed to keep the boat dry in a head sea. And from the stern, there’s enough tumblehome to keep the Down East crowd happy.
Since Weisman wants to continue fishing, this boat had some custom features designed for him. The helm station on the flybridge was moved aft, for example, and four feet were eliminated from the boat deck overhang so he can watch the action from up there. And the usual seating in the cockpit has been rearranged a bit to free up the transom for bait wells and fishing activity.

Weisman’s boat’s name Iluka is announced in slightly raised gold lettering on the teak transom; the letters actually reflected off the teak swim platform in the afternoon sun. Weisman explained that he and Sue, who’s from Australia, wanted an aboriginal name for the boat, and Iluka means “near the sea” in that native tongue. Oddly enough, growing up, Sue lived on Iluka Street in Palm Beach, the same town just north of Sydney where Mark Richards founded Palm Beach Motor Yachts.
Once we got underway, the boat easily came up on plane, although in this case that phraseology really isn’t appropriate. It doesn’t “come up on plane.” With almost no bow rise, it simply moves ahead, quietly and firmly. Looking at the Garmin display, Weisman said, “I can’t believe we’re doing 18 knots.” In fact, there was almost no feeling of speed at all. As we moved up to our cruising speed of 24 knots, I looked aft to see what the wake was like. As Richards had mentioned it, it was remarkably low and undisturbed for a 60-foot boat.

When we were off Greenwich, I took the performance numbers, and they were impressive. There were six of us on board and the boat had 775 gallons of fuel and 75 gallons of water. The Sound was fairly flat there, sparkling in the bright afternoon sun, with very little breeze. I took sound readings at the lower helm, and figured the range based on a 10 percent reserve.
At 600 rpm, the boat went 7.3 knots, burning just 2 gph, giving it a range of 5,026 nm!
At 1500 rpm, the boat went 18 knots, burning 32 gph, with a range of 774. The decibel level here was only 69 dB(A), just above the level of normal conversation.
At 2000 rpm, the boat went 26.4 knots, burning 72 gph, for a range of 504 nm.
And at a wide-open 2310 rpm, the boat went 31.1 knots, burning 100 gph for a range of 428 nm.
All this means you can go just about anywhere you want to go in this boat. This afternoon we could have headed for Bermuda and come back without having to refuel. Instead, we were just going to New York. The two Weismans relaxed on the helm seat, while the Whiddens, often joined by Compton, when he wasn’t taking notes, were comfortable on the matching seat on the port side. Weisman drove with the teak destroyer wheel, watching the two Garmin chartplotters and twin Cat engine displays on the dash. A door to his right opened to the starboard side deck, providing easy access for docking or maneuvering through locks.
You climb on board the 60 via the large teak swim platform or through a door, about two-thirds of the way aft, on each side. From the swim platform, a sturdy inward-opening door leads to the cockpit, which has a beautiful teak table and an aft-facing seat for four on the forward port side. On the starboard side forward is a sink and bar with a fridge tucked under the steps and ladder going up to the flybridge. Under the sink is a drawer you can pull out that has controls for the engines, gears and thrusters so you can dock the boat from back here. The cockpit has a teak sole; so do the side decks going forward until they get opposite the helm, then there are two teak steps up to the foredeck, which is covered with nonskid.
A super-sized hatch opens in the middle of the cockpit for access to the lazarette and engine room. Two smaller hatches farther aft on each side also allow fast access to the lazarette for stowing lines and fenders. From the middle hatch, it’s three steps down and then a watertight door opens to the engine room forward. In our tour of the boat earlier in Newport, Richards, Day and I all fit in here easily, although everyone had to stoop (but then we’re all tall). What you give up in head room, you gain in side access to the big Cats, which is exceptional. There are several feet of working space outboard of each engine, and all the machinery and equipment is well laid-out, user-friendly, accessible and immaculate. The massive 1,530-gallon fuel tank is forward, separating the engine room from the living quarters.
From the cockpit, you enter the salon through a beautiful teak and glass sliding door. The large galley is on the port side, with a U-shaped Silestone countertop, a deep sink, three-burner Miele cooktop, dishwasher and drawers and cabinets for storage everywhere. The fridge, freezer and wine cabinet are across the way on the starboard side. You push a button and the big window separating the salon from the cockpit aft powers down all the way. Push other buttons and shelves over the sink and the forward countertop also power down, giving easy access to kitchen equipment and cooking supplies.

The salon is luxurious, filled with light, and comfortable. On the port side, an L-shaped settee could easily seat a family of six or more, and faces a bi-fold teak table on a stainless-steel pedestal and two ottomans with storage inside. On the starboard side, there’s a bench settee that could seat four or five people; behind it is the hi-low TV. Three huge windows on each side (two power down to open all the way) and three equally large forward windshields let in a lot of natural light.
Forward, you go down four teak stairs to the accommodations deck. First, on the starboard side, is the guest cabin, with one berth opposite the door; then you turn aft and go down a step and find another berth running athwartships under the helm. A washer and dryer are stacked behind the door.
Then a bit forward and to port is the master stateroom midships, with an island bed coming out from the port side. There’s lots of walking-around space, and headroom, in the master to make it feel like home. Walk aft and you take a step down to find a large closet and clothes storage area – a hanging locker and three drawers on one side and three dresser drawers on the other. Two more drawers are under each side of the bed. Forward, the master head is unusually bright with light streaming in from an overhead hatch and a side port. The shower is large with a big glass door. And there’s a heated towel rack.

Moving down the companionway, the second head is on the starboard side, and is virtually the same as the master, even down to the heated towel rack. All the way forward, the VIP stateroom has a walkaround bed, a hanging locker to port and drawers and a cabinet to starboard.
And so, on this beautiful late September afternoon we swept down Long Island Sound, passing only one or two other boats, going under the Throgs Neck and Whitestone Bridges at an easy, loafing 24-plus knots. After LaGuardia Airport, we powered through Hell Gate, where water from the Sound and the East River meet and can explode into three-feet standing waves, but it was relatively calm at this time and we just got a touch of water up on the port windshield.

Finally, cruising down the East River, past rush-hour cars stacked up on the FDR Drive, we passed by mid-town and the UN, then under the bridges until, at the tip of Manhattan, and just across from the Statue of Liberty, we made a right turn at the Battery. Weisman made sure to give the Staten Island Ferry lots of room, and then headed up the Hudson a bit to North Cove.
After he backed into the slip and we tied up, Weisman stood in the cockpit, happy and smiling. “Feel that?” he said. “We’re not rocking. All the other boats here are rocking. I love it.” The Whiddens agreed. Everyone was pleased with the 60’s performance. Weisman was particularly happy about the boat’s range. After the boat show season, he and Sue will take the new 60 to the Bahamas, the Caribbean and through the Panama Canal, fishing on both sides of Central America. They’ll put the Grand Banks on a freighter in Costa Rica and ship it up the west coast to Vancouver, and then cruise and fish in Alaska next summer before cruising back home to San Diego.  “At least that’s the plan,” he said. “But I know we’ll have a great time on this boat.”

Specs.: LOA: 65’4”; Beam: 19’2”; Draft: 4’7”; Disp.: 63,900 lbs.; Fuel: 1,530 gals.; Water: 300 gals.; Power: (base) 2×725-hp Volvo diesels; (as tested) 2×1,000-hp Cat diesels. Base price: $3,280,000.

[dydx]

A pre-owned GB 46 Classic for USD239k, anyone?
https://grandbanks.com/preowned/1987-gra...6-classic/

Grand Banks is now marketing pre-owned yachts in its own website...
https://grandbanks.com/pre-owned-yachts/

Have a very special once-in-a-lifetime adventurous holiday on a two-week journey around British Columbia’s stunning Desolation Sound...
http://www.nwexplorations.com/flotilla/d...-sound-18/
on a chartered Grand Banks for as low as USD4,800/week...
http://www.nwexplorations.com/?sfid=1440...nd%20Banks