Hatteras GT54 Test Walkthrough Video By BoatTest.com

The Hatteras GT54 Convertible offers performance, comfort and convenience that extends beyond its efficiently engineered seakeeping ability. Capable of over 40 knots and a cruise in the mid-30 knot range, the GT54 balances an exceptionally nimble responsiveness with an extremely comfortable ride.

In even the most challenging conditions, the GT54 excels due to its proven variable deadrise design and convex hull. Join us as Boattest.com tests this powerful Hatteras sportfishing yacht:

The following opinions are solely those of BoatTest.com and its test captain.

Hi, Capt. Steve for BoatTest.com and today I’m on the Hatteras GT54, a boat made to be an uncompromising sportfishing boat as well as a capable cruiser. Let’s take her on a full test and see how she does.

Let’s start by taking a look at the operational features. As we make our way to the bow, notice the powder-coated grab handle. As you move forward there’s a channel to hold on too. And the side decks, I measured at 9 inches. There’s no bow rail but if you desire, one can be installed. The entire combing is set up for a bow rail support.

Fully forward on this particular boat, we have a bare area but you can get a molded-in pulpit, a stainless steel anchor roller can be bolted on, a windlass and look at the size of this anchor locker.

The mezzanine seating in the cockpit gives you access to the engine room. Our boat was fitted with the optional twin 1600 horsepower CAT C32 ACERTs. Standard engines are at the 1150 horsepower C18s.

On the portside bulkhead you’ve got all your deck drains going into a single sea chest with a single through-hull fitting just above the waterline, so you’re not going to get black streaks going down your top sides. Just below that your air conditioner discharge going to a through-hull fitting below the waterline with a ball valve.

But most importantly notice the amount of space we have on the outboard side of the engine. Between engine of the bulkhead, 2-feet 3-inches. You can even see how much room there is outboard the engines from the starboard side as well.

Between the safety rails, 1-foot 8-inches, and as a professional captain, I’m always happy to see power panels in the engine room because I want to start the engines here and look at them after they’re running.

Let’s take a look at the flying bridge. But first notice how the ladder is mounted athwartships, which is safer than having it mounted fore and aft. And it’s also at a comfortable 22 degree angle. Beautiful teak console with the Palm Beach controls to the side, steering wheel mounted almost on the horizontal.

The helm is outfitted with a temporary electronics package with the twin CAT displays and a depth gauge just above. Naturally when a customer takes possession of the boat, an entirely customized display will be outfitted for him.

Underneath, the electrical controls. I find the Murray seats to be comfortable, nice ergonomics. I’ve got good sight lines above the console. From the standing position it’s exactly the same as from the sitting position, but that’s how the seat seems to be set up.

Now let’s get underway. The Hatteras GT54 has a length overall of 53-feet 10-inches, a wide beam of 17-feet 3-inches and thanks to our prop pockets, a draft of 4-feet 2-inches. With an empty weight of 75,000 lbs., 360 gallons of fuel and 4 people onboard, we had a test weight of 77,715 lbs.

The GT 54 is incredibly responsive at low speeds with a big 56.5 pitch and 35-inch diameter, 5-bladed props. So responsive in fact, that there’s a slow mode to be used when docking.

With twin 1600 horsepower CAT C-32As powering our test boat, we reached the top speed at 2,365 RPM at get this, 42.4 knots. At that speed we were burning 165.5 gallons per hour, for a range of 277 nautical miles.

Best cruise was reached at 1,500 RPM and 25.5 knots. That reduced the fuel burn to 74 gallons per hou,r which the GT 54 could keep up for 14 hours and 36 minutes and 372 nautical miles while still maintaining a 10-percent reserve.

However, you’ll probably be running your GT54 at the recommended high cruise setting of 80% throttle, which had us at 2100 RPM. That had us cruising along at a brisk 39 knots while burning 136 gallons per hour, giving us nearly 8 hour endurance and a range of 310 nautical miles. Because of that quick acceleration we reached planing speed in 9 seconds, reached 20 miles per hour in 10.8 seconds and continued accelerating to 30 miles an hour in 14.9 seconds.

With her convex bow design and wide flare, the spray is kept far back and down low for a dry ride. She’s a really cool boat to handle partly because she feels so solid and also because she’s just so fast. You’re only going to get 4 turns from lock to lock. So from dead ahead center, only two turns will get you a hard overturn, so it takes a while to come around, a full 60 seconds to make a 360-degree turn.

Now in a position to back down on a mock fish on, I’ve got great visibility through the seat of the entire stern. I had excellent controllability while backing down and reached to max speed of 7 miles an hour. Again, with those big props, she turns on a dime. I pushed her hard to get water coming into the cockpit and found that the GT 54 shed that water almost as quickly as it came in.

Coming back into the dock you get a better idea of just how maneuverable the GT54 is. Notice how close the sailboats in front of us are. Even with a crosswind and cross-current, we were still able to bring the 54 into a slip only slightly wider than her beam. And this boat is not equipped with a bow thruster.

Well, that’s my full test of the Hatteras GT54. In my opinion, a very capable performing boat. For BoatTest.com, I’m Capt. Steve. We’ll see you on the water.