Boat Review: 450 Voyager

Source: Boattest.com

The Carver 450 Voyager Pilothouse is an elegant motoryacht with overnighting accommodations for six. It is the entry point in the Voyager series which is designed to gather everyone around the skipper in the lower pilothouse with plenty of seating.

Even though she’s a scaled-down version of the company’s first Voyager–the 530–the 450 is nevertheless a big motoryacht by anyone’s standards. The living areas are a bi-level affair with the saloon and in-line galley on the same plane and a raised pilothouse up and to starboard. This pilothouse has wraparound seating for four adults next to the skipper, so everyone can join in on the navigation as the sights go by in inclement weather. For short-handed handling, there’s a small pilothouse doorway leading from the lower helm out to the narrow sidedecks, but it may come in handy in a pinch when the skipper needs to get up to the foredeck fast.

Topside the easy living continues with an L-shaped lounge across from a wetbar, both abaft the flying bridge helm with twin deeply padded pedestal seats. Given the helm’s centerline midship’s location, visibility–even aft when docking–is surprisingly good. Also surprising is the kick we got from the all-new Cummins 480-hp electronically controlled diesels. Unlike most diesels that kick in the turbos at 1700rpm or so, the new Cummins take off at 1600rpm to get you up on plane faster–just 10.4 seconds on our test boat. This is due to a new “waste-gate” on the turbos themselves that overboosts the engines at the lower portion of the torque curve, and then dumps excess air once the boat is up and running at cruise. Top-end performance was a very respectable 32.7 mph, and at best cruise the 450 can take you well over 300 miles down the road between fill ups.

A view of the galley.

The galley has a standup refrigerator and freezer, two-burner cooktop, microwave oven, coffeemaker, and large sink. The galley is also directly between the salon and the pilothouse so whoever’s cookin

A luxurious master stateroom awaits you.

The master stateroom has a queen-sized island berth, night tables, entertainment center for your own relaxation, and private head with cherry wood mirrored vanity and large stall shower.

Great space for entertaining.

The 450 has good overall flow and is well-lit with large windows and an aft sliding glass do

Boat Specification: 450 Voyager

Length Overall                        46′ 11”

Dry Weight                             39,600 lbs. wet

Beam                                       14′ 11”

Fuel Cap                                  560 gal.

Draft                                       3′ 7”

Water Cap                               150 gal.

Deadrise/Transom                   N/A

Bridge Clearance                    19′ 11”

Max Headroom                       6′ 8”

Std. Power                              2×370-hp Cummins 370B diesel inboards

Tested Power                          2×480-hp Cummins 480C-E inboard diesels

Opt. Power                              Various Cummins and Volvo diesels to 370-hp