Boat Review: 41 Grand Banks Heritage EU 2010

Boat Review: 41 Grand Banks Heritage EU 2010

Source: Boattest.com

Speed has always been a touchy subject with Grand Banks. The brand started out being a displacement cruising vessel, but once the company started to expand its market it discovered that slow wasn’t fast enough for most powerboaters. The solution was to put in bigger twin diesels and make the bottoms flatter and keep the weight down as much as possible. In 2005 GB retired its classic 42 Heritage, then in 2008 launched the boat you see above, the new Heritage 41. Powered by twin 425-hp CMD diesels driving through Zeus pod drives the boat is said to cruise in the mid teens in knots, and have a WOT speed of 25 knots. If you want to go faster, you are really in the wrong category of boat. Try something other than a trawler-type.

The 41 Heritage EU looks just like a Grand Banks, and that’s good. It has the extended saloon of all the EU models, meaning lots of living room on the main deck level. Aft, there’s a U-shaped dinette with a settee opposite, a galley forward to port, helm to starboard. All joinery is Grand Banks style, e.g., lots of wood. But the décor is clean and modern, and the large deckhouse windows make the saloon a bright, cheery space during the day and a cozy hideaway at night. Just remember to draw the curtains.

All of this if very much like what one has come to expect on a traditional Grand Banks, so expectations are met. After all, it is a “Heritage.”

Below decks, the forward master stateroom has an island queen berth, the guest cabin to port a pair of twins. There’s a single head with access from the master or the passageway; it has a separate stall shower. Aft of the accommodations is a gigantic utility space where the engines ought to be. It’s big enough for a washer/dryer, workbench, spare parts, stores, you name it. You reach this great new space by opening a hatch in the galley sole and climbing down into it.

Essentially the lazarette has been moved to the center of the boat, and that has its advantages. First, it is far handier to do the laundry. Second, our guess is that it will be drier than a conventional lazarette in the stern which tends to be dank and damp on virtually any boat. But where are the engines?

Zeus Makes the Difference

Thanks to GB’s choice of Zeus pod drives instead of conventional inboard engines with shafts and rudders, the Cummins MerCruiser Diesels live all the way aft, almost atop the innovative drives. That has freed up space under the salon for what everyone these days is calling it – “the basement.” Not too nautical. We prefer “hold” or, utility room, or better yet, “storeroom.” Anything except basement, please.

If you haven’t heard of Zeus drives, then simply use BoatTEST.com’s search engine on the home page of the website and type in “Zeus pod drives” and you will be brought up to speed. According to people who have used them, Zeus drives, with the joystick function, take a lot of the angst out of boating in close quarters, while improving efficiency and performance underway.

Zeus Details

The drives are counter-rotating twin-prop units that look like the lower units of sterndrives, but are mounted in tunnels and come out of the bottom of the boat. Each one can pivot independently of the other, making it possible for the black box in the Zeus system to optimize both thrust and direction of each pod when docking or performing other delicate maneuvers.

Boat Specifications: 41 Grand Banks Heritage EU 2010

Length Overall            41′ 4”12.59 m

Dry Weight                 40,200 lbs.18,235 kg

Beam                           15′ 8”4.77 m

Fuel Cap                      500 gal.1,893 L

Draft                          3′ 9”1.12 m

Water Cap                   195 gal.738 L

Deadrise/Transom       N/A

Bridge Clearance        19′ 4” 5.89 m to mast

Max Headroom           N/A