Boat Review: 41EU Grand Banks Heritage 2008

Boat Review: 41EU Grand Banks Heritage 2008

Source: Capt. Grant Rafter, PowerAndMotoryacht.com

When a boatbuilder replaces its best-selling model, it must ensure that her replacement not only incorporates all of the positive features of her predecessor, but surpasses them. Grand Banks has worked for three years to make sure it did just that when the newest boat in its Heritage Series, the 41EU, replaced the 42. The improvements were based on a worldwide effort, with plans, parts, and construction elements undertaken in facilities all over the world.

According to Grand Banks marketing director David Hensel, the builder began by talking directly to owners through a series of focus groups and online surveys. The company also set up a dealer advisory counsel to get input from its worldwide distribution centers.

With the info in, Grand Banks confirmed what it had suspected: The new boat needed a hull design and an engine package that could accommodate a wide range of owners, from those who enjoy slow-speed offshore cruising to those who dart along the coast in calm waters.

“The [42’s hull] was originally designed for a single screw and a smaller engine, but then people would order a pair of 210s, 350s, or even 500s,” explained Hensel. After weighing its options and numerous other factors such as fuel consumption and cost, Grand Banks opted to engineer the vessel in coordination with Cummins MerCruiser (CMD) to accommodate the Zeus pod-drive system. Choosing Zeus was a risk for the builder since the 41EU would be the first Grand Banks offered with one. But if the gamble paid off, it would result in the most versatile production boat the company had ever built. The hull had to allow for myriad of operating styles, so the builder did something else it had never done before: It designed the entire boat in-house, collaborating work between its design offices in Malaysia and in Vero Beach, Florida. “[We chose] a modified V-hull to meet those dynamic demands,” said designer Earl Alfaro. He and his team kept the low-draft keel from the 42 but made a few alterations to maximize gains from the Zeus system. The afterbody buttock lines run parallel to the horizontal shaft line, enhancing the vessel’s ability to get onto plane. The team collaborated with CMD to create prop tunnels with hexagonal cross sections converging toward the props to maximize clean water flow over the blades, thus increasing performance. With the hull design complete, the project moved to another location: Hoboken, New Jersey, home of Davidson Laboratories, for model testing. The replicas were about six feet long and ballasted to scale. Various chine configurations and transom deadrises were just a few of the features refined. The team even tested the models with conventional shafting and found the Zeus drives increased efficiency. In the end, Grand Banks opted for a 17-degree transom deadrise and chines that, according to Alfaro, optimized spray deflection in a headsea. She also got a finer entry than any of her sisterships in the Heritage series to minimize resistance.

The next step on the 41’s journey was Southeast Asia where workers assembled a full-scale mock-up of the interior in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia. The ‘glass process was yet another step forward for Grand Banks, since the 41 would be its first boat with a resin-infused hull, superstructure, and flying bridge. The former two were later fitted together with a shoebox-style joint.

Boat Specifications: 41EU Grand Banks Heritage 2008

Boat Type: Trawler

Base Price: upon request

Standard Power: 2/380-hp Cummins QSB5.9 w/ Zeus pod drives

Optional Power: 2/425-hp Cummins QSB5.9 w/ Zeus pod drives

Length Overall (LOA): 41’5″

Beam: 15’3″

Draft: 3’10”

Weight: 37,000 lbs.

Fuel Capacity: 500 gal.

Water Capacity: 200 gal.

Standard Equipment: 5/ AMG 8D batteries in cases; galvanic isolator; LED lighting in engine room; E-Plex LCD touchscreen electrical system controls; 4-burner EuroKera electric cooktop; Raymarine electronics: 4-kW Raydome, 3/E120 displays, and VHF; corian countertops w/ teak fiddles; Sealand electric MSD; dual Racor fuel-water separators on mains, single on genset

Test Engines: 2/425-hp Cummins QSB5.9 diesels w/ Zeus pod drives

Transmissions / Ratio: ZF/ 1.8:1

Props: CMD Z8 and Z9 nibral propset

Steering: DTS electro-hydraulic

Controls: DTS electronic

Optional Equipment On Test Boat: 11.5-kW Onan genset; ‘fridge/freezer and washer/dryer in utility room