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75 Viking Sport Cruisers 2003

Viking Yachts

75 Viking Sport Cruisers 2003 Review

Source: George L. Petrie, Power & Motoryacht Magazine

As luck would have it, our venue for testing the latest addition to the Viking Sport Cruisers line was Atlantic City, New Jersey, with some of the biggest casinos on the East Coast dotting the horizon. As I approached this gaming Mecca, it occurred to me how willing we sometimes are to take chances, to play a hunch. Penny ante or high stakes, for business or pleasure, taking a risk often enhances the moment for many of us.

But there are also occasions when it’s best not to take chances—forego the risk and pick a sure thing. The purchase of a $3 million motoryacht qualifies as such an occasion, so it came as no surprise to learn that the owner of this newest Viking Sport Cruiser was a five-time customer. Having owned four other Vikings (two Convertibles and two Sport Cruisers), he was leaving nothing to chance in moving up to the 75-foot motoryacht.

What is it, I asked myself, that gets a customer to come back five times in a row? Satisfactory experience is obviously part of the answer, but what else? Confidence? Peace of mind? Attention to detail? Or is it something inherent in the product? As I scoured through the yacht, I kept looking for clues.

One thing was certain: It was not the standard interior decor selections that brought this owner back. The striking tiger-stripe saloon carpeting and similar motifs carried throughout the interior had clearly been chosen to suit his distinctive style and preferences. Thus, I concluded, part of what brought this man back to Viking was the builder’s willingness to customize the interior decor rather than constraining him with a fixed palette of colors and textures.

Like many yachts of this style, the 75’s main deck offers an open interior layout that creates a sense of spaciousness, enhanced by large side windows in the saloon and an electrically powered sliding glass door onto the aft deck. But she offers a number of distinctive features as well. For example, you can lower a glass panel aft of the port-side settee, opening the saloon to the aft deck even when the sliding door is shut. With the addition of optional side curtains surrounding the aft deck, the entire space can become a single, climate-controlled, indoor/outdoor area.

Forward of the saloon, a single step up delineates the dining area and galley to port. Normally the galley is open, but for a more formal atmosphere, retractable panels can be raised to close off the galley from the rest of the interior. An especially nice feature is a door directly from the galley to the side deck, so crew can bring aboard stores and stow them without having to traipse through the saloon.

Boat Specifications: 75 Viking Sport Cruisers 2003

Boat Type: Cruiser

Standard Power: 2/1,050-hp MAN 2840-403 diesel inboards

Optional Power: 2/1,300-hp MAN 2842-404, 2/1,500-hp MAN 2842-409, or 2/1,520-hp MTU 12V2000 diesel inboards

Length Overall (LOA): 74’2″

Beam: 19’0″

Draft: 5’3″

Weight: 112,000 lbs.

Fuel Capacity: 1,540 gal.

Water Capacity: 385 gal.

Standard Equipment: 27.5-kW Onan genset w/hushbox, 101,000-Btu CruiseAir reverse-cycle A/C, autopilot, GPS plotter w/64-NM radar, electric bow thruster, 42-inch plasma TV, teak-laid cockpit, decks and swim platform, granite countertops in galley

Test Engines: 2/1,300-hp MAN 2842-404 diesel inboards

Transmissions / Ratio: ZF 2000/2.52:1

Props: 38×49.5 5-blade APS

Steering: Teleflex hydraulic power-assist

Controls: MAN electronic

Optional Equipment On Test Boat: Northstar 962XD GPS plotter w/10″ Furuno Navnet at each helm, Custom interior decor and office, cockpit docking station, high-gloss teak table in cockpit, electric stern thruster, marble flooring and countertops in master head, Bose home theater system in saloon

Conditions: temperature: 80º; humidity: 80%; wind: 5-10 mph; seas: 1′-2′; load: 1,300 gal. fuel, 385 gal. water, 5 persons, 100 lbs. gear, 1,200-lb PWC on swim platform. Speeds are two-way averages measured w/Stalker radar gun. GPH measured with electronic fuel-flow meters. Range: 90% of advertised fuel capacity. Decibels measured on A scale. 65 dB is the level of normal conversation. Trim angles measured with trim tabs fully retracted.