Trawlers Characteristics: Trawlers are generally defined as motor yachts that boast fuel efficiency, rugged lines, sea worthy hull designs for long-distance cruising, and interior layouts that are beneficial for liveaboard yacht owners.
Trawler Construction & Hull Design: Beginning in the 1970's, most trawlers are fiberglass-construction. However, many large trawlers, and expedition yachts over 75', are built with steel and aluminum hulls and superstructures. Classic trawlers and motor yachts were typically built out of wood. With a caring owner, many of these trawlers are still in use today.
Trawlers with full-displacement hulls are for yachtsmen that place a high value on distance, comfort, and safety over speed. Trawlers typically have deeper drafts (with a skeg or keel deeper than the propellers so that the running gear and propellers aren't damaged if the hull touches the bottom).
Trawlers are usually designed with a round chine, or hull configuration with a curve near the waterline instead of a hard chine typically found on semi-displacement motor yachts. This hull design has been proven over many centuries to be the most efficient at lower speeds. Of course, this hull design also allows a higher volume of interior space, which benefits long-range cruising as well. Many trawlers and expedition yachts utilize stabilizers to minimize rolling at sea.
Bulbous bows can also be found on larger displacement trawlers. Large commercial vessels use this protruding underwater stem to break the water in front of the vessel and thus reduce the friction of movement, which results in a more efficient hull design. Yachts may use them for the same effect as well as for possible attributes in reducing pitch, or fore and aft motion. The most popular Trawlers built with bulbous bow options are Selene Trawlers, and Nordhavn Yachts (both full-displacement trawler builders as well).
Trawler Power Options: Trawlers are usually powered with single engines to achieve better efficiency for longer-distance cruising. However, many trawlers are fitted with a second engine, or a get-home generator that will assist owners if the single engine were to fail.
Ocean-Cruising on a Trawler: Many trawler owners are enticed to the idea of owning a large trawler or expedition yacht so they have the ability to cross oceans and explore the far reaches of the globe. Trawler owners that desire to explore extreme parts of the world, like Antartcia, and the North Atlantic, will want a long-range yacht with special reinforcements, especially around the bow waterline area. Ice breaking hulls will offer another layer of protection for boats traveling in oceans with icebergs, and other frozen debris which of course can be harmful to even the world's largest megayachts and cruise ships.
121' Van der Valk 2026 |
110' Cheoy Lee 1990 | ARIES
70' Marlow 2003 | THE GARLIC
64' Grand Banks 2002 | RUFF LIFE
62' Beneteau 2022 | Opilio
58' Marlow 2016 | Living With E's
53' Cranchi 2017 |
53' DeFever 1988 | Betelgeuse
52' DeFever 2014 | HOMES