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Grand Banks Aleutian 70 CP

Grand Banks. Only a handful of trademarks in the marine industry
command an equivalent respect. Few would argue that Grand Banks
initiated the concept of the mass-produced pleasure trawler, and most
would agree that the firm has routinely set the benchmark for quality
in that category since the first Grand Banks were built in 1964.
Vendors of lesser-known trawlers routinely field a common question from
potential prospects, "Is your boat as good as a Grand Banks?"

The executives at Grand Banks undoubtedly evaluate every new product
proposal with a keen appreciation that a reputation that took 40-years
to build could be seriously damaged in a relative heartbeat. With the
product's legendary quality and resale value considered cornerstones
of the entire franchise, there is little room for a poorly designed or
executed boat. The latest boat from Grand Banks, the 70-foot Aleutian
CP, not only continues the firm's tradition of building exceptional
boats, but is well prepared to assume its role as flagship of the Grand
Banks fleet.

We were recently aboard an Aleutian 70 at the invitation of Passage
Maker Yachts, the Grand Banks dealer in Seattle.

Tom Fexas designed the 70 Aleutian, and many would categorize the
styling of the 70 (as well as the smaller boats in the Aleutian series)
as a bit more in the mainstream "motoryacht" class and somewhat
less trawler-like than previous Grand Banks designs.
There is almost no trace of the upright superstructures or other
vestiges of the "work boat" heritage of traditional Grand Banks
vessels, and a mast and boom would frankly look rather ridiculous on
the Aleutian 70. While the Aleutian is a departure from some of the
Grand Banks designs of previous years, it unquestionably maintains an
important tradition. The Aleutian 70 is an extremely salty looking
boat, with function as well as form considered in each stout member and
graceful curve from the pulpit to the swim platform. Her stylish
confidence seems to say, "Take me to sea, I'm every inch a Grand
Banks!"

General Specifications:

LOA: (with swim platform), 75' 0"
LWL: 64'4"
Beam: 19' 10"
Draft: 5'6"
Displacement: 117,000 lb.
Fuel capacity: 2,625 US gallons
Potable water: 350 US gallons
Maximum HP: 2 X 1,550
Top Speed: 26 kt

Technical Observations:


The Grand Banks quality is built into the 70-foot hulls long before the
nameplate is affixed. The Aleutian is solid FRP laminate below the boot
stripe, and the hulls are even laid up with a clear gelcoat (in
sections that will ultimately be covered with bottom paint) to enable a
thorough visual inspection of the laminate once the hull is released
from the mold. Any rare imperfections that might eventually result in
an osmotic blister can be corrected and detected. To reduce weight,
increase strength, and create a quieter environment the upper portions
of the hull and the entire house are laminated over a closed-cell core.
Grand Banks still uses teak decks, but incorporates a state of the art
caulk for trouble free maintenance and now epoxies the teak to the deck
structure below and no longer uses any leak-prone mechanical fasteners.

High standards of design and construction are also evident in the use
of three epoxy barrier coats when bottom painting and the meticulously
numbered and color-coded wiring scheme. The sal****er environment where
most Aleutian 70's will operate has prompted Grand Banks to use
Delta-T (tm) demisters to remove all traces of corrosive salt from the
air entering the engine room, and any exterior metal that is not chrome
or stainless is painted with an Awlgrip (tm) finish.

Our walkthrough:

The Aleutian 70 is a raised pilothouse design, with a Portuguese bridge
and a broad, flat, foredeck. The boat deck extends over the side decks
aft of the pilothouse, and there is an open "California deck" aft,
a step or two above the actual cockpit. Grand Banks prioritized blue
water cruising, of course, but with the 70 Aleutian there are several
features that reflect the social reality of the boat. Almost anywhere
one might cruise on an Aleutian 70, the dockside party will naturally
gravitate to the largest and nicest boat on the dock- and more often
than not that could prove to be the flagship of the Grand Banks fleet.
There are complete barbecue and beverage service facilities in both the
cockpit as well as the flybridge areas. Our exploration of the Aleutian
70 began in the cockpit and California deck area, where is was not
difficult to imagine hosting the entire membership of a medium sized
yacht club for drinks and snacks on the Aleutian 70. The expansive
social areas on the impressive teak deck would make an ideal corporate,
as well as personal yacht. We noted the large stainless cleats, hawse,
and warping winches in the aft quarters of the cockpit.

The wide, covered sidedecks allow easy passage forward from the cockpit
on either the port or starboard side. A doorway on the port sidedeck
allows access to the crew quarters just forward of the engine room. A
hawse port is located just aft of the point where the side deck steps
up to the Portuguese bridge, with a cleat just aft of the port. At
first glance one wonders, "OK, but what about a forward spring
line?"- however there's no reason to worry. Grand Banks
thoughtfully concealed another mooring bit under the teak step up from
the main side deck to the foredeck, and the step can be flipped up to
secure the spring line and then flipped back down again to serve as a
step.

The Portuguese bridge has built in stowage locker, and there is logical
stowage for foredeck lines and gear in the lockers built into two
foredeck seats just forward of the
Portuguese bridge coaming. A teak toerail with stainless handrail and
stanchions surrounds the foredeck.

After completely a circuit of the deck areas, we checked out the
interior of the Aleutian 70. We entered through the extremely heavy,
(but well suspended and easily moved) aft bulkhead door. There is an
optional remote control for this door, which is configured with port
and starboard portions sliding inboard and outboard to open and close.

First time visitors aboard an Aleutian 70 should be prepared to be
extremely impressed when stepping into the salon. The virtually perfect
woodwork and precisely chosen tasteful furnishings confirm that the
Aleutian 70 is indeed a Grand Banks. A settee is along the port side,
and color coordinated easy chairs to starboard. The companionway to the
pilothouse is off center to starboard, and one of the more visually
compelling styling elements in the salon is a book or display shelf
fixture that curves athwartship from the port side.

The U-shaped galley is in the aft port quarter of the pilothouse deck,
with an inventory of appliances that would shame many custom homes.
Perhaps a thorough and super critical inspection of the galley would
turn up something less than top-of-the line, but nothing of the sort
was apparent to us during our walkthrough. The dining area is just
forward of the galley, in the port forequarter of the pilothouse. The
galley crew will be able to serve diners as well as the skipper very
conveniently, and the layout creates a natural "social area" for
visiting with the skipper when the vessel is underway. Galley service
to the flybridge is accomplished with a few easy steps to an internal
stairway on the starboard side of the pilothouse.

Serious navigators will be thrilled with the pilothouse on the Aleutian
70. The wheel on centerline, and the ergonomic relationship between the
Stidd (tm) captain's chair and the wheel is excellent. Grand Banks
has included room for two 17-inch video monitors to display radar,
plotter, and sounder images and accommodate the plethora of
computerized imagery now considered indispensable by most navigators.
There is an adequate surface for charting. To improve the view astern
from the lower helm, some of the upper galley lockers will withdraw
into the overhead by remote control; a thoughtful touch.

There are three staterooms on the lower deck, accessed by companionway
steps from the port side of the pilothouse. The VIP stateroom is most
forward, with a queen berth on centerline surrounded by exceptionally
well executed banks of lockers, shelves and drawers. ("V-I-P" must
be short for "very incredibly pampered"). A private head is
accessible from the VIP stateroom.

The "guest" stateroom on the port side of the companionway is
quickly converted to an office. The double berth folds up into a
settee, and a desktop folds down to rest on the teak nightstand and
forms a work surface. The second stateroom uses the day head
immediately across the companionway.

A full-beam master stateroom is located amidships, with a king size
berth on center and the elegance of Grand Banks joinery expressed in so
many drawers, shelves, and lockers that many boaters would run out of
things to stow before running out of stowage in this compartment.
Classy, elegant, and luxurious are adjectives easily applied to the
master stateroom. Of course, there is a private head for the master
stateroom, with top-of-the line fixtures and appointments.

Conclusions:

Grand Banks has expanded the options for yachtsmen who respect the
Grand Banks tradition and admire the company's commitment to quality,
but who may have wanted a larger vessel than previously offered by
Grand Banks. Some yachtsmen may have been less than completely enamored
with traditional trawler styling (and traditionally associated speeds)
normally associated with Grand Banks. The Aleutian 70 proves that a
boat doesn't need to be styled after a west coast bottom trawler or
an east coast lobster boat to be worthy of inclusion in the Grand Banks
family, and even become the flagship of the fleet. Careful shoppers for
a yacht of this caliber will surely want to consider the Aleutian 70 a
viable option.

With the largest available engines, range on the Aleutian 70 might
prove to be just several hundred miles at a "high teens" cruising
speed. Certainly very workable for coastal boating, but slower speeds
and perhaps a different engine selection would have greater appeal to
yachtsmen primarily concerned with long range passage making.

The retail value of the 70 Aleutian we inspected at Passage Maker
Yachts is approximately $3 million. We won't see huge numbers of
these exclusively priced and prestigious hulls on our Pacific NW
waters, but those we encounter will make a lasting and favorable
impression.