Fall 2002, After 1,500 Launches She Has Changed, Yet Is Unchanged

by Robert M. Lane
Photography by the author

The first 42-foot Grand Banks was launched on the Hong Kong waterfront in 1956. It was built of teak, yakal and mahogany carefully and artistically cut and shaped by craftsmen working mostly with hand tools.

Thirty-seven years later, in 2002, Grand Banks Yachts, Ltd. launched the 1,500th 42 Grand Banks from a shipyard in Malaysia. It is a fiberglass and teak Classic model carefully and artistically built by craftsmen and women working with both modern and traditional tools.

On thousand five hundred yachts over 37 years may not seem lot in a society that can build millions of cars and trucks in a year.

In the boating world, however, it's a rousing success story. The 42 Grand Banks is the most popular and successful cruising yacht ever built.

Look at it this way: On the average, Grand Banks has built 3.38 of the 42-foot boats a month since 1965. Today, at any moment, there are up to 10 of the 42-footers under construction in its Malaysia yard.

Doing the numbers this way, it's one boat every nine days. And now you know why you see at least one whenever you go cruising.

Other manufacturers may have built more copies of a single model, but they are cookie-cutter boats, mass-produced peas in a pod. No other builder of larger, semi-custom, top-of-the-mark yachts can approach the Grand Banks record.

GB was one of the first to offer trawler-type yachts, but many others built copycat boats - usually of lesser quality. Because of its insistence on first-class materials and workmanship, GB has survived in the feast-or-famine boatbuilding industry for more than four decades while others have vanished and no one remembers their names.

Through four decades, the 42 has been the company's best-selling boat because it offers comfortable cruising for a couple that occasionally cruises with friends or children and because it is easy to operate and its size isn't overwhelming.

This sounds contradictory, but the amazing thing about the 42-foot Grand Banks is how much it has changed, while not changing very much at all.

If we tied Hull No. 1 on side of a mooring float and Hull No. 1500 on the other side and backed off 100 feet, it would be hard to tell the yachts apart. People from Grand Banks and, perhaps, some really sharp owners would know the difference. Everyone would only guess.

The classic Grand Banks styling, cherished and virtually unchanged over four decades, has become as much a symbol of enduring quality in our times as the Mercedes star and the cat on the hood of the Jaguar.

Step aboard, however, and change is obvious. The changes have been evolutionary and incremental, providing improved boating, comfort and reliability over time but without straying from the original, customer-winning styling.

Many of the changes flow from owner recommendations and suggestions. "Can we have this?" they ask. Or, "Can you do this?" Grand Banks usually says yes.

"We will do whatever our customers want, so long as the structural integrity of the boat is not in question," says Scott Kinney, the East Coast sales manager for Grand Banks.

A side-by-side comparison is impossible, because no one knows where to find Hull No. 1 of the 42 line. We can only hope she's receiving quality care and that her paint is glossy white and her teak sparkles in the sun. It would be good to know that her diesels still rumble heartily and that she's used wisely and often for fun and adventure.

But Kinney knows how to find Hull No. 1500, and he invited us aboard.

Tropical Splendor

Myton Ireland's Grand Banks dealership is on a creek at the south tip of Sanibel Island in southwest Florida. Sanibel is one of several low-lying barrier islands that create Pine Island Sound in the Gulf of Mexico near Fort Meyers. The setting is as romantic as one could imagine.


Palm trees circle the property. Tropical shrubs and vines bloom in carefully tended gardens. The parking area is sand and crushed shells, raked smooth every morning. An open-air seafood restaurant on the edge of the property has a view of the water and boats in the marina. Multimillion-dollar homes line the creek's shore, and Ireland's person yacht, a 72-foot Burger, lies across the water from his business.

Dock pilings are white-washed, and alongside the dock are a couple of GB yachts, including Hull No. 1500 of the 42-foot series. All that's missing is a sarong-clad Hedy Lamar with a hibiscus blossom in her hair.

Cloudy skies and a light breeze eased the burn on the hot and humid morning I arrived. But before we step aboard into the yacht's air-conditioned comfort, it's disclosure time.

Newspaper reporters are required to be objective and often are forbidden any direct connection with the things they write about. As a reporter, I lived and worked under those rules for decades.

So I need to disclose that my wife, Polly, and I have owned Grand Banks yachts since 1981. We started with a wood, single-engine 36 GB Classic built in Hong Kong in 1968 and later moved up to a 1979 model twin engine, fiberglass 42-foot Europa built in Singapore. Right away some may say my objectivity is suspect when it comes to this line of boats, and I do know that as a newspaper reporter I wouldn't be writing this article. But let's instead take the view that experience will help me tell a richer, more complete story.

Now we can go aboard.

Factory Fresh

The boat had been washed, and drops of water glistened on its glossy gel coat. No. 1500, not yet named, was so new that the hot Florida sun had not weathered the teak decks, and they still retained a fresh-from-the-yard golden glow.

Boarding a Grand Banks has been the same through all time - via gates in the handrail on either side. The latching hardware looked just like mine at home.

While many buyers of new 42 GBs specify stainless steel handrails, Ireland and Kinney ordered teak because they like its traditional look and because it helps sell the boat and adds to after-market value. "That teak looks handsome, and it fits the GB," Kinney says.

Narrow stainless steel strips recessed in the outer faces of the teak hand and caprails in the forward third of the boat are proof that it was built for the East Coast market. The stainless, not the teak, takes the beating when a yacht backs into a moorage between pilings, Mediterranean style. In the Pacific Northwest, where big tides preclude that kind of mooring, we need lots of fenders for tying alongside floats, but rails seldom are in danger of damaging bumps and only rarely do you see a boat with stainless rub strips.

In one way, No. 1500 is a boat in transition. Since Hull No. 1, Grand Banks has laid teak on exterior decks, using screws to hold it down. Traditionally, the screws are recessed and teak plugs (or bungs) cover them. That's the way the main deck of No. 1500 was laid.

Up on the flybridge, however, a new look is evident. No screws and no plugs. "It's bungless," crows Kinney.

Teak strips are laid in an adhesive/sealant, so there's no need to bind that hardware to hold it in place for a lifetime. Only rarely does water get in by the tightly fitted plugs and screws, but damage can occur when it does, particularly on the old wood boats. Eliminating the screws removes that minor risk and provides a cleaner look.

A new 46-foot Grand Banks Europa moored on the opposite side of the Ireland dock has bungless decks throughout. It also features another new GB option: a teak-and-holly sole instead of teak parquet that has served well for 37 years.

(Grand Banks is not absolutely rigid on the use of teak. I recently toured a new 42 Europa for which the owner requested, and got, non-skid fiberglass decking forward on the side decks and on the cockpit. The teak is protected by the overhanging upper deck. I looked unusual, but it made sense to use fiberglass in an area constantly exposed to weather.)

As the owner of an older GB, three other features (none very new, by the way) pleased my eye:

Shorepower electrical connections fore and aft.
Venerable yachts often have a single shorepower AC receptacle somewhere near amidships, and often a 50-foot cord isn't long enough to reach the dock receptacle. That's why we carry two.


A steel-reinforced, molded fiberglass anchor windlass platform in the bow.
Apparently, some early boats were delivered without windlass platforms. Commissioning yards built some of the welded steel that look like truncated Eiffel towers; the one on our '79 model is made of laminated 2-by-10 Douglas fir planks about 24 inches long and bolted through the deck. Naturally it was the plank on the bottom that went soft first. Today's version is stronger and better looking and has space for TV, shorepower and phone connections and a tap for washing the anchor chain.

Finally, the deckhouse doors are fiberglass (with wood trim on the inside.) For many years the doors were all wood, with a thin veneer surface on the outside that required constant attention to keep healthy. Now it's wash and wax.
It's easy to imagine the owner comments that prompted those three good features.

One little thing hasn't changed: While crawling through the space ahead of the flybridge helm, I spotted the plumbing and fittings for the windshield washers and concluded they're identical to the washers on my vintage GB. I still think a spray head that wets the full window would be better than the pipe that squirts onto the center of the glass. Other builders offer spray heads, so how about it, Grand Banks?

The really major changes in the boat are all but invisible. In 1992 the company lengthened the 42 by 6 inches and added 6 inches to its beam. The stem was given an additional four degrees of rake. Not even experts can tell the difference from the outside.

An Inside Look

From the inside, however, it feels as if the boat has been widened by at least a foot. There seems to be a huge amount of new space-for cooking in the L-shaped galley, for the adjustable helm seat, two settees and and a dining table, and for, well, standing around.

The head serving the forward stateroom dramatically shows the advantage of a wider boat. The shower is large enough for two- a great place to scrub off dirty kids.

The long familiar beige upholstery has been disappearing from Grand Banks yachts. The latest model has settees finished with indigo blue Ultrasuede; forest green fabric also is available. You can send fabric of your choice to the factory, and GB custom upholsterers will cut and stitch.

But the beige is not all gone. There are traces in the master stateroom in the upholstery fabric on a vanity stool, and in the headboard for the walkaround queen bed.

GB has begun using louvered doors on cabinets, a style dating way back to wood-boat construction when ventilation was important. They offer a nice, "yachty" touch on fiberglass yachts.

Before leaving for Florida, my wife ordered me to ask when GB would provide space for a washer-dryer on the 42s, threatening that we won't see southeast Alaska again until our Europa is so equipped. I didn't have to ask. It was right there in the master stateroom, behind louvered teak cabinet doors. The machine slides back under the side decks and, despite its size, does not protrude into stateroom space.

On No. 1500 the dealer specified installation of a stand-alone dryer. (The 12.5kW Westerbeke generator in the engine room produces 50-amp, 240-volt power for the dryer and three air-conditioning units.) The space, however, is large enough for a washer-dryer combo, or a washer alone.

Despite giving up space for a washer-dryer, the master stateroom still has a generous hanging space, an abundance of drawers and the GB split head, with toilet and basin on one side and the shower opposite.


One of the best incremental changes on the 42 has been in the master stateroom. Originally, a stairway near the centerline of the stateroom led to a door opening into the cockpit. This left the builder no choice but to put berths on either side of the cabin. Many owners of the older GBs tossed the ladder and installed a large, walkaround bed.

Grand Banks took heed, and the ladder has been gone for some time. On No. 1500 an emergency exit, in the unlikely event it becomes necessary, is made by stepping onto the bed and then onto an adjoining bureau and through the doorway to the cockpit. Elimination of the ladder and widening the hull created a large stateroom unmatched for comfort and convenience

I have been aboard yachts whose dominating saloon feature is a wide-screen TV. So, it was surprising and pleasing to find that this GB did not have a cabinet devoted to storing a television. (It does have an AM/FM/CD player.)

Many customers aren't interested in TV, Kinney says. But ask, and Grand Banks will build an entertainment center.

Ireland likes flag lockers. There's one on No. 1500, on the 46 Europa next door and in his office ashore. While the locker is colorful and nautical, it's not terribly useful. I would probably want bookshelves in the space and, if I were to order a new 42, I'm sure Grand Banks would build it that way.

When our boat was built someone was on a budget, apparently. Instead of a holding plate refrigeration and the massive signature GB teak refrigeration door, our 42 was delivered with a Norcold refrigerator. There's nothing wrong with the Norcold (ours lasted 20 years), but it was designed for an RV and doesn't look right on a Grand Banks.

Most buyers think so today, Kinney says, and continue to specify the big "meat locker door" for their refrigerator space. No.1500 has Grunert refrigeration and the handsome heavy teak door.

Equally handsome is the crown molding Grand Banks has begun using to more formally finish the interior of its yachts. The curved teak molding, about 4 inches wide, is fitted at the junction of the teak-paneled sidewalls and the fabric covered ceiling.

Many builders have abandoned teak for interior finish because the cost is high and the quality is poor. Grand Banks continues to hand sort and select teak for veneers and solid trim. Its quality remains exceptional. But look for the company to begin offering other woods for interior finish.

Another treat was the electronics locker suspended from the overhead above the helm. There's no such thing on a '79 GB. Even better, open the locker and check out the conduit through which the radar cable will be pulled. A yellow pull cord is in place, too. On the '79, installing a radar cable requires dropping the teak valance and headliner, which is the first step toward premature replacement of the headliner. Newer is better.

Newer is more convenient Windshield wiper switches are easier to reach and are in sight, as are engine start-stop controls. Circuit breaker switches in the panels to the right of the helm show a red light when they are on; at night the identifying labels are backlit. The AC/DC panels on No. 1500 are among the finest I have seen.

Big Iron

Kinney and Murney Lewis, a broker for Ireland's dealership, decided we should take No. 1500 to lunch. Our destination was Useppa Island, at the north end of Pine Island Sound. About a 15-mile run up the Intracoastal Waterway, it would provide a good test of the 42.

Lewis, a lifelong Florida resident and boater, steered No. 1500 out of the tiny harbor, neatly skirting the sand shoal that is building on one side of the entry. He headed for the bridge that links Sanibel to the mainland, forcing Kinney to shinny up the mast to be sure we had clearance. It was OK.

Once inside the markers that form the waterway, Lewis shoved the throttles ahead, and the pair of 420-horsepower Caterpillar 3126B diesels quickly kicked the yacht to 15 knots (as recorded on a handheld Magellan 310 GPS). If the trim tabs had been working, and they were not, the 42 would have cruised at 16 knots, Kinney told me.

All that speed was a bit heady for someone accustomed to the 8 or 9 knots provided by 120-horsepower Ford Lehman engines - the diesel, by the way, that made the trawler revolution possible. Kinney says buyers today want bigger engines and faster boats, particularly on the East Coast. Grand Banks competes.

Eastern dealers ordering Grand Banks for resale normally install the biggest engines available, while European and West Coast dealers tend to order lower horsepower engines, Kinney explains. Other engines found in today's Grand Banks include John Deere and Cummins diesels. That the 420 Cats burn about 22 gallons an hour at cruising speed seems to be of little concern.

A lot of Grand Banks were built earlier with the well-known Caterpillar 3208, a V8 engine that also provided good speed. They ran smoothly, but they filled up an engine room. The 3208 is no longer produced.

The 3126B engine is an inline six, and even with two in the engine room there is plenty of space for maintenance work and repair. A new stainless steel ladder provides improved engine room access through a hatch in the saloon.

The 42 can be built with one engine, and Grand Banks recently launched equipped with a single 3126B. "But most buyers seem to prefer twins," Kinney says. "We have customers who put bow thrusters in with twins."

I measured the noise level at cruise speed: 78dB in the saloon and 82 aft in the master stateroom. Conversation still was easy at the helm, but I had to brag that on my 42 (with smaller, slower-turning and probably quieter diesels) the same noise meter records only 73dB at the helm.

A few minutes into our test run north on Pine Island Sound we were stopped cold by a thunderstorm that swooped down the bay. Sheet lightning filled the sky, and thunder hammered overhead. Torrential rain pounded onto us and into the sea.

Our only navy aids were a liquid compass, the handheld VHF radio Murney carried and my portable GPS. We couldn't see channel markers in the murk, so Murney stopped the boat within sight of the nearest marker and confirmed our position on a chart with the GPS, and we waited. For good reason: If we had drifted a few yards out of the ICW channel, we would have run aground. Not a good thing to do with any boat, and especially not with a new GB.

The storm passed, we returned to cruising speed and aimed for the Collier Hotel on Useppa Island. Murney pulled back to reduce our wake as we overtook slower boats, including a couple of sailboats barely making headway.

Keeping Tab

Kenneth Smith designed the Grand Banks 42 (and other models) for American Marine (the company now calls itself Grand Banks Yachts, Ltd.) more than 35 years ago. Styling has not changed since day one.

Grand Banks switched from wood to fiberglass in 1973. The first glass 42 hull was no. 353. (Our 1979 model is Hull No. 612.) GB hulls are solid, hand laid fiberglass. No coring is used. Plywood is laminated in sections of the deckhouse to provide increased strength. Factory emphasis on quality means, too, that osmosis blistering is a rare thing on Grand Banks yachts.

By May 1987, the company had built 1,000 of the 42s. Its assembly line, maintaining the pace of a 42-foot boat about every nine days, launcedlaunched00 just 15 years later.

Seventy percent of the 42s have been Classic models, with staterooms fore and aft. About 19 percent are Europas, a model that has been around since70s but is a late bloomer, gaining popularity in recent years. Ten percent have motor yachts. Less than 1 percent are sedan models.

Grand Banks threw a small party in Malaysia to celebrate the launching of Hull No. 1500. After appropriate speeches and lunch, the finale was a cruise down the Johor Straits with the crew who built the boat. Bob Livingston, chief executive of Grand Banks, Ltd., told the celebrants: "This achievement is a testament to the solid performance, durability and enduring craftsmanship of the Grand Banks 42 design."

Considering changes at Grand Banks, it's fair to inquire about the future of the Grand Banks 42 design.

The 32-foot GB has been discontinued. The 36-footer (the second most popular GB, with 1,136 launches as of this writing) is built only occasionally while, Grand Banks has introduced the enormously popular and growing Eastbay express cruisers and the new 64-foot Aleutian clas piclassouse yacht.

Today, yard production is divided nearly equally between Grand Banks and Eastbay yachts. The company will build about three of the Aleutian class yachts a year.

So, with production capacity limited and demand for her models increasing, will the 42 survive?

Absolutely, the company says.

"Not only does the Grand Banks 42 reflect our rich heritage, it continues to be an integral part of our future," say Ed Roberts, vice president of sales. "We have established an enduring brand and product line that has proven itself for generations past and present. Based upon continued customer demand, we look forward to building many more of these highly successful models."

I asked Kinney the same question as we cruised in Pine Island Sound.

"No," he says, the 42 is not threatened. "This boat really fills a niche for the cruising couple. No other boat does that with such comfort and quality of construction. Where a lot of companies cut corners, we haven't changed the quality of the product. If anything, we've gone the other way and improved quality."

What about styling? Is it locked in?

"Why change a good thing?" Kenney Kinneyds.

Lunch in the century-old Collier Hotel was worth the trip. We talked about boats, of course, with Murney spinning tales that certainly identified him as a well-known veteran in Florida.

Later, as we zoomed toward home at 15 knots, I continued to think about Hull No. 1 in the 42 line. The thought of seeing that artifact of the boating industry was intriguing.

Someone, somewhere, must know the whereabouts of Hull No. 1. Give us a call. We'd like to see it.

Reprinted PassageMaker Fall 2002