For years, Rob Langdon wanted to build a recreational trawler for his family. As the owner of MMS Ship Repair & Dry Dock in the United Kingdom, he envisioned a vessel inspired by the many commercial ships the yard had built, repaired and converted for nearly four decades.
Langdon and the crew drew up plans for Hull No. 1 of the MMS 55 series and began construction. Kind of. “This is something I have been planning for a good few years,” he says, adding that the boat was built during spare time at the yard.
Sea Ranger splashed last year. She’s based in a marina in Scotland, where her traditional, trawler-style lines and striking blue hull stand out. She has a high freeboard with a flared bow that rises from her steel hull. The tall, bold wheelhouse amidships echoes the lines and shape of wheelhouses of a workaday ship.
“I grew up in awe of the capabilities of North Sea trawlers, and the bravery of the individuals who called these vessels their homes during weeks away at sea in the harsh conditions of the northern hemisphere,” Langdon says.
Sea Ranger has a CE Category A Ocean rating, but is built for coastal cruising around Scotland, Ireland and Iceland several days at a time. Langdon says her range of 1,500 nautical miles at 8 knots is her “sweet spot.”
Boarding is by way of a solid swim platform that leads to the cockpit via a gate to port. The cockpit has a starboard hatch to the engine room. A ladder goes to the flybridge, where there’s an upper helm available (as well as a barbecue and lounge area) should Scotland’s cold, wet climate on the west coast ever allow for using it.
The feeling of safety is paramount, thanks to handrails atop the bulwarks and running around the entire deck. Wide side decks with high bulwarks allow access to all parts of the vessel in adverse conditions. Her tender and davit are housed on the foredeck.
Inside, the salon has large windows that afford breathtaking views. To port is an L-shape seating area with a custom table. Belowdecks are the galley and dining area; forward is a staircase to the wheelhouse. Her accommodations plan includes a master stateroom and two guest staterooms with twin berths. The heated soles throughout the vessel are a welcome surprise.
Her commodious engine room, which can also be accessed abaft the galley, has wide companionways on both sides of the twin 180-hp John Deere powerplants (owners can opt for 250-hp John Deere engines as well). All other equipment, including a pair of Fischer Panda generators, can easily be accessed for day-to-day maintenance.
The main-deck pilothouse on Sea Ranger is a real treat. The captain’s chair is front and center, and the three forward-raked windows ensure excellent visibility around the forward arc of the boat. Two multifunction displays provide radar and navigation data. Abaft the helm station to port is a raised seating area; to starboard, a stairway leads up to the flybridge.
Leaving the marina, the bow and stern thrusters made light work of moving her from the dock and into the sea. Underway, she felt solid and sturdy. Although the sea state was slight to moderate, we found some white horses, which the steel hull took on with minimal fuss. During my years volunteering in the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, I saw some pretty gnarly sea states, and I would, without doubt, be happy to crew aboard Sea Ranger in more or less any weather conditions. The 5- to 6-foot swells we encountered had hardly any effect on her, and the Deeres pushed her through the water at a maximum speed of 12 knots. Her automatic fin stabilizers kept her on an even keel; they are installed above the keel, a placement that’s important in extreme tidal areas.
If you are looking for a boat that can cruise along the coastline all throughout the year in most weather conditions, then the MMS 55 fits the bill. This North Sea trawler-style boat is a credit to the MMS team.
MMS 55 SEA RANGER
LOA: 60ft. 6in
Beam: 17ft. 7in.
Draft: 5ft. 9in.
Construction: steel and aluminum
Displacement: 120,000 lbs.
Fuel: 1,400 gal.
Water: 120 gal.
Engines: 2x 180-hp John Deere 4045AFM85
Info: mms-shiprepair.co.uk/trawler-yacht
This article was originally published in the April 2023 issue.
