One would be challenged to see a GB 36 Classic’s lines in the builder’s latest launch, the Grand Banks 62. This thought was in my head when I was aboard the 62 in June. I gathered lines and pulled fenders as the boat exited Rhode Island’s Newport Harbor and hopscotched through the thousands of vessels on moorings. We passed a GB 36 just off our port side. It also had handsome, faux planked hulls and lots of teak.
Twenty minutes later, at the flybridge helm’s destroyer wheel, I had forgotten any thoughts of comparison to the Grand Banks models of yore. I pushed the throttles, and in seconds, she jumped from 11 knots to just under 26 knots and 2000 rpm. Conditions were calm, so I chased the wakes of commercial boats as they returned from sea. Her hull made mincemeat of them. I made sudden, fast turns and simply could not unnerve the boat. The response was effortless, agile and confident. I firewalled the Twin Disc Quick Shift transmission, and the 62 topped out at 30 knots, with her power plants—twin 1,000-hp Volvo Penta D13s— hitting 2400 rpm, their max output, on the nose.
Not only can the 62 outrun other boats in her class, but she is also a marathoner with a range of 2,531 nautical miles at 9 knots; 1,728 nm at 11.3 knots; 1,851 nm at 8 knots; and 907 nm at 17 knots. Even at 26 knots, with the engines at just under 70 percent load, the boat has a 637-nm range.
The 62 was developed from the 60 for those that wanted roomier accommodations. The boat retains the full beam, amidships master with an athwartships king berth, and there’s a VIP forward with a walkaround queen berth. The boat’s extra length also allows for the third stateroom to have two berths: a single and, two steps down, a double berth with an en suite head. A day head in the companionway shares duties with the VIP.
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Specifications:
LOA: 68ft. 10in.
Beam: 19ft. 2in.
Draft: 4ft. 7in.
Displacement: 72,091 lbs.
Fuel: 1,532 gal.
Water: 317 gal.
Engine: 2x 1,000-hp Volvo Penta D13
Info: grandbanks.com
