Grand Banks 53 Aleutian -- QuickSpin

Experienced Australian boaters hold Grand Banks with the highest regard. After all, these are hand-built cruisers with the runs on the board. GBs, as they are affectionately known, have traversed waterways from Tasmania to Alaska and many places in between. Now superseded by a 55, the 53 Aleutian Raised Pilothouse (RP) we recently drove remains a brilliant owner-driver passage-maker and good buy in years to come.

Yet the eminently liveable and luxurious sea-going 53 stirred our sense of wanderlust. Here’s a pilothouse that answers the question about which boat to buy and take north to escape the winter. It’s a perfect owner/driver passage-maker and a true home-away-from-home.

The latest Grand Banks to catch our eye and stir the senses was the 53 Aleutian, the baby in the yard’s raised pilothouse range introduced in 2001 to increase the comfort factor while cruising. Yet none of the traditional yacht-like ambience synonymous with this Singapore-based yard has been lost in the evolutionary process.

The 53 Aleutian has time-honoured lines, with a relatively blunt stem, lots of flare in the bow, and moulded clinker sides to celebrate its heritage. The pilothouse and saloon have upright trawler-like lines, but they aren’t top heavy on the eye.

With a full-length keel, hard chines, the weight of the engineering items down low, and props in pockets, the boat is at once stable and efficient through a broad range of speeds.

During our sea trial off the Gold Coast, the ocean was barely heaving, the glassy surface wasn’t so much as kissed by a zephyr, while dolphins danced nonchalantly nearby, schools of tuna erupted off our bow, and we breathed in the salt air wishing, wishing wistfully.

Sporting a pair of upgraded Cummins common-rail 715hp QSM-11 diesel engines (600hp models are base), the Aleutian 53 cruised fast and slow, always smoothly, in a dignified manner befitting a passage-maker aboard which you will spend serious time.

Bow and stern thrusters facilitate easy docking and decamping, but the relatively heavy 33 tonne (half-load) boat doesn’t bobble or skate about.

Deferring to the official supplied sea-trial data, you will derive a safe cruising range of 814 nautical miles (nm) at the boat’s hull speed of about 9.20 knots at 1200rpm. In displacement mode, the high freeboard in the bow keeps you dry and the spray doesn’t jump too high.

Apply the power and the 53-footer scoots to planning speed imperceptibly, sitting on 18.20 knots at 2200rpm for a range of 344nm. That’s almost Sydney to the Gold Coast. Top speed is 23.50 knots in case you need to outrun a storm and/or take command zooming through a bar.

The lower helm is flanked by a dinette that doubles as crew seating and a wonderfully generous galley on the same level. Cook and eat on the run and do breakfast reeling in the sea miles before the wind wakes. Then, when you arrive, there’s a saloon with sumptuous lounges and television. Oh, and your cabin…

Guests have a choice of a VIP island double in the bow or twin bunks in the third cabin that share a communal bathroom with full-sized shower. That said, the 53 Aleutian knows who’s paying the bills. The full-beam stateroom with transverse double bed amidships, where motion is tempered, and the en suite at its foot are the stuff of true liveaboard boats.