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Without doubt, the 53 Hatteras Motor Yacht is
the most successful medium sized motor yacht ever built, with over
600 of them between their various incarnations. The main flavors
are the standard motor yacht, cockpit motor yacht, the extended
deckhouse (ED) version of the early 1980's, and the 53 Convertible
which is the same hull. They were in production from 1971 to 1989,
a full nineteen years.
My view of why this yacht was so popular is a combination
of excellent quality, good design, and a fair price. It certainly
didn't have anything to do with performance because it is a relatively
poor performer. Coming in at a whopping 55,000 lbs. in its original
version, you need 1600 HP or more to move this yacht at the kind
of speeds people like to have today. Instead, you're only going
to get 850 from a pair of 8V71's or 924 from the 6V92's found only
in the 1983-84 models of the motor yacht. In all the years of its
production, the weight never changed much.
The hulls and superstructure are built like a tank
with the bottoms about an inch thick with balsa cored sides and
decks. The coring is rarely a problem unless someone has drilled
the decks full of holes and improperly attached equipment. Quite
often you'll find that the pedestal seats on the sport fish bridge
have let water into the core, and this will be notable from water
dripping out of the aft housetop overhand in the outboard corners.
Or you'll see green mold, water stains or cracks here. Shown nearby
is a photo of one that survived Andrew after taking out a dock and
mangling a concrete sea wall with little damage to the boat.
And, of course, you'll probably find the famous
Hatteras blisters on the bottom, but with laminates this thick,
who really cares? Hatteras probably should have taken out a patent
on the blistering process.
Speed wise, you could only describe these boats
as just plain doggy, if you're a speed freak. If you want to cruise
at 20 knots or better, these boats aren't for you. They're just
too heavy to make them go any faster. People have managed to squeeze
another two knots out of the 53 convertible by adding 3-4"
chine extensions, and a lot of them have them.
All things considered, these are first rate production
motor yachts, although you'll find the electrical systems in the
North American Rockwell boats from the second half of the 1970's
leave a bit to be desired. Other than that, these boats have no
major problems. Nor should they after Hatteras had 19 years to work
out the bugs. That's the advantage of long-term production.
The primary weak point is the 8V71TI engines which
have a poor turbocharger/intercooler system. The two part AirResearch
turbos are held together with acorn clamps that frequently crack
and leak. And the intercoolers are notorious for getting clogged
up with sludge and causing high engine temperatures. Plus the venerable
8V71 was never intended to put out this much power, so its being
run on the edge of her power range. The Allison M20 gearboxes
were another weak point. They had trouble with getting adequate
lube oil to the upper shaft bearings, which was a design defect.
Many of these got a fixit kit installed after the boxes went bang.
Most of these boats through the early 80's had
upsweep, water jacketed risers. Which means that if the riser leaks,
as it eventually will, the water runs into the engine. Many of these
systems were revised, others were not. Best to look for one that
has insulated risers.
Leaking windows in these boats were not much of
a problem except for the Convertible front windshields, many of
which have been removed and filled in. The anodized frames don't
last forever and a lot of them will have holes in them which can
be repaired in most cases by just welding up the pitted holes. This
happens because nobody ever bothers to clean out the salt and debris
from the bottom of the slide tracks.
All models have dual control stations, so you don't
have to look around for this feature. Another good point for folks
in bad weather climates is that visibility from the lower station
is quite good.
With her 15'10" beam this is a big 53 footer
and the layout takes maximum advantage of that space. Most people
love the galley down layout with the dinette opposite which is great
for informal meals. And the galley is big enough, and well
enough equipped with a full sized Moderm Maid range top, oven and
dishwasher for the serious chef, while still having adequate counter
space as well as plenty of storage space. The owner's stateroom
is adequate but the guest stateroom is cramped and many prefer to
use the forward crew or guest stateroom instead, despite the upper
and lower berths. Heads and shower size is more than adequate.
Seaworthiness? I hear a lot of captains complaining
that this isn't a good sea boat. To which I respond, "compared
to what?" A lot of these guys get off multimillion dollar custom
yachts and complain how these boats handle. Apples and oranges.
These are not designed as passage makers, nor do they have the fuel
range. If you want the accommodations that a full bow gives, this
is what you get. In my view, it handles okay, and does especially
good in a short 3' chop where most folks in this size boat have
trouble. The deep entry hull design is one of the reasons she doesn't
go so fast. Being built like a tank means that it doesn't bob like
a cork. She's a slow roller and she'll throw water like a busted
fire hydrant.
The style of the earlier models is definitely pass,
so the prices have come way down and a lot of people who can't afford
a boat this size have purchased them. That means that they can't
afford to maintain them either. Which means that you can find them
at very good prices, but the older ones are essentially restoration
projects. The ED models are still very popular and command good
prices. Also, they changed the hull shape a bit so you'll get a
little better speed out the 1980's models. If you want to know the
specifics, call Hatteras.
Taken altogether, the popularity of this yacht
is well deserved.
53 Convertible was discontinued in 1983
with the introduction of the more efficiently designed hulls of
the 52 and 55 Convertibles. You'd think the convertible, being the
same hull would weigh less than the motor yacht without a superstructure.
But it doesn't; it weighs more at around 61,000 lbs. Part of the
additional weight comes from the usual 12V71TI's and Twin Disc or
Allision M20 gear boxes. Where the rest of it comes from I haven't
the slightest idea.
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This is one of the ways we get to
find out just how well built a boat really is. In the 160
MPH winds of hurricane Andrew, this 53 Convertible took
out several 12" dock pilings and the bottom battered
against the concrete seawall with virtually no structural
damage resulting to the hull. Nor did the windows blow out
or suffer from any major leaks. |
Shown above is a photo of a late model 53 that
survived hurricane Andrew after taking out some 12" pilings
and battering the hell out of a concrete seawall without much damaging
the boat. When it comes to talking hull strength, I often draw my
conclusions on situations like this, not just tapping around a bit
with a hammer.
The standard 650 HP engines are just barely adequate
for this boat, and generally give good service. But a lot of folks
have souped them up, sometimes correctly, often not, so you find
engines going "bang" a little more frequently than they
should. At least you don't have to tear the boat apart to get at
them as there are plenty of hatches above so they can be lifted
right up.
Undoubtedly the most popular large sport fish ever
built, its still a neat boat in my view. With much of the weight
further aft, her performance is quite a bit better than the motor
yacht, and I love to watch one these thing plowing through the tide
rip heading out Port Everglades with a halo of rainbows glittering
in the sun. She does throw a bit of water. On the later models they
added propeller pockets which lowered the shaft angle and supposedly
gave a little better speed.
For a long time I thought they were terribly squatty
until one day I realized that that is partly an illusion presented
by the unusually low cockpit, magnified by a very high freeboard
forward. My view is that these are all-around neat boats, just that
they don't perform by today's standard. The strong suit of the layout
is a huge cockpit, salon and bridge, with the forward accommodations
being sacrificed for these spaces, as is appropriate for a real
sport fisherman. Not quite as macho as a Bertram of the same genre,
this is still a muscle boat with interiors that are hardly plush.
The main flavors were galley up and galley down,
with more of the former in later years, and more of the later in
early years. All had transom doors that never worked so good. Plus
the optional tackle centers had too much wood in them. Later models
come with a built in bow pulpit, and all have transom doors. Earlier
models have a bridge layout that's not nearly as nice as the 1980's
models. Nor are they known as leakers, despite the forward windshields
which needed infrequent rebedding. The window frames do support
the bridge, and boats that have been abused will often have cracked
window glass. Otherwise, its not much of a problem.
Aside from forward windshields, there are few faults
to be found with these boats. The age old problem of broken forward
cabin soles appears in many, particularly when there is a built
in washer/dryer combo up forward, but this is no big deal. A little
more serious, and frequently overlooked, is the fact that the engine
room vents pull a lot of salt spray in that can really wreck equipment
and engines. If you buy one, you need to install filters on the
vents.
The hull/deck joint back aft is a bit weak and
you'll often find a lot stress cracks in this area. At least it
doesn't have those horrible aluminum rub rails like Bertram used.
Rather have cracks than that unsightly stuff. Even in the early
years the cockpits were full Fiberglas liners, and although the
hatches were kind of crummy, at least it isn't wood like a Bertram.
The bait wells aren't too swift either, being narrow and deep. With
fuel tanks on center line, there isn't much storage under this large
deck which is very low to the water, which definitely is nice. Nor
does that fact have the tendency to sink these boats.
For some strange reason, Hatteras never did a very
good engine room layout in these boats, and this never changed throughout
all the years of production. The engine room is big enough, but
also feels cramped with accessibility not as good as you'd expect
in a boat this size. Perhaps that's why E.R. maintenance in these
boats tends to be substandard compared to others. Things are hard
to get to, and a bit disorganized to boot. At least the generator
isn't under the cockpit deck. Its shoved back against the aft bulkhead
where you can only reach one side of it. And whereas the wiring
in the 53 Motor Yacht is nice and neat, for some strange reason
in the convertible it is messy.
During the early 1990's quite a few people poured
a lot of money into some of these boats. That wasn't a particularly
good investment. While a lot of them thought they'd get their money
out, they didn't. That means that there were (or are) a lot of good
deals to be had on 53's that are all dolled up, including some weird
paint jobs like blue or yellow hulls.
If you want a big, serious sport fisherman, but
find a new one way out of reach, the 53 Convertible is still worthy
of consideration.
| These are
"reviews", not surveys, and bear no resemblance to our survey
reports. We do not publish
the results of the surveys that we perform. Please note that the purpose
of these reviews is educational, to help you discern the differences in
quality among boats generally. They are not offered as a means to help
you evaluate any particular boat builder. We have no other reviews than
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