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THE GB85. GRAND BANKS ON A GRAND SCALE!
The GB85 is not simply a bigger Grand Banks. True, at 87 feet, this exquisite, long-distance cruiser is the largest yacht we’ve ever built. But her most impressive statistics are not to be found in her dimensions, but in the best-in-class figures we’re recording for her fuel efficiency and range. That’s where you will indeed find a big difference!
Thanks to the hydrodynamics of our proprietary V-Warp technology, the Grand Banks 85 uses half the fuel of other 85 footers as she requires half the horsepower to achieve the same speeds and performance.
Owners and their guests will travel further, faster and spend more time exploring their destination and less time at the fuel dock.
Needless to say, her interiors and amenities are everything you’d expect from a name that is synonymous with luxury and elegance. Her extended length and 22ft beam allow us to offer a wide range of configurations. Hull number 1 has three massive staterooms and separate crew quarters that can be used for children or additional guests.
Cruise Speed
Cruising range.
ROBOT ARMS, CRAFTSMAN’S HANDS
Size was not our primary concern. You could sum up our approach as, ‘Better is Bigger’ and not the other way round. Quality and efficiency have always been our guiding principles.
The GB85 is essentially a man-made boat although robotics is playing an increasingly important role in our manufacturing process. Our 8-axis robots have enabled us to build the moulds for larger and more complex parts with greater accuracy and, in 2019, we won the award for ‘Innovation in a Production Process’ at the Boat Builder Awards.
But ultimately, the craftsmanship that has traditionally defined our brand rests in human hands and in the passion for perfection that motivates our team.
FROM THE BOTTOM UP
The GB85 is built using our proprietary V-Warp technology. Our unique hull form was designed by our CEO Mark Richards in partnership with his team of naval architects and was informed by data from NASA and the US Navy. This elongated version features our characteristically fine entry that flares amidships to roll the seas away from the yacht. In Mark’s words, “With this hull form, the longer the boat, the better she’ll run!”
The science bears him out. In tow tank testing at the Australian Maritime College in Tasmania, the ’85 delivered extraordinary results. At 21 knots there was virtually no wake! To sum up Mark’s reaction, “Mate, most other vessels of this size would be towing a tidal wave!”
LIGHTER YET STRONGER
The hull employs vacuum-infused E-Glass with carbon fibre in the structural areas, cored with Corecell ® and Airex ® foam, stitched multi-axial fabric and 100% Vinylester resins. Everything else, the longitudinals, the transversals, the bulkheads, the entire deck and superstructure are formed from fully infused carbon fibre. As a result, these structures are lighter but stronger with a higher fibre-to-resin ratio and have enabled us to hit our target weight of 40.6 metric tons.
The practical value of this approach is clearly evident in the displacement figures. The GB85 has a half-load displacement of just over 126,000lbs, a remarkable achievement when you consider that rival boats of this size are routinely weighing in at over 150,000lbs!
INTERESTED IN THE GB85?
EXPLORE OUR WORLD OF LUXURY YACHTS
At Grand Banks Yachts, we proudly stand behind every boat that we’ve built from the moment it hits the water and throughout the vessel’s life. That’s why if you’re looking to purchase a pre-owned Grand Banks Yacht, you’ve come to the right place. No one knows these boats like we do.
Whether you’re looking to cast off the lines and put some bluewater miles under your keel, or you’re just dipping your toe into the world of yacht ownership, there’s no one better to talk to than us. Our dedicated sales and services teams will guide you ever step of the way.
Plus, we’re offering our 12-month Exclusive Extended Structural Warranty Program available on all Grand Banks Yachts built with V-Warp® Technology since 2014 upon completion of a bow-to-stern survey at one of our authorized service centers.
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Every month we make a selection of models that we feel are of particular interest and value. These may be new listings, price reductions or boats that we notice are attracting a great deal of attention on the site.
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September 10th - September 15th.
Cannes Yachting Festival
Cannes - Vieux Port & port Canto, France
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September 12th - September 15th
NEWPORT INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW
Newport Yachting Center Marina – 4 Commercial Wharf, Newport, Rhode Island 02840 , United States. Bannister's South Docks
September 19th - September 22nd
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Norwalk Cove Marina - Norwalk, United States
October 3rd - October 6th
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City Dock, Annapolis, MD, United States
October 30th - November 3rd
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Fort Lauderdale, Florida United States
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Grand Banks 85 review: New hull design brings GB into the 21st century
- Palm Beach Boat Show 2023: Everything you need to know
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Beneath the iconic Grand Banks facade lies a different kind of motor yacht with a new hull and drivetrain designed to give outstanding fuel efficiency…
There hasn’t been much time to relax at Grand Banks since Australian ocean-racing yachtsman Mark Richards, founder of Palm Beach Yachts , came on board as CEO eight years ago, grabbed the company by the shoulders and ushered it into the 21st century.
It wasn’t that there was anything much wrong at the venerable Far Eastern firm, which invented the concept of the trawler yacht more than 60 years ago, and has created one of the most recognisable brand identities in boatbuilding history.
It was more that Mark has skippered the winning boat in the Sydney-Hobart Race so many times that they might as well just let him keep the trophy, and is a man of vast experience, clear ideas and strong opinions.
His main idea for Grand Banks was that it badly needed modernising. The world has moved on. Competition has become both keen and global. Classic looks are one thing, but classic construction and classic naval architecture can no longer cut it.
The new ethos is all about efficient, high-speed, long-range cruising yachts that still look like the old Grand Banks. So the hull of the new Grand Banks 85 is built using a foam-cored, E-glass laminate and vinylester resin, while the deck and superstructure are carbon fibre.
It is a combination that keeps the centre of gravity down and also means that in light condition this substantial motor yacht displaces less than 50 tonnes.
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Shapeshifter
Even more significant than that is the new Grand Banks hull shape, which Mark pioneered at Palm Beach Yachts.
Described as ‘V-Warp’, it combines the hard chines and V-sections of a powerboat planing hull with the rocker and barely immersed transom of a sailboat, with a vestigial skeg along the centreline aft – just deep enough and no more – for directional stability. Deadrise right aft is 5.5 degrees.
There is a fine entry at the bow, and some concave flare in the bottom panels forward to smooth the hull’s passage through the chop. For those who want to cling to tradition there is a shaft-drive option. Our test boat, Grand Banks 85 Hull#1, had twin Volvo 1350 IPS drives. That’s just 1,000hp per side.
Fine forward sections lent the hull a real authority in head seas, slicing through them with relish
Rival yachts with twice the horsepower might have higher top speeds, but for Mark the point is that they are a lot less efficient – at a fast cruise of 20 knots they can be burning 50 per cent more fuel.
The Grand Banks 85 is by far the biggest Grand Banks yet built, but step aboard and you might think not much had changed. There is the familiar satin-varnished teak interior, the hardwood sole, and a practical, conservative main deck layout, with big windows for the light and the views.
There are also the familiar and seamanlike handrails along the deckhead, but headroom is so absurdly generous – it’s 7ft 1in in the saloon – that normal sized people can barely reach them. Mark’s a big bloke, but he’s not that big. “It’s because of the American market,” he explained, with a hint of a smile.
The main saloon is every inch a traditional Grand Banks, including 7ft-plus headroom
The galley is forward, where the lower helm would be if there was one, and consequently has excellent views through the windscreen, as well as deck access via the side door.
This first Grand Banks 85 had the optional flip-up control station by the door to make things easier when coming alongside, and also a useful day head, with shower, leading off the port side companionway.
Another sign that the company clearly has the States in mind for its substantial new flagship is the enclosed hardtop on this first example, which adds weight – even carbon fibre tips the scales – and windage, and makes this otherwise elegant motor yacht look extraordinarily tall.
The skylounge on the upper deck is light and spacious with great views out
It’s an option that some owners will wish to do without, purely on aesthetic grounds, and although there is no lower helm station on the options list, the shipyard will fit one for you if you ask.
Lofty living
However, the skylounge makes a compelling case for itself. It’s an excellent upper seating area, with stupendous views. Being well above the level of the quayside it offers privacy too, while with opening windows it also allows you to enjoy the fresh air.
It leads out onto an open aft terrace with a table and a sofa. Down on the lower deck you have a choice of layouts, and a certain amount of customisation is also possible.
The upper aft deck provides a relaxed and private social area
As seen at the 2022 Cannes Yachting Festival , for example, this first Grand Banks 85 not only had a hidden piano in the owner’s cabin but also a small twin-bunk cabin on the port side for the owners’ grandchildren.
It was pretty small, but then so, presumably, are the grandkids. There is a single-berth option here which will feel more spacious.
This fourth cabin encroached on what in the standard layout would be a huge owner’s suite, with its shower and heads ranged along the aft bulkhead and the option of a walk-in wardrobe.
The midships owner’s cabin features all the usual comforts
The VIP in the bows feels spacious and comfortable. Its bed is mounted at the proper height and there is a pleasantly roomy head. Both here and in the master the beds are a full 6ft 6in long by five feet wide (198cm x 152cm) while headroom throughout the lower deck is an airy 6ft 8in (2.03m).
The starboard twin cabin, also ensuite, is of generous dimensions and eminently suitable for even American adults, with full-length berths some 34 inches (86cm) wide.
One of the most intriguing features of the 85 is its engineroom – or rather enginerooms, for each 1,000hp Volvo D13 has its own separate compartment, shared with a generator.
Separate machinery spaces leave masses of room for storage between them
These sit either side of a central access corridor and stowage area which is reached through the excellent crew quarters, and effectively isolate the principal causes of heat and noise on board.
Less obtrusive systems such as air-conditioning, filtration and watermaking equipment are installed amidships in a separate service space beneath the corridor on the lower deck.
As the first off the line, our Grand Banks 85 had a world of boat shows to attend while also, somehow, giving her Australian owner some return on his investment.
The enclosed upper deck is optional. The standard boat has an open flybridge with a hardtop shade
So she had been shipped from the factory in Malaysia to Palma, Mallorca, earlier in the summer, while the owner and his family spent two and a half months on board cruising in the western Med.
By the time we caught up with her in Cannes in September she had acquired a bit of weed growth, according to Mark – although from what I could gather from the captain she hadn’t spent much time standing still – and had also had an encounter with “a big log”, as Mark put it, which had whacked one of the IPS drives and knocked it, he reckoned, about three degrees off true.
I wouldn’t have known. It was a breezy evening when we edged out through the small-boat traffic into open water beyond the Cannes sea wall, and the wind had been blowing a Force 5 or so from the west and south-west all day.
The owner and his family spent two-and-a-half months living on board, cruising in the western Med
The waves were one to 2m. It was clear from the off that those fine forward sections lent the hull a real authority in head seas, slicing through them with every appearance of relish and providing us with a remarkably soft ride.
Mark asked me to keep the boat dry – he was only half joking, as there were hosepipe restrictions at the boat show after the summer’s drought, and washing salt off became a pressing issue for all exhibitors – and while I might not have been completely successful in doing so it was still impressive how dry our progress was, as we charged dead upwind at 18 to 19 knots.
Either because of her weedy bottom, or the out-of-kilter IPS drive, or both, we knew the boat wasn’t going to reach her advertised top speed. On the day, we clocked a maximum of 23.8 knots, burning 384 litres per hour, while at 2190rpm she was cruising at 20.3 knots and 303 litres per hour.
The open aft cockpit is sheltered by the long flybridge overhang
Mark referred us to the factory’s official sea trial data (reproduced below), which found this boat to have a top speed of just over 25 knots. The yacht was fitted with Humphree fins, which certainly earned their keep with the seas on the beam, virtually cancelling out the roll.
Remembering that following seas were not the traditional Grand Banks hull’s strongest suit, I was also interested to see how the new design would fare downwind, especially with so much top hamper – sitting at the helm of the 85, one’s eyeline is a good 20ft (6m) above the water.
Of course conditions were far from taxing for an 85-footer, but the waves were still of a size that would show up any handling quirks. I was expecting at least to have to helm the boat, but in the event I was hardly needed.
Only once or twice did the hull give any hint that it might start to veer off to one side or the other, and the slightest helm input was enough to bring it back into line. The rest of the time I had one finger on the wheel. She steered herself.
All things considered, it was a pretty flawless performance. The Grand Banks 85 is indeed an efficient, high-speed and long-range cruising yacht. And it still looks like a Grand Banks.
Grand Banks 85 specifications
LOA: 87ft 2in (26.58m) Beam: 22ft 2in (6.75m) Draft: 4ft 11in (1.50m) Displacement (light): 49 tonnes Fuel capacity: 2,200 gal (10,000 lt) Water capacity: 308 gal (1,400 lt) Test engines: Twin 1,000hp Volvo D13 IPS 1350 Top speed: 25.1 knots Fuel consumption: 219 lph @ 18.4 knots / 83 lph @ 12.1 knots Range: 672nm @ 18.4 knots / 1,166nm @ 12.1 knots Design: Grand Banks Price as tested: €9,000,000 ex. VAT
grand-banks-85-review-MBY280.test_GrandBanks_85CY.Grand_Banks_85_01_JB_7872_Credits_Joel_Butler
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