Above left: Side decks are wide for comfortable walking and
well protected by stainless handrails and cover overhead.
Above right: The molded stairs leading to the flybridge from
the covered aft deck are easy to navigate. Right: A massive
transom door latch, one of two large deck drains, and a
sculptural drop-in chock for easier line handling are notable
details on the aft deck.
comfortable ride in that way of thinking, so the challenge
was to learn how to make the new resin-infused,
cored technology acceptable to GB staff, dealers,
and customers.
“This boat is fully cored, using different thicknesses
from different manufacturers to achieve optimal
strength and thermal and sound dampening,” Alfaro
said. “Instead of using conventional construction
methods, we’ve utilized fiberglass liners to create the
deck and sub-surfaces. The saloon sole is a molded
surface flipped over, so that the gelcoat surface is the
utility room overhead. The regular [non-gelcoat] glass
surface is the base for the teak-and-holly floor in the
saloon. When you enter the engine room, the stringer
grid, the overhead, and the bulkheads are finished
gelcoat structures. Beneath the clean white finish,
there’s more sound insulation and dampening materials
to isolate noise in the engine room, producing a quiet
ride throughout the boat.” Finishing the engine room
in Awlgrip would have taken 1,000 hours.
The stringer inner liner was easily examined in the
engine room. I asked how it had been precisely located
to ensure exact engine and drive positioning and was
told there is a cradle that bolts onto the hull mold
frame to locate the stringer mold in exactly the right
Grand Banks 41
spot every time for bonding to the inner
hull. This was part of the reengineering
process for the 41 Heritage EU, taking
advantage of Western efficiencies in
manufacturing and delivering a finished
quality part that exceeds customer and
builder expectations.
Courtesy of Grand Banks
Alfaro and Perry said the team
members spent lots of time on engine
room layout. In fact, they produced the
whole boat in a full-size wood prototype,
including stringers, machinery layouts,
and service points, and then invited
customers and dealers to tour and critique
it. The engine room and the staircase
leading down to it got lots of notice—and
input—from existing GB owners, resulting
in a more user-friendly design.
John Wooldridge
TECHNICAL DETAILS
You can board the Grand Banks 41 Heritage EU via
the 15-slat teak swim platform or the stainless steel gates
port and starboard. A massive transom door opens to
reveal molded steps for easy passage and locks securely
from the inside. The aft deck is completely covered by
the boat deck overhead, with the option for fabric and
EZ2CY enclosures that create a cozy, weather-protected
seating area. Several features stand out, including the
custom cast stainless steel, top-loading deck chocks that
are open on top for easy line handling; large, 3-inch drain
scuppers; and the molded flybridge staircase with stainless
steel handrails and teak treads. The optional hand-fitted
and glued teak sole on the boat I tested included
meticulously fitted hatches (with drains) for a fender
locker to starboard, a power cord and dockline locker
to port, and a locking, watertight center hatch leading
to the engine room.
The engine room does not have full standing
headroom, but there is an abundance of space for sitting,
