What is a trawler?

If you ask the typical boater in a marina what a trawler is and they'll point to a Grand Banks or Monk designed tri cabin layout with a mast. If you asked that same person what a motor yacht is they'd likely point at a sundeck or flush deck model.

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The above is certainly true of people looking to buy a trawler. They seem to know or think they know what a trawler is and many of the boats shown by posters here would be automatically dismissed from consideration.

Their appears some magic definition available only to former sailboaters looking to move to power that is not available to all the rest of us boat owners.

If you look at the example quoted above the only stated difference between the GB and the FDMY is appearance yet if you talk to the potential trawler buyer he ascribes better fuel economy and sea keeping ability to the vessel of his dreams if it is named trawler.
So he spends his time searching for a Monk or island trader and ignores the FDMY.

kulas44 said:

O thats like a "racing turtle" and folks that know turtles are just shaking there heads in dismay .

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Actually there are turtle races...

Terms or genre's often evolve. That might be called drift to the traditionalists but it's called evolution to others. Few things stay the same. Perhaps to those older, Trawler came to identify a quite narrow grouping of boats but to the younger generation it's changed and grown some.

Many might say that type evolution is necessary if you want to endure and gain new followers. Otherwise you're left with only an older group and slowly you lose popularity. Major sports may be a prime example. American Football is no longer 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Look elsewhere, at something like Country Music. It's a little bit country, a little bit rock n roll.

kulas44 said:

One fellow asked the other "wanta coke ?" other fellow says "yeah" first fellow says "what kind ?" The name coke has become generic for softdrink.

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Only in the SE United States... First time I was asked what kind of Coke I wanted I was quite confused.

The term trawlers is kind of like that. Pretty much a North American term when applied to recreational boats.

Pretty sure George Beuhler (ducks and coots designer guy) calls them boats which are inspired by trollers, not trawlers.





Lots of trollers on the West Coast. And seiners and gillnetters and crabbers. But no trawlers.

Vashon_Trawler said:

The term has certainly been bastardised over the years. To complicate matters, what about "trollers"? I consider my boat a "troller" because of its salmon trolling roots. The again, the drawings of my boat call it a "diesel cruiser".

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Only true trollers are George Buehler, Monk - Skookum designs. If it doesn't sit squat in the water IMHO - it's a condo trawler - esp with high freeboard. Where I grew up just about every boat was a troller.

I have a 31 foot Ameracat with a pair of 300 hp Verados. Its a troller, due to the fact that we troll a lot with it. It is not a DownEast because it was made in Florida. It has been called a booze cruizer, at times. I remember a thread on the other trawler forum where George Buhler actually chimed in. What a very interesting person, and his little dogs to. Spaniels IIRC, maybe Boykins or the like, long time ago and I have CRS. Thread drift,,,The term trawler is kinda like that. By definition a boat that is designed and used to pull a trawl net would be a trawler, here they're called shrimpers. Purse seiners are not trawlers, nor are gill netters. Any boat can be rigged to pull a trawl, from small outboard powered to 125 foot or bigger. most of the Laffite Skiffs here are rigged for bay shrimping, and they can run fast, into the upper 20s. There owners dont consider them trawlers. The big boys that pull in deep water are considered trawlers by there owners. Fishing behind a trawler in my 31 is a real adrenaline rush. You need to be there to believe it. Put the bow against his transom and push. Big cables on both sides, props bringing up blue water, throw in your cut bait chunks and your hook baits, cut the throttles and drift back in the prop wash. Then hang on, Yellofin tuna over 100 lb is the norm, some over 200. The big trawlers are impressive.

Another way to define "trawler" is to take away elements of the boat that you think make it a trawler and reconsider.

Older GB and NT are about as trawler as one can get.

Change them to gasoline power. Still a trawler? Yup.

Make them not fuel efficient. Still a trawler? Yup.

Make them fast. Still a trawler Yup.

Make them not seaworthy. Still a trawler? Yup.

Make it light. Still a trawler? Yup.

Make them look like something else. Still a trawler? NOPE.

Put a NT cabin on a Cruiser. Is it a trawler? Ask most anybody and they'd say it's a trawler.

The one thing that is essential to being a trawler is how the boat looks. Everything else is just details to talk about on TF.

manyboats said:

Another way to define "trawler" is to take away elements of the boat that you think make it a trawler and reconsider.

Older GB and NT are about as trawler as one can get.

Change them to gasoline power. Still a trawler? Yup.

Make them not fuel efficient. Still a trawler? Yup.

Make them fast. Still a trawler Yup.

Make them not seaworthy. Still a trawler? Yup.

Make it light. Still a trawler? Yup.

Make them look like something else. Still a trawler? NOPE.

Put a NT cabin on a Cruiser. Is it a trawler? Ask most anybody and they'd say it's a trawler.

The one thing that is essential to being a trawler is how the boat looks. Everything else is just details to talk about on TF.

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Correcto -

I thought a trawler had to have a displacement hull, am I wrong?
Bill

Bill:
In my opinion they do but as you can see by all the responses here there is little agreement. Everyone thinks a GB is a trawler as with an Island trader and all the Asian copies. Semi planning hulls all but people will buy pass a nice Hatteras ACMY for one of those brands because some marketing type named it a trawler.

So what?

some people buy boats just because they look one way or the other, or have a certain name, or the fake interior wood looks to them better than real wood....they are usually not very experienced boaters or planning long voyages....but because they are the vast majority of boaters...they get to label boat and buy what they like.

I'm not so foolish to think because I represent 1% of boaters that my interpretation should rule.

psneeld said:

So what?

some people buy boats just because they look one way or the other, or have a certain name, or the fake interior wood looks to them better than real wood....they are usually not very experienced boaters or planning long voyages....but because they are the vast majority of boaters...they get to label boat and buy what they like.

I'm not so foolish to think because I represent 1% of boaters that my interpretation should rule.

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What is unique about a "trawler" that makes is better for long voyages??

In my opinion it is precisely the inexperienced buyers who are fixated on trawlers when other styles may fit their needs equally well.

bayview said:

What is unique about a "trawler" that makes is better for long voyages??

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Nothing and I could have as easily bought an older Hatt or Chris Craft...just didn't for a lot of reasons...certainly not because they weren't trawlers.

But I also don't think most people on the planet really care one way or the other. Just going to boat shows and flipping through boating mags shows the strict definition of a trawler some here think should exist is going to take a lot of work to change the industry.

As I said earlier it seems only the boat buyers who have an idea there is a strict definition of trawler, the owners as demonstrated here generally agree with you. What that means is buyers are ignoring a lot of boats in their search because of some definition of trawler that doesn't exist.

psneeld said:

So what?

some people buy boats just because they look one way or the other, or have a certain name, or the fake interior wood looks to them better than real wood....they are usually not very experienced boaters or planning long voyages....but because they are the vast majority of boaters...they get to label boat and buy what they like.

I'm not so foolish to think because I represent 1% of boaters that my interpretation should rule.

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I find most of your responses childish and without much merit. You don't play well with others do you?
Or perhaps I have it wrong you're the resident expert, does that make you feel superior?
Bill

If you own a TRUE trawler you know it. Everyone one else, posers or whatever, can call a boat a trawler if they feel the need. Call it a type, a lifestyle, etc. Us turtle folks are still shaking our heads in dismay

Greetings,
Mr. p. If I may paraphrase your quote: "...some people buy American sports cars just because they look one way or the other, or have a certain name, or the fake interior wood looks to them better than real wood....they are usually not very experienced drivers ....but because they are the vast majority of drivers...they get to label car and buy what they like. All-American Sports Cars . These are NOT sports cars IMO and that's all it is. My opinion. Ford Mustang for example. Pffaaaf! But it's advertised and SOLD as a sports car isn't it? Same thing as "trawlers".
THIS is a sports car!

http://autos.aol.com/article/all-american-sports-cars/

For the life of me I just don't understand why the name “Trawler”, when used as a single word to connote the model/type of a pleasure boat, needs to be so narrowly defined regarding the design, equipment, and parameters of said boat, i.e. actually a “Pleasure Cruiser" (some like to term as a Trawler). Isn’t it the general use of the boat that really determines its then current nomenclature-title? Additionally, it seems only logical that seeing as there are two distinctly different “Trawler” types used for diametrically different reasons in marine life that there should be a clear suffix placed on each; i.e. “Commercial Trawler” and “Pleasure Trawler”

Let’s take boat types and see if their model name is defined by design/item particulars or by what they are actually used for (increments of boat design in accordance with type named can often vary widely):

1. Sport Fisher: (for “sport fishing”), i.e. a sporting pleasure boat!
a. Soft top
b. Hardtop
c. Sedan
d. Fly bridge sedan
e. Texas tower
f. Raised deck
g. Flush deck
h. Twin or single or triple screw - direct drive, v-drive, out drive, outboard, pod, - gasoline or diesel
i. Displacement, semi displacement, planing
j. Mono or catamaran hull
k. Self contained or not
l. Cockpit steering or not
m. 25’ long to 80’ + long, or anywhere in between

2. Commercial Trawler: (for “trolling”; not for pleasure), i.e. a work boat.
a. Fishing rigging
b. Refrigerated hold
c. Expansive flush-deck space
d. Great deck lighting for night work and big gen set with big battery bank to power all forms of utility items aboard
e. Tall pilot house
f. Any number / type / size engines – usually direct drive diesel or gen powered electric motor
g. Usually displacement, deep draft hull for carting enormous cargo weight
h. 30’ to 100’ + in length

3. Commuter Craft: (a “day boat”), i.e. for close area travel or enjoyment.
a. Sleek displacement, semi displacement, or planing hull
b. Any type or number of power sources
c. Creature comforts as needed
d. Sedan or fly bridge sedan, hardtop or fly bridge hardtop, or soft top
e. 25’ to 45’ +/-

4. Pleasure Trawler: (for “pleasure”; not for trolling), i.e. a pleasurable pleasure boat
a. Any type hull design
b. Any type/number power source
c. May have steadying sail or other stabilizer assist methods
d. Trim tabs – depending on hull and power
e. Any type accommodations – but, usually extensively self contained
f. Pilot house, command bridge, flying bridge, portuguese bridge
g. Single, double, triple or more cabins
h. Flush deck or raised deck
i. Cockpit or not
j. Swim step or not
k. Flat or canoe stern

5. Tug Boat / Cargo Ship / Container Ship / Oil Tankers / Many Types Surface War Ships / Subs... All Fairly Self Explanatory

Sooo... Kinda seems to me that “Pleasure Trawler” is just about the most pliable design of all the type boats mentioned. And, I believe that the suffix “Pleasure” or “Commercial” should more often be used as a premise to the word “Trawler” – If “Trawler” is what anyone wants to call their “Pleasure Cruiser”, the term I affix to our Tollycraft tri cabin boat.

YRMV!

Happy Pleasure Cruiser (err "Pleasure Trawler") Daze! - Art

RT THAT is a sports car and Mustangs were sporty cars just because they were sporty looking. In the beginning (the 60s) Mustang had the brakes, steering and most of the other mechanical components of the Ford Falcon ... one of the cheapest economy cars ever. I think they had good engines though.

Do you think Americans settle for imitations more than others? Most American things tend to look fancy. Glitter is pop in the states. But maybe we've largely gotten over that.

Greetings,
Mr. mb. "Do you think Americans settle for imitations more than others?" Not at all. American originality and innovation is right up there with the best in the world but advertising sells cars AND boats so labeling whether accurate OR "ornamental" is what the customer sees first. I think it much more likely that someone who buys a car does so with MUCH less research than your average boat buyer. Corvette sports car is as much as an oxymoron as fast trawler.

http://[URL=http://s289.photobucket.com/user/Billlentz/media/Stang1.jpg.html][/URL]


Did somebody say Mustangs here's mine I have had it for 35 plus years.
Bill

I've owned several Corvettes and any one of them would put that little black thang to shame anywhere, on any course or roadway any day. To say that a "Vette is not a sports car is just not right. The current Z06 is so far ahead of anything in its price class that they stopped making some of the other so called "sports cars". And I've owned a few of the others. I liked the Viper best, but it did not like me. And yes, Americans will totally buy into ad BS, then defend there purchase even after finding out it was not actually what it was represented to be. Even more so the larger the $$$ factor is. The guy that paid big bucks for a "trawler" shaped like a bleach bottle with 502 Mercs is not inclined to say "I shoulda done some more research" especially when he figures out that to sell he will lose a substantial portion of his input. So he just calls it a trawler.

Not a big Corvette fan. But I did watch nearly 24 hours of racing this last weekend. The Corvette did indeed spank some Aston Martins and Ferraris. So maybe the Corvette is a sports car again.

PS: those Aston Martins looked sweet.

In 1971 a 1969 Vett w/ 427 4 spd - That was a BADD Asssss buggy... when we were still young!

1964 Chevy Impala SS w/ 409 - tough btch!

1967 Chevelle convert w/ 396 could romp!

1966 Wildcat with 425 cid, 325 hp nail head was no slouch!

Currently putting in a completely rebuilt (by area renowned race car machinist) 430 cid, 360 hp, 500 ft lb t, domed head, 10.5 to 1 comp engine in our weekend driver Buick Wildcat... may eventually put on an Edelbrock intake manifold and carb. Has been all orig with Rochester dual quad and its intake. I’ll break her in first before changing things too much. I had all original sizes but inside her. 360 hp works just fine on this power everything AC'd “Classic Luxo Muscle Car”

I like the blue Mustang in the erectile dysfunction add.

But I'd rather drive my new Jetta.

Greetings,
Mr. k. Out of the box ~$80K (comparable price to '14 Z06)..... Any course any roadway any day....(6 year old review-I expect the 2014 models perform and handle better.)
Specifications Ariel Atom V8 500 - [2008] 0 to 60 mph, Top Speed, 0 to 100 kph, 0 to 62 mph
As to that "... little black thang..." It would wipe the floor with a '70 'vette and YES MY BOAT IS A TRAWLER.....Isn't that what this threads about?

manyboats said:

I like the blue Mustang in the erectile dysfunction add.

But I'd rather drive my new Jetta.

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You watchen that ad too closely??

Anyway - VW looks like smart buy!

RT Firefly said:

YES MY BOAT IS A TRAWLER.....Isn't that what this threads about?

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RT - I be meanen ta ask ya! What is your "Trawler" boat?? Jus wonderen??

BTW: Talken Autos... With 100K orig miles my ol' 67 Wildcat clocked in at 0 - 60 in 6.95 sec. Factory top end was listed at 148 mph. Weight - 4,200 + lbs. 11 to 13 mpg around town, 15 to 16 on hwy... depending on pussy foot of course! I call that "old school" life insurance!

So confused?!?!

Do I even own a boat??

Realizing that we're in epic drift here, I'll just say: 'Vette? Mustang? Jag? All toys!

0 to 100 Mph and stop in 13.8 seconds! Not many cars could do that in 1965.

SCOTTEDAVIS said:

So confused?!?!

Do I even own a boat??

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YES - The most beautiful kind too!