Working man's Grand Banks

This just appeared on the GB owners forum.* The boat in the photo is in Sausalito, CA.* The spec sheet is from Ameriican Marine circa 1975-77.

Apparently in an effort to build their market back up after their bankruptcy in the mid'70s, American Marine introduced a commercial version of their GB32 cruiser.* By this time the GB32 had been switched to fiberglass so that's what the Husky was, too.

Called the "Husky" I have no idea how many were made.* The fellow who posted this on the GB forum is the son of one of the first marine architects hired by American Marine, (the Kong later of Kong & Halverson), and he knows of two of them.*

Eric will like this-- the boat was available with a single 185 hp engine or twin 47 hp engines.

Max speed (I assume with the single 185 hp engine) was 14.5 knots.

Very nice looking boat I think.

Apparently they also made a similar style boat using the GB42 hull.


-- Edited by Marin on Saturday 7th of January 2012 05:08:02 AM

Does anyone remember the American Marine Laguna 11 meter (38')? *I had a friend with one. *It was a beautiful boat, but came with what must have been GM's first attempt at 4 stroke diesels. *They seemed to be nothing but trouble. *He got rid of the boat because of the engines.

Yes Eric likes. Marin, in the text it says a single engine of 68hp or twin 4-108 Perkins engines. Sounds more like it to me. I'm amazed at how wide that 32 boat seems in the plan drawing. This is the first I've heard of these boats.

Eric

nomadwilly wrote:
in the text it says a single engine of 68hp or twin 4-108 Perkins engines....I'm amazed at how wide that 32 boat seems in the plan drawing.

*

Click to expand...

I was going by the propulsion listed in the specs where it says 2 X 47 hp or single 185.* I wonder if that was a printing error and they meant to say 1 x 85 hp?* Although to achieve the stated top speed of 14 knots I would think they'd need more power than that.*

Since the stock GB32 had an FL120 until they started putting FL135s in them (and later other even more powerful engines like John Deeres and Cummins) the Husky could certainly have accomodated these engines, too.

The Husky has the exact same hull as the GB32.* So the plan drawing of a GB32 would look exactly like this other than the interior spaces.

There were a handful of twin-engine GB32s (cruisers) made.* They used a pair of 4 cylinder Lehman 80s (or 90s).


-- Edited by Marin on Sunday 8th of January 2012 03:36:05 AM

Does anyone remember the American Marine Laguna 11 meter (38')? I had a friend with one. It was a beautiful boat, but came with what must have been GM's first attempt at 4 stroke diesels. They seemed to be nothing but trouble. He got rid of the boat because of the engines.


Don - I think your friend had the 8.2 litre "fuel Pincher engines" They were a common engine in the 80's in 30-40' boats. Gm also made a 6.2 litre, but the 8.2 was much more common in boats. These engines were designed for buses and light trucks. They kept having problems with the heads and changed from a 13 to a 14 mm head bolt and different gasket. Many Detroit mechanics couldn't or wouldn't work on them.
I had a twin engine 32' Aluminum boat with them and it was a mechanical nightmare! Gm discontinued the engine after only short multi year run. The boat problems were not as severe as in the trucks because of the boat constant speed, constant load use. I did know some operators that had good luck with them, but I certainly didn't. True to their name, they were very good on fuel.

Willard made commercial fish boats too.

Don
There are two Laguna 38s in our yacht club, both owners are friends of mine. Both came with CAT 3208s, both have had tranny problems, now resolved. Otherwise, both are good, solid, well built and well fitted out boats.
I have seen a third on in the Vancouver area, but don't know its history.

Hey Eric....

I was just thinking that I bet American Marine did offer a fairly powerful (for its day) diesel in the Husky as an option. It was intended to be a commercial boat and they tried to come up with a configuration that would serve a number of purposes. A lot of commercial uses require at least decent speeds, like lobsterboats and other small-boat, commercial purposes. Plodding along at efficient, recreational speeds may not be what's desired for a commercial purpose. So I bet they did offer a 185 (or whatever) engine so a commercial operator could run at speeds up to 14 knots.

Hey Marin,

Sure some commercial users actually need more power. A fishing boat w a big draggy stern like a GB will need some power w 10000lbs of fish in the hold especially if the hold is aft. Just because full disp boats only need 5hp per ton Dos'nt mean a semi-disp boat can get away with it. If you put 5 tons of fish in your hold you'd love all the power you've got. For me nix on the fish and 40hp is fine.*

Eric

The Laguna was a very nice boat in its day (some of the engines used excepted perhaps). What killed it--- besides the ever-shaky financial status of American Marine--- was the gas crisis of the early 70s. The market for this kind of boat dried up and American Marine was simply not in the financial position to try to keep the line going. While there is zero heritage between the Laguna and the Eastbay, it's interesting that nearly 30 years later, Grand Banks introduced a line of fast express cruisers again, this one quite successful with-- apparently-- a pretty decent market in some parts of the world.

I own a 1972 Laguna 11.5

Moonstruck said:

Does anyone remember the American Marine Laguna 11 meter (38')? *I had a friend with one. *It was a beautiful boat, but came with what must have been GM's first attempt at 4 stroke diesels. *They seemed to be nothing but trouble. *He got rid of the boat because of the engines.

Click to expand...

I own a 1972 38 11.5

Yep I have one.

My 1982 GB 42 CL has (factory-equipped) Detroit Diesel 8.2L Fuel Pinchers as described above. I have found them to be very reliable. Normally aspirated, making 165 HP, they are heavy beasts, but very fuel efficient. I've not seen another Grand Banks equipped with them.

I just purchased one

Laguna

Moonstruck said:

Does anyone remember the American Marine Laguna 11 meter (38')? *I had a friend with one. *It was a beautiful boat, but came with what must have been GM's first attempt at 4 stroke diesels. *They seemed to be nothing but trouble. *He got rid of the boat because of the engines.

Click to expand...

I will be visiting Geechie Town this summer