Grand Banks Europa 46 inspection

Hi Guys.
I'm seriously looking at purchasing a GB Europa 46 and am having my second viewing this weekend and was hoping that someone would be kind enough to offer some advice regarding what to look out for
Specs of boat looking at: -
2005, 46ft
2 x 450 hp cats
Haiab stabs
Fresh water maker
4 x A/C
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Cheers

They are well built boats. Make sure that the teak decks and brightwork are in good shape-they should be fine at this age. Newer GBs don't tend to have any tank issues but always a good thing to check filler area for corrosion on top of tanks. If the boat has a cold plate refrigeration system, make sure it actually fully freezes the plates in a couple of hours.

I always like to see maintenance records going back at least five years. For me, the condition of the engine room is a good indicator of overall upkeep.

Be sure you're comfortable with the Cat brand engines.

Thanks for the reply. Engine room is that clean you could eat off it. It has a 115 litre Grunert Fridge and a 115 litre Grunert Freezer. Both had frozen rear plates that looked like they needed defrosting.

How do you mean comfortable?

450 HP cats is a lot of power for that size boat. I am 80,000, gross 90,000 pounds and have twin 150-MWMs, and can do 10 knots at 80% power.

That GB is a planing hull, I believe, hence the power. I had a 2009 GB 47’ and it had twin Cummins 500s and would do 22 Kts

fgarriso said:

450 HP cats is a lot of power for that size boat. I am 80,000, gross 90,000 pounds and have twin 150-MWMs, and can do 10 knots at 80% power.

Click to expand...

The Europa are not just displacement speed boats. They're capable of planing, at up to 18kts depending on the engines.

My 47 Eastbay will top 30kts, albeit while absolutely hemorrhaging fuel consumption. Cruising around 18 (on plane) is considerably more economical (but still eyewatering compared to what the displacement speed folks would tolerate!)

What model Cat engines are in the 46EU? I've got C12s, that had recently seen their 1000 hour service just before we bought it. From what I understand the Cat engines are dependent on service being done to them at proper intervals... no skimping. That and some models seemed to have had more issues than others.

Ralsy,
my comment on engines was related to brand not power. You might do some research on the Cat model that is installed. Perhaps there is a reason (other than power to weight, etc) why most of that vintage and later have Cummins rather than Cat.

Hi and thanks for the reply. The Cats are 3126B engines.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll see what I can find. Yes, I believe that Cummins are the bee's knees of diesel engines.