Why so few 48' (81-84) Series 1 MYs?

[Buccaneer]

I was wondering...
I really like mine. It fits my "cruising" style perfectly. Big aft deck, comfortable owner SRoom, 2 more for the two kids and one friend each) and (for this family a god send) 3 full heads. TV in the saloon for "them," peace and quiet above for "us" and good displacement range, and planing speed...

Anybody know why it wasn't a "big" seller? I understand they only made 34.
Or was it just a sign of the times?

Just wondering ...

 

[Walter P]

Your question is one that many folks have had for a long time but from what I was told several times by some people at Hatteras the answer was quite simple. First of all it is a "big" 48 - try to find another 48 that has so much to offer. Second and probably the most important reason is that it cost too much to build and therefore the price was too close to the 53 and most people opted for a few grand more to get the 53.

Actually when you look at them from a very practical view the 48 has some advantages over the 53. Before everyone strings me up for blasphemy, I want it to be known that I LOVE the 53's. The 48 has 3 staterooms and 3 heads like the 53. Granted the 53 has large shower stalls in each head while the 48 series 1 only has a shower stall in the master head. The 53 staterooms are larger. The 53 has a dinette, so does the 48. The 53 has a larger galley but the 48 has a larger than average galley as well. The 53 has 2 standup (for normal people) engine rooms, the 48 is a little shorter. This was not a factor for me as I am 6'6" tall and I need to stoop in most areas in boats so I just stoop a little more in the Large full beam engine room of the 48. The 53 has a large bridge, but you need to climb a ladder to access it. The 48 has a slightly smaller bridge (but better laid out for me)but I walk up a regular staircase to it. (very important when you get older and the effort becomes more pronounced to climb a ladder). I know, I know I was in the Navy for 6 years and am very aware that what landlubbers call stairs are always called ladders onboard, but we all know what I mean. The aft deck on the 48 is huge - in fact the largest of any boat in its size range.

The series 1 48 was and is an excellent boat and in fact my 1982 Series 1 MY will be undergoing major restoration/upgrading at Slane Marine this winter. I like it so much that I know that the money I plan to spend on it will never be recovered but I will have a Rare model HATTERAS 48 that will be almost as good as new.

Besides my club rules prevent me from having anything larger than 50 feet and I like the club.

Walt P

 

[Pascal]

there is an 81 48 CMY two slips down, nice boat... incidently, i realized that out of 60 boats on my dock, 8 are hatts...

except for specific cases where you can't go over 50' i'm not quite sure what the benefits are... Operating costs are virtually identical and while the 48 manages to fit a cockpit in a smaller LOA, you still have to go down a few steps in to the saloon... i understand the appeal to the steps going up to the bridge but isnt offset but the need to go up and down between the saloon and aft deck, which is somethign you do far more often ?

But the biggest difference i see is the lack of lower helm and side doors. Single handling a 48 has to be much harder than the 53 where the spring lines are just 4 steps from the helm... vs going down to the aft deck and then forward...

and you cant beat the privacy you get in the master SR of the 53... all the way down the companionway instead of opening into the saloon. I guess the downside is that it's long way down and aft if your cell phone is ringing down there...

 

[SKYCHENEY]

In the early 80's there were also many competing boats to the 48. These boats were very similar in that they were all the "sundeck" style and had similar layouts. I think the reason Hatt did not sell many was partly to the competition. They realized that if the boat were to sell well, they would have to get closer in price to the competition and that was not going to happen.

Example: My dad owned a 43DC in 1982. He looked at moving up to the 48 and almost made a deal on the "Hatteras Lady" as it traveled the Great Lakes dealers. Then Gulfstar came out with the 49MY in 1983 and it had more room and ammenities than the Hatt. He also bought it for substantially less money than the Hatt. I know, it wasn't a Hatteras, but it was a well built boat and the interior workmanship was excellent.

 

[Walter P]

Pascal & Sky----

Please don't misunderstand my post listing my percieved "advantages" or good features of the Series 1 48 MY. If it were not for my clubs' rule of a 50' maximum I probably would have a 53 or a 54. SeaEric knows of 2 54's that appear to be fantastic deals. Since I need to stay with my 48 or leave the club which I a not willing to do, I must focus on the good points of my 48. That's why I'm having so much done on its restoration.

Walt

 

[luckydave215]

There's one of those "sun deck" Hatts in the same basin with me, and I would have missed the fact that it's a Hatt if I hadn't seen the name on the side. There have been so many "cookie cutter" sun deck yachts built, most by cheap asian yards, that they all look the same. Until you look close, that is. Then Hatt quality shows.
Perhaps the lack of familial identity is why Hatteras didn't build so many of them.

 

[Boss Lady]

I think it had more to do with the luxury tax that congress put on yachts than anything else, remember how many manufacturers went out of business back then? Hatteras almost went out of business as well. The 48 was not what the rich were buying, and the upper middle class got priced out of boating during this time, which was the market for this boat.

Just remember that one man's junk is another man's treasure.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Walt,
I really like the sundeck style. I like many of the features of the 53 more, but the 48 is a great boat. My only trip around the great circle was on that style boat. It was roomy for the six of us that made the trip and we all had a great time and still talk about it now, 20years later. If I had the same size constraint as you do, I may have done the same thing. I love the afromosia interiors of the 70's and 80's Hatts and would really want a 3 stateroom boat. What else is out there that fits those requirements? All and all, I think you made the right choice, and I am still amazed at the project you undertook to replace all of the interior back to it's original wood.

 

[chris]

No family identity?
Chris

 

[jim rosenthal]

Chris, I agree? that sheer has Hatteras written all over it. It's a particularly flattering angle for that boat, and that is a very pretty boat.

 

[chris]

And some of the best lines are the ones you normally don't see, the bottom. If slower speed and fuel economy are your thing it's hard to beat this angle of entry. It's a rounded trawler type entry and flattens out in the aft. I wish I had more pics of the bottom, I will on the next haul.
Chris

 

[Pascal]

penty of Hatteras genes in the 48... the hull looks identical to the 53... raise teh saloon windows and it's a 53 !

there is also a 41 on my dock, 1987 vintage, aft deck is a sun deck, no hard top. slightly harder to ID as a Hatt but still a hatt.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Chris, I want your garage.....

 

[SKYCHENEY]

there is also a 41 on my dock, 1987 vintage, aft deck is a sun deck, no hard top. slightly harder to ID as a Hatt but still a hatt.

I think that would be a 40 not 41

 

[Buccaneer]

I'll post photos of mine while it was on the hard. The 84's semi-displacement hull shape is very distinct from the 53's planing hull. Round like a sailboat (almost) for the first 3/4ths, then "flattens out" only for the last quarter. The "literature" (i.e sales propaganda) indicated that with the "standard" power plant, it couldn't get past 11 kts, so couldn't get to planing speed, even if the boat was designed for that.

My buddie's got the 53 in the next slip, and I've spent almost as much time aboard his as mine. I can understand the differences, and especially the "benefit" of the lower helm/saloon/aft deck combination. Makes for one BIG space. I like the different "zones" in the 48 better, becasue I can "get away" from the childrens when I want to. (At least it feels like that...)

 

[Pascal]

could be 40 ... not 41... i looked it up with the name on the USCG doc DB... i do that when I'm curious about a boat... tghat one is 40'7 but the DB doesn't give the model.. .just the LOA, year and builder... (and onwer info/previous names)

 

[luckydave215]

The boat in my harbor doesn't look anything like that one. I wonder if some clown stole the name plate or what? The quality looked like a hatt, and the bow pulpit (always a sure give away) looked like the "right stuff" but the lines look like a Carver Californian, nothing like the boat in the pics.
I'll have to dingy by and look again.

 

[Buccaneer]

A picture is - what - 1,000 words. I'm done for a while then.
(I feel like a proud Grandparent showing off photos of the new G-Kid. Yikes ! ) Here's on the hard (showing that rounded bottom) under way, and at a mooring...

That's what, 3,000 words?

 

[dakrhon]

My 1981 MY is the envy of the yacht club and would sell in a minute. I have had as many as 23 people on the aft deck (mostly getting away from the MI mosquitos). This boat has classic lines, well built and I find it easy enough to single hand (with some forward planning). I added a custom tower bridge cover with Symoid material for the top and used the original Hatteras dimensions, it looks stock. It's a great boat.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

My 1981 MY is the envy of the yacht club and would sell in a minute. I have had as many as 23 people on the aft deck (mostly getting away from the MI mosquitos). This boat has classic lines, well built and I find it easy enough to single hand (with some forward planning). I added a custom tower bridge cover with Symoid material for the top and used the original Hatteras dimensions, it looks stock. It's a great boat.

How about letting us see some pictures?