The relaxation of a cruise is very nice. Picture your family lounging in the cockpit in a secluded anchorage on a warm summer afternoon—perhaps you’re dozing between paragraphs of a book you’ve long wanted to read. The reason you’re so able to relax? Chances are your boat was built to do something else. The hull was built robustly enough to stand up to wild offshore seas in a squall, and get you home safely. The helm electronics do more than just play your favorite tunes on an entertainment system—they can track your position accurately, even in dense fog and driving rain. And those engines can do more than just putt-putt-putt into that sandy lagoon to drop the hook. When push comes to shove, you push them and they respond.
Now you’re getting to the heart of the convertible, a type of sportfishing boat that was built to do everything offshore fishermen ask of her—which is a lot—and also provide comfortable accommodations, a cockpit the size of a squash court, and a galley and saloon so well suited for entertaining you may forget why you brought all those fishing rods along.
But then it’s time to head out to the grounds.
Wave-cleaving bows and smoothly shaped running surfaces let the denizens of the engine room do their thing. And oh, those engines: growling, snorting, barely caged diesel beasts, straining at their mounts. And lately they’ve been mated to pod propulsion and other systems that allow for improved maneuverability. All that power and capability lets you chase fish all over creation, if you want. Or you can just relax.
The Viking 55 has all the makings of a classic.
Riviera tweaks a successful model by changing her focus—and her name.
A trip to the Bahamas shows that this 63-footer has taken fishablity, speed, and comfort to the next level.
