OnBoard Magazine - Summer 2015

VIKING 92 ENCLOSED BRIDGE Length: 93’ 3” Beam: 24’ 1” Draft: 5’ 11” Fuel: 4,015 gal. Power: Twin MTU 16V2000 2,635hp BIGGER IS DEFINITELY BETTER Many Bluewater staff were on-hand for the highly anticipated unveiling of the Viking 92C and 75MY at the company’s annual dealer meeting in Atlantic City, NJ. Sales Professional Chuck Meyers came away with many impressive photos such as this while Hank Sibley recounted the experience of sea-trialing her, “Despite its size, the 92 is surprisingly agile and performs terrific even while backing down in heavy seas. Overall it impressed me greatly—being in the skybridge some 55 feet in the air was just amazing. And as expected, the boat has tremendous luxury accommodations.“ and Sibley had the pleasure of running the 42 Express fromNewGretna to Ocean City, Maryland, while the Halls manned the 62. Once both parties had arrived and the 42 was handed off to colleagues at Bluewater’s Ocean City office, all four men climbed aboard the 62 to finish their return trip to Hampton, Virginia. After running the 42 south, Sibley commented how amazing the boat was for its size, describing how “the new hull was carefully researched and designed around the pod drives, and it surely shows in the overall performance of the boat. The 42 is decidedly quick out of the hole and tracks beautifully, while the joystick control adds a great deal of low speed prowess and turning capabilities.” The 62’s performance also greatly impressed the delivery team, and they all agreed the boat was remarkably fast Scott James, Earle Hall, Hank Sibley and Chris Hall bringing the 62C home to Hampton, VA Bob James, Earle Hall, Chris Hall with Viking’s Pat Healey The full Bluewater contingent poses with Pat Healey during their tour of the production line and agile for its size, “and also incredibly stable thanks in part to being outfitted with the biggest Seakeeper gryo system possible,” Sibley recounts. The 62 has a fantastic ride that is dry and smooth, and proved herself well as Bluewater’s choice for demo boat and fishing tournament weapon after delivery. The team’s summer fun came to an abrupt end though, as the boat was quickly snatched up by a customer after her showing at the White Marlin Open! It’s not every day that you or I get to marvel at a half million square foot boat manufacturing plant. But even those who visit frequently are still capable of having their socks knocked off now and again–especially when confronted with a plethora of amazing new builds such as Viking’s latest efforts! 29 SUMMER 2015