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Near as we can tell, this is basically a stretched out version of the 36C but she's got
an extra 11" of beam over the 36 and she's noticeably bigger. This one had a pair of
6V92TA's rated at 465 HP, giving her enough speed to beat your brains out in a two-foot
chop. The cat walks are even narrower than the 36C so that the salon interior gets about
another 6" or so over the increased 11" beam from the 36C so that it comes with
an L-shaped sofa that allows for more interior seating, and more convenient two. Since
there is no cabin windshield, the entertainment center and galley microwave are built into
this useless sloping space so that you get even more useable room. But if you like a
bright, airy salon, this aint it. With tinted windows, this boat was downright gloomy
inside.
At 28,800 lbs. this is a noticeably lighter boat. All of the cockpit, bridge and tackle
center moldings are much thinner fiberglass and you can feel it. This boat doesn't feel
like the heavy mammas that you're used to with Hatteras, and you'll notice this when
walking on the decks. They just don't feel as solid. On the other hand it goes like hell,
but this one's not going to hold up as well. Already we had some hardware pulling loose in
the cockpit and up on the bridge where there were some molded plastics waiting to
discombobulate in the tropical sun. And there was no rain gutter so that water was
cascading off the bridge like Victoria falls into the cockpit.
The lower edges of the cockpit coaming weren't smoothed off and I tore my finger open
on the sharp edge. This is a defect that Hatteras hasn't corrected for more than 20 years.
Grab on to the edge of it and you're likely to run a screw through your finger. And its
still got the crappy looking aluminum molding along the lower edge. They should have just
rounded over the edge and saved the trouble of installing the worthless molding.
Otherwise, everything else seemed the usual good Hatteras quality. The wrap-around
bridge console is neat but there's no place to put any electronic gizmos. They figured
you're gonna put at least a half tower with electronics cabinet on it. And the cockpit?
Well, its decidedly small; no tournament chair is going to fit here. This one's definitely
got the ladies in mind. What I'm having a hard time figuring is the half-sized L-shaped
galley which takes up only half of one side, leaving plenty of space for a chair, but the
galley too small. Well, you could add some on to it if you wanted. This one's not big
enough for a cocktail party anyway.
Finally, beware that Hatteras attempted using a foam core in this model sometime in the
mid-1980's. Unfortunately, We don't recall what year but it was only one. Our
understanding is that there were 8 of them and all of them had problems and were recalled.
It's not like Hatteras to leave their mistakes floating around, but we don't know for sure
so if you're looking at this model, you may want to check further to be sure.
Altogether, this is a pretty nifty boat that's well-proportioned, good-looking
with nice clean lines, and a good performer to boot. Another great feature is that there
is very little fluff and glitter on the exterior of this one, which makes for very low
maintenance. No stick-on decals, taped on stripes, molded plastic junk and the like to
weather and start looking like a dime store special. We'd put this one on the priority
list of all boats to consider in its class.
Original 1990 base price: $364,900
W/usual options:
$400,000
See also Hatteras 38 Convertible:
Updated Review
| These are
"reviews", not surveys, and bear no resemblance to our survey
reports. We do not publish
the results of the surveys that we perform. Please note that the purpose
of these reviews is educational, to help you discern the differences in
quality among boats generally. They are not offered as a means to help
you evaluate any particular boat builder. We have no other reviews than
those posted. |
Posted 01/13/98
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