The trawler yacht has been a highly-regarded cruising yacht for decades, and is going through another period of popularity with many of the world's top builders offering hybrid designs that mix traditional trawler values with a modern edge.
Trawler traits include safe decks, spacious interiors and good ride quality, with the emphasis on smooth and swift passagemaking as opposed to outright speed.
The focus on practical yachting requirements spreads to matters of style. Trawler yachts are, by design, tall and uncompromising but also elegant, exuding a very proper yachting character.
Hulls will usually be of semi-displacement form, with a keel to offer improved lateral stability. A fine entry, or sharp forward section of the hull, is another design trait left over from the original North Atlantic fishing boats these yachts are based on.
Buyers of used boats will find some traditionally-toned examples, with clinker-style topsides and lots of solid wood inside. Many will have been built in the Far East where materials such as timber are more freely available and affordable.
New trawler yacht buyers will find a vast selection of styles under the trawler banner, from the more traditional to elegant designs that merge into sleeker flybridge styles and altogether more modernist interpretations full of angles and edges.
Most trawlers sit in the owner-operated sector and make excellent cruising yachts.
Trawler yacht key features
- Tall spacious wheelhouse salon
- Optional flybridge
- Deep wide decks
- Excellent interior headroom
- Fine entry bows
- Semi-displacement hull
