So, when the brand that essentially invented long-range cruising introduces a new model, the question isn’t just how does it perform, but rather, where does this boat fit in the market it helped define? With the new Grand Banks 62, the answer is, it doesn’t. Not neatly, anyway. In fact, it breaks the category apart and sketches something entirely new.

For decades, the long-range cruising world has wrestled with an uncomfortable truth – you can go far, or you can go fast, but not both. Owners accepted this as a sort of natural law, like gravity. If you wanted range, you resigned yourself to moving along in a full-displacement hull often slower than some performance sailboats. If you wanted speed, you surrendered your wallet at the fuel pump.

Enter Grand Banks CEO and ocean-racing legend Mark Richards, who seems constitutionally incapable of taking no for an answer. “Our buyers appreciate our philosophy that speed, range and efficiency are not mutually exclusive,” Richards tells me.

When he took the helm of the company over a decade ago, he wasn’t interested in repeating the familiar formulas demonstrated by other, albeit successful, boatbuilders.

“The mission is to lead,” he offers, “to deliver groundbreaking designs that represent an entirely new era of long-range cruising.” Calling his bluff would be tempting, if he were bluffing. But he’s not.

“There’s simply no other long-range cruising design on the water like this new generation of Grand Banks,” he continues.

“Less weight. More strength. Less fuel burn. More range. More speed and less resistance. Compare the numbers, take a sea trial, or look at the wake. It tells the whole story.”

He’s not wrong. I did take the sea trial. And the minimal wake did tell a story, one that demonstrates how today’s Grand Banks are designed to slice through the water thanks to the company’s V-Warp Technology®. Where previous Grand Banks hulls would eventually plane on their after sections if enough horsepower was applied, this hull simply transitions through the speed curve with confidence and precision.

As someone who considers himself a Grand Banks traditionalist, having lived aboard a wooden GB42 for most of my childhood – my father’s ex-wife got the house; he got the boat and a few kids – and having cruised thousands of miles on my own GB36 with my own young family, even I recognise that this new generation takes power cruising to an entirely different model. And remarkably, it still feels like a natural part of the Grand Banks story.

During my two-day test, the GB62 hit a top speed of 29 knots with a pair of 900-horsepower Volvo Penta D13s turning straight shafts. We saw an easy 27-knot high cruise, but the real sweet spot was at 22 knots, slicing cleanly and confidently through a fetching head sea.

If your adventures pull you farther over the horizon, the numbers reveal the magic. At 20 knots, she sips a combined 38 gallons per hour. And yes, that’s a figure you’re going to reread. It’s not per engine – it’s total fuel burn.

Dial her back to 10 knots and the range stretches to 2,000 nautical miles with a 10-percent reserve. Yet throughout the speed curve, the boat’s running attitude barely changed – no bow-up slog and no rolling in troughs, just a clean, predictable, confidence- building posture at all speeds. Optional power includes twin 1,000-horsepower Volvo-Penta D13s or IPS 1200 pods, but honestly, the standard set-up is impressive enough in my opinion.

In the engine room, systems are neatly laid out, accessible and extremely easy to understand – no complicated fuel manifolds or day tanks to navigate before leaving the dock, and no unnecessary equipment adding weight and potential headaches. When you’ve spent your life racing across oceans like Richards, complicated systems simply aren’t tolerated.

Indeed, under Richards’ leadership, Grand Banks has refined its build techniques into something approaching a high-tech performance sailboat shop – resin-infused E-glass, unidirectional and multi-axial fibres, and carbon-fibre structural components, all precisely engineered for an optimal strength- to-weight ratio. The hull, deck, superstructure and bulkheads are fused together into a single, rigid structure.

The result? Strength without weight, which translates into efficiency and range. It also means a tough, solid feel underfoot while underway.

You could argue that Grand Banks models always felt like little ships while underway, and they did – just not at these higher speeds. The GB62 also comes in both Flybridge and Skylounge configurations and, as on all Grand Banks models, owners have significant input into their interior layout and finish.

The GB62 expands on the wildly successful GB60’s layout, offering a beautifully proportioned three-stateroom, three-head arrangement. Compared to the 60, which is still offered, one foot of the extra length was added to the saloon and the other to the lower accommodations.

This additional interior volume is immediately evident in the starboard guest cabin, which features a double plus a single berth, as well as a dedicated head. The utility area with washer/dryer is a liveaboard luxury you quickly learn you can’t live without on long cruises.

The amidships master stateroom delivers exactly what you expect from Grand Banks – a king berth, excellent storage, natural light, ventilation and an ensuite. The forward VIP features a queen berth and private head.

On the main deck, the saloon, galley and lower helm are all bathed in light from the oversized windows, which open at the touch of a button for added ventilation. Sightlines from the lower helm are excellent. Craftsmanship, joinery and materials remain pure Grand Banks, but the overall aesthetic feels subtly more modern, refined and thoughtfully integrated.

The lazarette is set up to hold all the necessary stores for voyaging and can easily accommodate extras such as a dive compressor, tanks, tools and bikes. Engine room access is through a forward watertight door, while a soft patch in the saloon sole allows for more extensive maintenance if required.

So, where does the Grand Banks 62 fit into today’s long-range cruising segment? In my opinion, it doesn’t. At least not within the boundaries defined by the boats currently in it.

This is a yacht that refuses to choose between speed and range, between efficiency and comfort, between heritage and innovation. It’s the paradox breaker, the boat that asks, quite simply, what if you didn’t have to pick?

grandbanks.com