We’ve seen a revolution in the world of center console boats through the past decade, with the options growing ever larger as these boats evolved into center console yachts. Today that trend culminates with the Valhalla Boatworks V-55. Valhalla is the latest chapter in the story of Viking Yachts, the undisputed industry champion among high-end inboard diesel sportfishing convertibles and expresses. Viking announced the Valhalla line in 2019 and brought to it the same yacht-level quality, attention to detail, and performance that made the parent company so successful. After we had the chance to test their initial fleet Valhalla Boatworks was named a “Top Newcomer” in our pick of the Top 10 Center Console Fishing Boat Manufacturers, and the V-55 introduced this winter is now their top offering.
Valhalla V-55 Design and Construction
The V-55 runs on the same Michael Peters designed Stepped V Ventilated Tunnel (SVVT) hull design as her smaller siblings. This design incorporates a pair of longitudinal steps in the bottom, which create a low-pressure area behind them as the boat moves forward. This draws air in via a notch in the hullside, reducing wetted surface and thus friction. The air is sucked back into the centered tunnel which runs aft and has vertical sidewalls to grip the water in turns, eliminating the negative handling traits associated with some other stepped hull designs. The net result is a speed and efficiency gain that differs from model to model, but generally falls somewhere around the 15-percent mark. You can see a full explanation of the design and how it works in SVVT Stepped Hull: The Best Boat Hull Design Ever?
Topsides, the V-55 has a more or less standard center console yacht design with a centered helm, a cabin in the console, and a large lounger forward of the console. The one big difference: thanks to a 55’7” LOA and a 15’6” beam, there’s an awful lot of space to work with. While most center consoles have a single row of seats at the helm and some very large models have two rows of three or four seats, the V-55 has a front row with four seats and a back row with five. While most console cabins have a single cabin, the V-55 has a private stateroom with a pedestal berth forward, a double-bunk stateroom aft, an enclosed head, a separate enclosed shower, and a saloon with a galley. And the cockpit has an angling arena more like those found on a convertible than those commonly seen on center consoles. Which gets us to the core mission of the V-55: providing the performance and fishability of a center console, combined with the luxury level of a sportfishing yacht.
This design comes together in a combination of fiberglass and carbon fiber/E-glass hybrids, which are resin infused in the stringer grid, deck, liners, and hard top. Hatches are RTM molded, ensuring a full finish on both sides. And this is one of very few center consoles on the water to incorporate a dedicated machinery space, where you’ll find batteries, fuel management systems, the generator, and other systems, including a built-in (optional) sonar tube for the mega-transducers deployed with commercial-scale spotlight and scanning sonar systems.
Valhalla V-55 Fishing Features
The V-55 provides the 360-degree fishability that center consoles are known for, but again, the boat’s massive footprint takes things to a new level. Consider the livewells, for example. There are two aquarium-style wells with viewing ports in the transom, they’re fed by a Hooker sea chest system, and each holds a voluminous 65 gallons. If you want a third livewell in the bow you can have it. Twin tuna-sized fishboxes are integrated into the deck, there are rodholders lining the gunwales and the back of the aft row seating, and there are rocket launchers lining the hard top.
Sportfish-style accouterments are in the offing, too. A full Palm Beach Towers or a fold-down tower for those needing lower bridge clearance are both available. Electric teaser reels and electric reel ports in the cockpit are options. And a tackle stowage compartment with Plano boxes and a bulk stowage drawer is integrated into the mezzanine seat. There are a lot of fishing boats out there, and you can point to almost any feature on almost any one of them and find it on the Valhalla.
Valhalla V-55 Luxury Features
The V-55 has so many luxury features that merely listing them all out would require scrolling down this page for hours — if you find it on one of those big sportfishers, you can bet the Valhalla has got it. That said, highlights that must be called out include the integrated grill, refrigerated drink boxes, the (optional) Seakeeper gyroscopic stabilization system (you’d be nuts not to get it), and the air conditioning system. Perhaps the biggest luxury touch, however, is the sportfish-like cabin interior. The artistic woodwork you expect to see in a big Viking is present here, alongside the expected HD TV, nap-inducing settee, and flawless trim.
Valhalla V-55 Performance
The V-55 is configured for the Mercury V12 600 horse outboards, in either quadruple or quintuple configurations. We couldn’t take the boat off the dock when we saw it at the Miami International Boat Show so we can’t attest to the figures, but according to the manufacturer, with quads the boat will hit a wide-open throttle speed of 64 mph with a tower and 68 mph with a hard top and no tower. Add in the fifth outboard, and top-end jumps to 73 to 74 mph with a hard top. Valhalla hasn’t yet had the chance to test the boat with five outboards and a tower. Any way you look at it, however, one thing is clear: the V-55 does indeed deliver a top-end center console’s performance attributes.
Valhalla V-55 Specifications
- Length Overall: 55’7”
- Beam: 15’6”
- Weight (full load): 49,873 lbs.
- Draft (max.): 4’0”
- Transom Deadrise: 22.5 degrees
- Max HP: 3,000
- Fuel Capacity: 1,200 gal.
- Water Capacity: 125 gal.
When it comes to sportfishing yachts Viking already rules the seas, and now it seems Valhalla is ready to claim that mantle among center console yachts. If you want the biggest and the best, it’s a sure bet you’ll soon be sea trialing a Valhalla Boatworks V-55.
See Valhalla Boatworks V-55 boats for sale on Boat Trader.
Written by:
Related
