Form and function really meld well on this sport-fisherman, and this is illustrated in the belowdecks layout, which features a starboard-side master stateroom with en suite head. Eye-catching arched doors define the hanging locker here while a dresser sits just forward of the queen-size berth. Additional stowage is found in myriad drawers along the outboard side of the room and in two end tables that flank the berth.
Guests and/or crew can take refuge after a long day of battling big fish in either the portside guest space with side-by-side berths or the forepeak VIP, which on this 55 featured crossover berths — a great arrangement for the hard-core angler and his team. For the straight-up cruiser or cruiser-gentleman angler, you can also get a step-up island queen berth here.
In 1996 Viking Yachts launched its first 55-footer. It was the post-luxury-tax world, and over a five-year period this builder constructed and sold about 150 of them. A lot has been learned over the course of building so many boats, and it shows in the new 55. This wealth of experience, combined with innovations in today’s hull design, build methods and technologies, makes it easy to predict that the Viking 55 will be a winner all over again.
LOA: 56’5”
Beam: 17’9”
Draft: 5’1”
Displ.: 77,700 lb.
Fuel: 1,414 gal.
Water: 225 gal.
Engines (tested): 2 x 1,550 hp MAN diesels
Engines (standard): 2 x 1,400 hp MAN diesels
Base Price: $2,259,000
Price (as tested): $2,932,176
Test Conditions: Speeds were measured by GPS in the waters off Atlantic City, New Jersey, in calm seas and 5 to 10 knots of wind, with full fuel and water and four people aboard. Fuel consumption was calculated by the electronic engine-monitoring system. Sound levels were measured at the helm.
Viking Yachts, 609-296-6000; vikingyachts.com
