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Weaver’s Speedy Center-Console Yacht

The Weaver 41 is a certified fish-chaser with a 48-knot top hop.
Weaver 41
Triple 350 hp Suzuki outboards give the Weaver 41 a 36.6-knot cruise speed. Courtesy Weaver Boatworks

Seventeen thousand pounds of double-planked okoume ply sheathed in epoxy-impregnated E-glass and Kevlar are crafted into a DLBA-designed hull form with Carolina flare in the bow and a tumblehome in the transom. The topsides are laid out for predatorial angling missions and are capped with teak covering boards and toe rails. A Belkov Yacht teak-lined console is belowdecks.

I’m an angler who appreciates art, and this boat was mesmerizing from the moment I laid eyes on it.

I broke out of the trance when I firewalled the throttles on the triple 350 hp Suzuki outboards, running through a chop at a top-end speed of 48-plus knots. The Weaver 41 cruised at 36.6 knots at 4,500 rpm. The cold-molded construction and traditional 24-degree, deep-V hull design worked together to absorb impacts and muffle water noise, providing a comfort level that molded-fiberglass boats can’t normally attain. The Seakeeper 5 gyroscopic stabilization systems didn’t hurt when it came to boosting the comfort factor, either.

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Still, the core purpose of a center-console yacht is catching fish. And though the Weaver is as much sculpted as it is constructed—you’ll want to be uber-careful when swinging a gaff past the gleaming Awlgrip Awlcraft 2000 finish on the hullsides—there’s no mistaking this boat’s mission. There’s a transom livewell; the 65-gallon in-deck fish boxes are large enough for 100-plus-pound tuna; six rocket launchers, two spreader lights and 22-foot Rupp carbon-fiber outriggers are on the hardtop; and an aft-facing bait-watching seat is abaft the helm, which houses a tackle station and 65-quart Yeti cooler.

Because this boat is a hand-built creation, owners have the option to alter that arrangement in myriad ways. “It’s all custom, and we can change anything from the beginning to the end,” says builder Jim Weaver. “Even if you want a 43 instead of a 41, we can make it. We can do whatever you want to do.”

That ability to customize every facet of the boat is another thing that sets the Weaver 41 apart from other center-console yachts. But after seeing the 41 and sea-trialing it, I had this message for Weaver: Don’t change a thing.

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Take the next step: weaverboatworks.com

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