- Founded
- 1956
- Headquarters
- 450 SW Salerno Road, Stuart, FL 34997, United States
- Shipyard location
- Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia
- Official website
- https://www.grandbanks.com/
Brand Overview
The long-range cruiser marque that began as American Marine in Hong Kong in the 1950s and launched the Grand Banks 36 in 1965 — eight carbon-infused V-Warp models from the Eastbay 44 to the 26.6-metre Grand Banks 85, built in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia and sold factory-direct from Stuart, Florida under ocean-racing champion Mark Richards.
Overview written fromgrandbanks.comread 9/18/2026
YachtCodex Analysis
AI-generatedAn independent reading of this builder written by AI. Unlike the specifications and descriptions elsewhere on this page, it is interpretation rather than a sourced fact — treat it as a starting point, not a citation.
What this builder is
Grand Banks traces its story some seventy years back to Hong Kong, where Robert Newton, an American soft-drink bottling manager in his late fifties, suggested to his sons John and Whit that they build boats on the lot where the company trucks parked; by 1962 American Marine was at Junk Bay building heavy sailboats and motor yachts, and in 1965 the Grand Banks 36 redefined coastal cruising and spawned a range that runs to this day. Production moved to Malaysia in 1995, and today Grand Banks Yachts is led by ocean-racing champion and shipwright Mark Richards, with the factory at Pasir Gudang in Johor and a factory-direct sales network headquartered at Stuart, Florida, with offices in Fort Lauderdale, Newport, Rowayton, San Diego, Newport Beach, Sydney, the Gold Coast, Heeg, San Remo and Shepperton. The current Long Range Cruiser series — Grand Banks 54, 60, 62, 65, 73 and 85, in flybridge and skylounge versions — and the Downeaster series Eastbay 44 and 60 are built with the proprietary V-Warp Technology: a warped semi-displacement hull infused with E-glass and fused to a carbon-fibre structure, holding a five-degree running angle and using less than half the fuel of similar-sized boats. Every model page prints length overall and on deck, beam, half-load displacement, tanks, and for the standard and optional engines the top and cruising speeds, range at a stated speed and burn, and draft, in both units.
Who sails them
Grand Banks owners are experienced long-range cruising couples and families — Americans running the East Coast and the Bahamas, Australians and Europeans doing the same on their coasts — who want a fast, efficient, quiet yacht with a trawler pedigree, who value carbon-fibre construction and Volvo Penta shaft or IPS power, and who buy factory-direct with the builder's own service behind them.
Signature models
The Grand Banks 60 is the icon of the current range, the 62 and 65 extend it with the 65 reaching 35 knots and 957 nautical miles, the 85 is the flagship, the Eastbay 44 carries the C. Raymond Hunt Downeast hull, and the Grand Banks 36 of 1965 is the design the brand is built on.
Strengths
Grand Banks is known for the V-Warp warped semi-displacement hull, carbon-fibre and infused E-glass construction, class-leading fuel efficiency and range at speed, Volvo Penta shaft and IPS options, flybridge and skylounge versions, factory-direct sales and service, and a heritage from the Grand Banks 36 through the Heritage, Aleutian and Eastbay series.
Considerations
Figures are for the standard configuration recorded at half-load during testing, with speeds, range and draft changing by engine option (the optional engines' figures are kept as notes); range is quoted at a stated speed and fuel burn (761 NM at 21 knots and 42 GPH); 'Length On Deck' is stored as hull length; the Grand Banks 73 prints TBA for displacement, speeds and range; the Eastbay 44 page has no layout drawings; and galleries load client-side, so pictures were captured from a browser visit.
Analysis generated 9/18/2026
Part of
Also in the catalogue
Where they build
The building sites this yard publishes, in its own order.
Pasir Gudang
Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia
Fleet at a Glance
Calculated from the models in the YachtCodex catalog, not from the builder's claims.
- Models in catalog
- 8
- Length range
- 14.9–26.58 m
- Hull forms
- Motor Monohull 8
- Cabins
- 2–4
Models by this brand
8 models
History
The Grand Banks story began some seventy years ago in Hong Kong, where Robert Newton, an American expatriate managing a soft-drink bottling plant on a street called Mok Cheong -- 'factory that works on wood' -- suggested to his sons John and Whit, though already in his late fifties and with no marine background, that they build boats on the lot where the company's trucks parked. By 1962 the enterprise had moved to Junk Bay and, as American Marine, was building heavy sailboats and big motor yachts; the first Grand Banks 36 hit the water in 1965 and made the marque a pioneer of long-range cruising. Production moved to Malaysia in 1995, and under the ocean-racing champion Mark Richards, CEO and chief designer, the current range with its V-WARP hulls and carbon construction has reinvented the icon while keeping its heritage of style, luxury and extended cruising.
History written fromgrandbanks.com/about· Greatness grown from humble beginningsread 9/22/2026