Power & Motoryacht – June 2017

30 POWER & MOTORYACHT / JUNE 2017 WWW.PMYMAG.COM

NEW BOATS

Viking 37 Billfi sh

But I counted three con-

siderably more fundamental

features that really set my boat

afl oat. First of all, the 37’s pow-

erplant was a robust, simple,

easy-to-maintain, straight-shot

inboard setup. With two stan-

dard-issue, 550-horsepower

Cummins diesels, a fairly deep

gear ratio of 2:1, and a couple

of big wheels, you gotta fi gure

that combination will give

this little beauty the handling

and performance of a freakin’

sports car. And then, there was

a lower station as well as an

upper, a rather unusual feature

for a boat in this size range. As

most of us know, fully enclosed

and air-conditioned lower

stations extend the boating

season for northerners and

southerners alike. And fi nally,

I saw nothing outside or inside

LOA: 37'8"

BEAM: 13'10"

DRAFT: 2'8"

DISPL.: 29,329 lb.

FUEL: 440 gal.

WATER: 66 gal.

STANDARD POWER: 2/550-hp

Cummins QSB6.7 diesels

CRUISE SPEED: 30 knots

TOP SPEED: 35 knots

GENERATOR: 9-kW Cummins

PRICE: $730,000

Viking’s new 37 Billfi sh to in-

dicate that the boat—although

she’s got undeniable entry-level

appeal—has been cheapened

in any way. Is she smaller than

all of her sisterships? Sure, but

hey, she’s a full-fl edged mem-

ber of the Viking family. No

question about it!

—Capt. Bill Pike

Viking Yachts, 609-296-

6000; vikingyachts.com

H

ave you seen the baby

Viking?” somebody

asked, as I hoofed

it around Yachts Miami

Beach earlier this year. Th e

guy seemed pretty excited

(heck, he was more or less

jumping up and down), so I

immediately beat feet over to

the Viking Yachts display and

jumped aboard the company’s

brand-new Viking 37 Billfi sh.

I must say, I experienced

some excitement myself.

I mean, how could anybody

not get a little worked up over

such a little jewel? For start-

ers, her profi le from dockside

was both classic and gor-

geous. Aft er little more than

a glance, I was able to spot

two rock-solid, heartstring-

twangin’ design infl uences,

one arising from the old Mer-

ritt and Rybovich dayboat

classics of the ’50s and ’60s,

and the other from another

37-foot convertible bearing

the Billfi sh designation and

very successfully marketed

by Ocean Yachts, which sold

its entire operation to Viking

Yachts a couple of years ago—

lock, stock, and tooling.

Ducking inside did nothing

to diminish my mood. Th e 37’s

simple layout resembled the

old Oceans a good bit, though

it had been seriously Viking-

ized. Indeed, everything I

looked at on board —from the

sweetly varnished teak joinery

belowdecks to the substantial

Palm-Beach-style steering pod

on the fl ybridge—brought to

mind the dictum “don’t spare

the horses.”

Which, of course, is not to say

that simplicity and practicality

were not on hand as well. For

example, I saw just one, sensible-

for-a-37-footer sleeping cabin—

ample, up forward, and available

as a queen or with a couple of

bunks. Moreover, the L-shaped

galley was small, but off ered all

the appliances most cruising

families will need on overnight-

ers and vacations, including

two large Isotherm refrigerator/

freezer drawers and a giant, pull-

out pantry. And the reasonably

sized head sported a separate

shower stall, the express-style

bridge-deck was outfi tted with a

convertible dinette to port (with

great sit-down sightlines), and

the 86-square-foot cockpit

was chock-a-block with fish-

fighting essentials.