Boat test for the 2008 Mainship45 including boat specifications, photo galleries, boat videos, boat layout diagrams, boat test numbers, boat test results, and boat speed graphs. Also includes pricing, engine test reviews, ratings, standard features, and gear for the 2008 Mainship45.

This may be just the boat fuel-conscious baby boomers are looking for.

If you want to get a real feel for what’s going on in the economy these days, try testing boats. One of the less glamorous but more enlightening aspects of this job is meeting with the folks on the front lines who sell boats and marine gear and services, many of whom own their own businesses. While bureaucrats and academics debate whether the current economic milieu is a downturn, a recession, or worse, these people will define for you in clear, declarative English the real health of the U.S. economy. And what they’ve been telling me over these last few months sounds like a very bad case of the flu.

So when I pulled up at the Heritage Yachts office (one of three) in Long Beach, California, in late July, I was prepared for another dose of gloom. Imagine my surprise when owners Tony Duni and Don Ross told me that their business was actually pretty good. What, I thought, is going on here? Had the economy turned around while I was sardined into that 737 on the runway for three hours? Had the Governator managed to recapture some of The Golden State’s gold?

The explanation turned out to be much simpler: "We have the right boat for the times," enthused Duni. The boat he was speaking of is Mainship, (Heritage also carries a line of sailboats), which, he explained, is not only competitively priced but also fuel-efficient, a highly desirable trait in this the age of five-buck-a-gallon (or whatever it is by the time you read this) fuel.

His enthusiasm is well placed. Just look at our test results. If you can manage a light touch on the twin electronic Teleflex controls--say, 1500 rpm--the standard twin 440-hp Yanmars will push you along at nearly 10 mph while sipping just 3.2 gph. That works out to 3.1 mpg, making the 45 a veritable 40,000-pound floating Prius, at least at this speed. Nudge those sticks all the way to 2000 rpm (12.4 mph) and you still get a mile per gallon. Efficiency like that explains why Mainship calls this a Trawler. But unlike a true trawler (i.e., with a full-displacement hull form), the 45 can get out of her own way. A semidisplacement running bottom lets her top out just shy of 26 mph, at which speed you’re admittedly down in not-so-remarkable 0.60-mpg territory. How she manages to offer both speed and efficiency is actually pretty simple: flat aftersections that convert thrust into forward movement. She’s also got hard chines (unlike a true trawler), which supply the lift needed for double-digit speeds and which should provide good initial stability if not the seakindliness round-bilge designs are famous for. My stability comments are, alas, speculative since the Pacific on test day could barely muster a roll. Were I to contemplate a long-term relationship with this boat I'd thoroughly check out that issue since, as you can clearly see in the accompanying photos, the 45 is rather tall for her length.

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