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Custom boat builders are known to be a bit rigid and set in their ways. They each have their own little nuances that identify the boats as theirs. Certainly, customers also look for those nuances to suit their tastes. However, every once in a while, custom builders are pushed by their clients to step outside the box and incorporate the owner’s tastes, desires and personal inputs to create their dream boat. This is how we got flying bridges, tuna towers, full galleys, painted engine rooms, mezzanines —the whole lot.
Roy Merritt and his team have had the opportunity over the years to stretch their comfort zone, developing now commonplace things such as the mezzanine, which initially came about at the request of a client looking for better seating. While building the third 77-footer, Catch, the crew at Merritt’s was again pushed by the owner to step out of the box for an interior wholly unlike anything they’ve done before.
The charge to integrate design elements similar to the owner’s yacht created challenges mostly for the painters, with minor carpentry tweaks that the woodworkers at Merritt’s integrated easily. There have been several Merritts with different interior looks, including those with “pickled teak,” a sort of bleached or lightened teak. However, for Catch, true white was the order, blended with classic varnished satin teak.
Performance and Bridge
The most remarkable thing about the 77 is her rough-water handling and overall performance. Shortly after delivery, fresh out of the box, Capt. Nick Bovell led Catch to fish Cape Verde and the Azores. Fishing the notoriously rough Northwest Bank off Cape Verde, the boat had regular success on blue marlin. The crew is very impressed with her fishability, dryness and overall ride.
The 77 carries 2,850 gallons of fuel. Transiting to Cape Verde from the Canaries and back, a distance just short of 900 nautical miles one way, Catch carried an additional 1,000 gallons on deck. She was able to cruise at an economical 20 knots with 3,850 gallons aboard. Few boats of her size could carry that much extra fuel, and fewer still could carry it on deck.
Her everyday performance is noteworthy as well. We tested the boat out of Pompano Beach on a breezy day with winds at 15 to 20 knots. Full of fuel, water, and all interior furnishings and gear, her sweet spot is 1,850 rpm, making 29.7 knots burning 154 gph with a mere 72 percent load. A swift cruise at 2,150 rpm gives her 34.4 knots, burning 206 gph at 78.5 percent load. Wide open she reached 40.3 knots, burning 254 gph at 93 percent load.
Her bridge is spacious, with three helm chairs and an integral aft-facing seat. Her varnished teak console with large glove boxes to either side of the raised helm pod features single lever controls with bow thruster control in the handles. The glove boxes house the MTU start/stops, Seakeeper interface, Humphree trim tab control, Fusion stereo interface, Optimus steering interface, Furuno radar user interface, Furuno sonar controller, SidePower thruster control and a host of other vessel controls, all at the skipper’s fingertips.
Her dash is graced with two flush-mounted 22-inch Seatronix monitors along the centerline and two 19-inch Seatronix monitors outboard on each side fueled by a Garmin black box. Overhead in a molded wedge you’ll find the MTU readouts, a Simrad autopilot and rudder angle indicator, and a 12-inch Garmin MFD. A pair of Hooker electric teaser reels are recessed in the bridge hardtop.
Forward of the console is an L-shaped bench seat. There are two aft-facing seats forward on either side of the brow access. In the expansive hardtop, a drop-down door provides storage for rods. Her custom, robust Palm Beach Towers tuna tower features molded spreader lights fore, aft, port and starboard; a freshwater outlet; and a helm with Garmin electronics and sonar access.
Cockpit and Engine Room
Her teak-accented cockpit deck with white caulk is unique for a sport-fisher with a very yacht-grade look. It is spacious and fishy, with a transom livewell/fish box, on-deck livewell plumbing, a large in-deck fish box on centerline aft and a custom Release Marine fighting chair. The Seakeeper sits under deck along the centerline with access from the aft end. Undergunwale storage keeps brushes, chamois and gaffs hidden and organized. She also features salt- and freshwater washdowns in the cockpit.
Her large mezzanine has an L-shaped settee to port. A hi-lo varnished teak table under the air-conditioned overhead makes for a nice lounge. AC and stereo controls are in the armrest of the settee end. The salon door is offset to starboard and is full-length glass framed in varnished teak. To starboard is the day head with the entrance facing inboard, as well as a single seat and a drink box facing aft. Three freezer boxes with massive capacity are situated under the mezzanine.
Along the centerline, a watertight door offers access to the engine room, the size of which will leave even the most seasoned captain awestruck. The amount of space and available access all around the massive twin MTU 2,600 hp engines is uncommon and very nice. A pair of Kohler 32 kW generators sit aft of each engine, with room all around to service them as well. Two 100-amp battery chargers, the fuel transfer system, massive air intakes with mist eliminators and Spot Zero Watermaker membranes, an air compressor and cockpit refrigeration compressors round out the engine space.
Entering the pump room through a second watertight door is a fully functional work room with equipment for the chilled air systems and three individual freshwater system pumps for the cockpit, house and heads. A tool bench with a vise, two black tank macerator pump-outs with gauges and a host of other critical ships systems complete the pump room.
Interior
The 21-foot-2-inch beam creates large living spaces on the 77, as well as making her capable of carrying full fuel loads and all the gear modern boats require. She is a four-stateroom, five-head boat, and her massive salon features a completely custom look. White cabinetry, stone counters, white overhead beams, white leather soft goods and white framing around the windows contribute to the contemporary and bright interior.
A U-shaped settee sits to port next to a high-low table with fold-out leaves for dining. A large TV is mounted on the aft starboard backside wall of the day head. A straight lounge forward of the TV provides seating and additional storage. The dinette features a raised platform, a teak table and a TV.
The galley boasts a light stone countertop with a two-bin stainless sink as well as a cooktop under a lift-up lid. An oven, an ice maker, storage drawers and a cabinet are located under the counter. Along the forward bulkhead, Sub-Zero drawer refrigeration units house perishables, while four large cabinets provide storage. Just forward of the galley, you’ll find an expansive pantry and the electrical distribution room.
The four staterooms share the design elements of the salon. A large master to port features a king berth, cedar-lined closets and an en suite head. A VIP suite with a king berth and an en suite head is fully forward. To starboard are two staterooms with over and under bunks and en suite heads.
Catch is a step out of the box for Merritt; however, its execution and craftsmanship have produced yet another beautiful boat. But most of all, it completed the goal of having another happy custom boat owner.
Read Next: Interview with Roy Merritt.
Merritt 77 Boat Specs
- LOA: 77’7″
- Beam: 21’2″
- Draft: 5’6″
- Displ: 139,000 lb.
- Fuel: 2,850 gal.
- Water: 450 gal.
- Power: Twin MTU 16V 2000 M96L 2,600 hp
- Gear/Ratio: ZF 2.5:1
- Propellers: Michigan
- Paint: Dupont Axalta Imron
- Climate Control: Dometic
