Titan Custom Yachts owner Russ Garufi has half a dozen boats under his belt with the introduction of this latest convertible. Garufi is a successful entrepreneur and homebuilder, so after years of running, servicing and repairing his venerable 42-foot Bertram, he decided to build a new boat himself. He was already a student of yacht design and accomplished in all phases of construction, so he had at it in a field in Maryland. The completed boat was the first Titan, a 58-foot convertible. The first person to sea trial the boat bought it on the spot. Since then, he’s built three 62-footers, and we had the opportunity to sea trial his new 64 from his slip at Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland.
Built for Speed
Garufi had worked with Roop Yacht Architecture & Design going back to his first boat in 2003. “There were a few goals we strived to achieve with the hull design of the 64,” says Darron Roop. “Russ wanted to maintain a draft that would clear shallow bars, so we incorporated moderately deep tunnels with a close tip clearance for the five-blade Veem props to achieve a 5-foot-3-inch draft. Russ also wanted the boat to run fast, but he wanted a comfortable ride at speed. We accomplished this by adding more shape and deadrise to key areas of the bottom, which resulted in a fast cruise without pounding and a top speed of 40 knots.”
The 64 looks like a bigger boat, probably owing to the 19-foot-2-inch beam. The rake of house and bridge as it rises from the wide foredeck gives it that sleek, classic custom-yacht look. The fairing work and paint are first class, and the cockpit and mezzanine are finished with teak that, along with the teak covering boards, enhances the classic look.
Engine Room of Titan 64
Accessed via a clever cockpit hatch, ladder and waterproof bulkhead door, the engine room houses a pair of 1,925 hp Cat C32 ACERT diesels. A white powder-coated tool chest sits against the forward bulkhead, with engine gauge panels remotely mounted above it. Fuel filters also reside on the bulkhead forward of each engine for ease of maintenance, along with the Mastervolt battery charger, which feeds two banks of compact Northstar deep-cycle batteries located in cabinets outboard of the engines. Another cabinet provides storage for a full complement of spare filters.
Two Westerbeke 21 kw generators sit aft of the engines, each capable of powering all systems on the boat. Aft of the engine room is the Seakeeper gyro. Garufi is a stickler for making all mechanical components that require service easily accessible, and to that end he included a hidden lift-out section of the cockpit deck over the gyro to facilitate the 10,000-hour service. That’s thinking ahead.
Cockpit
The wide beam gives the boat a large cockpit, accentuated by the mezzanine. There are three livewells; two deep, round wells are located beneath hatches in the cockpit sole, and the third is in the transom, with a clear viewing panel. All hold 50-plus gallons and are fed by a pump system with valves for controlling flow rates. A large Release Marine fighting chair on an offset stanchion graces the center of the cockpit. A massive 462-gallon coffin-size fish box that will easily hold four large bigeye tuna comes fed by a Dometic ice maker and located in the mezzanine deck. A second icebox/storage compartment is situated to port along with a large refrigerated drink box.
Beneath the couch on the mezzanine, an oversize freezer can hold a tournament’s worth of bait or food. Curved wing doors beneath the cockpit coaming open for access to shore power on the starboard side, and the saltwater and freshwater wash-down hoses and gaffs on the port side. To the right of the salon door, there’s a tackle station with a grill on top, and a Marine PC waterproof LCD screen linked to onboard electronics, including the depth finder, drops from a compartment over the mezzanine.
Interior
The salon and galley cabinetry features rich, dark, grain-matched sapele mahogany. An overhead compartment with three drop-down doors opens to reveal eight big-game outfits framed by blue carpeting and blue rope lights. An L-shaped settee with storage beneath is located to port; a cabinet housing the electrical panel, entertainment center and controls for the gensets is just inside the door to starboard.
The galley is well-equipped, with a microwave/convection oven, four induction-cooking surfaces, three refrigerated drawers and one freezer by Sub-Zero, and a lift-out counter panel that reveals a breadbox storage area. There is storage galore in the cabinets above and below the counter.
Accomodations
The Titan 64 has three staterooms and three heads. At the bottom of the stairs to starboard is a double-bunk room for kids or crew, with a head and sink just forward of that. On the port side, a luxurious master features a raised platform bed with a uniquely patterned padded headboard. There is storage beneath the bed, plenty of cabinets with drawers and a cedar-lined hanging closet for clothes.
A makeup vanity with a mirror comes with a pull-out bench upholstered to match the headboard.
Forward of the master, a door conceals an over/under washer and dryer. A second large stateroom in the bow has a raised bed, eight overhead cabinets and a hanging closet for clothes. It has a private head with a shower identical to the master. The entire interior is easy to clean using the central vacuum.
Bridge
You access the flybridge, spacious enough for eight people, via a ladder to starboard. Twin drop-down doors in the hardtop provide lockable storage for eight more rods and reels, and a large dry storage area in the bridge brow is accessed through a rear-facing door.
Twin 19-inch Furuno TZtouch monitors are front and center. A stand-alone NavNet 3 unit is housed off to the side as a backup, and communications gear is flush-mounted in a drop-down compartment overhead. The engines feature Twin Disc transmissions with QuickShift for switching modes.
Performance
Minutes after leaving the slip, we were pushing into 3- to 5-foot seas driven by a southeast wind. Garufi wanted to demonstrate the performance of the Seakeeper, so he put the boat broadside to the heave and it began to roll. Then he engaged the Seakeeper and the boat settled in a matter of seconds, with 90 percent of the roll eliminated by the gyro. Garufi said he would not build another Titan without a Seakeeper.
We headed offshore a couple of miles to put the boat through its paces. Garufi cut a hard circle at 25 knots that was not more than 300 feet in circumference, with the boat leaning modestly into the turn. The big Cats pushed the boat from a slow troll to a 32- to 34-knot cruise in seconds, and the hull responded to the rudders quickly and without any surprises. When it came time to wring it out, the boat ran to 40 knots without hesitation.
The Titan 64 is built with construction techniques that go above and beyond to provide a level of performance, safety and reliability that will withstand many years of navigating an unforgiving sea. She cruises and fishes with predictable grace and comfort.
