Burger 48 Cruiser is a Custom Yacht Alternative for Production Boat Buyers

Burger Yachts is organically growing its own megayacht clientele. Wooing would-be production boat buyers into small yacht owners with their new 48 power cruiser, the legendary shipbuilder’s custom yacht alternative for production line buyers provides megayacht elegance and quality, albeit in a smaller vessel.

The iconic Wisconsin builder identified a market for a midsize, luxury power cruiser with a custom interior and two cabin configuration. Built especially for a high-end, hands-on, owner-operator who drives his own boat, the 48-foot vessel designed by Vripack has a patented sliding hull for a smoother ride.

“This offers semi-custom opportunities and alternatives to production boats,” said Ron Cleveringa, vice president of sales and marketing for Burger Boat Company. “It introduces the Burger brand to those who thought Burger only built 100-foot boats. That was the impetus behind Blue Boat Home, the 48-cruiser with a Celeste Wegman interior, recently delivered by Burger for a private owner who wanted a special design.”

Cleveringa says there is a niche for the upscale boat owner to build his own midsize vessel with a custom interior.

“I was talking to a guy with a 50-foot Prestige 2017 who’s ready to move up,” Cleveringa said. “Perhaps we can fill his need when he’s ready to build.”

A spec 48-foot sister ship with a Luis deBasto interior is in production. The sliding sunroof and sweeping, peerless views from the saloon and helm provide natural ventilation and connect seamlessly with the outside world.

Vripack’s Slide Hull reduces crew, passenger fatigue
Two 600hp Volvo Penta propulsion engines and IPS drive performance make the 48 Cruiser fast and fun, with the control an owner-operator needs for security at sea.The Slide Hull is more efficient than a planing hull, offering a smoother ride, according to Cleveringa.

'“It’s a deep vee, hard chine hull,” he said. “Some would call this a planing hull with unusual characteristics, like reduced slamming, reduced pitching and increased fuel economy. The ride characteristics reduce fatigue for an incredible ride. It has good motion and damping hull shape. She doesn’t dive deep into the wave, but cushions on the water surface with less fore and aft pitching while underway.”

Burger is still serving its traditional market, yacht owners with new builds up to 160-feet, but has more design concepts in the 60 to 80-foot range these days.

“It was more a ‘what do you build question,’” said Cleveringa. “We’re also doing a lot of refit and repair work on yachts and commercial vessels with repeat clients."

Recently launched commercial vessels at Burger include tour and passenger vessels Lucia, Articus, Chicago’s Classic Lady and Chicago’s Leading Lady, and a fish tug for Wisconsin DNR, Coregonus.