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Pat Healey, President and CEO of the Viking Yacht Company, talks about what drives Viking’s success, the advantages of Viking’s semi-custom sportfish yachts, and the dynamics that make winning sportfishing teams.
Pat Healey’s passion for sportfishing directly influences Viking’s approach to yacht design. An experienced angler himself, he regularly participates in major fishing tournaments as part of the Viking demo team (established in the early 1980s), using these real-world experiences to fuel innovation and build a better boat every day. “I’m known as ‘Left Flat Pat’ in fishing circles because I always fish the left flat. I’m in deep thought, looking at our boats on the horizon, thinking about how we can improve,” he shares. Viking’s Demo Program further emphasizes this connection, as their engineering, sales, and production teams are encouraged to participate in fishing tournaments to gather feedback and firsthand insights.
One pivotal moment in Viking’s history came in 1996 when they introduced a series of innovative design elements, including a new interior, extended overhangs, refrigerated fish boxes, and wrap-around electronics. These features were initially tested on a 53-foot Viking and later perfected on the Viking 55, leading to an “aha” moment that revolutionized their approach. “We had 21 boats sold before we even put the new 55 in the water,” Healey recalls, underscoring the impact of these game-changing innovations. “That was the catalyst that drives us today with new models, new styles, new running surfaces, and new propulsion designs.”
According to Healey, the foundation of a winning sportfishing team starts with a cohesive, dedicated group of individuals who are fully committed to the sport. “Well, you start out with the team. It’s all about the team, and you have to be all in,” Healey explains. Building a successful team is not just about having the right equipment; it’s about the people who make up the crew and their shared dedication to excellence. “You have to put in the practice days of fishing. Everyone must be focused and work together.
Healey emphasizes that every member of the team, starting with the captain at the helm, must believe in themselves and each other. “It starts with the guy on the wheel. The captain must believe in himself and his crew, his mates. That’s where your success comes from,” he says. It’s about having confidence in the entire team’s ability to perform under pressure and the commitment to work at it every day.
This level of teamwork goes beyond individual skill; it’s about synergy and knowing each other’s roles instinctively. “It just takes time, and getting used to each other,” Healey explains. “When a fish comes into the spread, there’s no yelling. We don’t even talk, just go right where we should be.” The ability to operate in harmony is a testament to the team’s deep understanding of one another and their roles on the boat.
For Viking, fostering this team environment extends beyond designing great boats—it’s about supporting the development of great teams. Viking encourages this through their focus on performance-driven design features, making it easier for teams to concentrate on their strategies and execution. In the end, it’s not just the boat but the collective effort of a well-practiced, committed team that drives success in sportfishing tournaments.
When it comes to sportfishing yachts, the debate between Viking’s semi-custom yachts and custom yachts is a hot topic among enthusiasts and professionals alike. Healey offers unique insights into what sets Viking apart and why their approach might just give them an edge.
One of the key advantages of Viking’s semi-custom approach is consistency. “We build the same models over and over again for seven to eight years,” says Healey. “When you build something repeatedly, you get really good at it.” Viking’s production timeline allows them to refine their process continuously, creating a product that benefits from the cumulative knowledge of decades of boat building. This contrasts sharply with custom builders, who might construct one boat a year, limiting their team’s ability to gain the same depth of experience.
“So that’s one of the things I always tell people—you get a better product. Our engineering and production teams have been building boats for over 40 years, and they bring that experience to every project. A custom builder might build one boat a year, and even if their team has been together for 30 years, they’ve only built 30 boats. For us, that’s just six months of work. We build 30 boats in half a year, which gives us an incredible depth of experience and expertise.”
While Viking is known for its semi-custom builds, the company offers extensive personalization options that rival custom yachts. “We don’t refer to it as customization; we call it personalization,” Healey clarifies. Customers can alter their Viking as long as changes are planned well in advance, allowing for engineering adjustments without compromising the build schedule. “We’ve done a lot of unique things, like integrating a custom skylight in the black-mask of the windshield. We do whatever the customer asks us to do to make it theirs,” he adds.
Viking’s approach offers a balance: customers enjoy the reliability and performance of a Viking while still having the freedom to make it their own. “And our process is one-third of the time it takes to build a custom boat,” Healey adds.
The construction process is another key differentiator between Viking and custom sportfish yachts. Vikings are built using fiberglass and resin infusion, creating strong, durable parts with an optimal resin-to-laminate ratio. This process ensures maximum weight savings and structural integrity with reduced maintenance compared to cold-molded wood construction often used by custom builders.
Fiberglass parts maintain their integrity indefinitely, ensuring longevity and reliability. “Our FRP boats aren’t just strong, they’re rock solid and can take a beating.” Moreover, the production process allows Viking to build an 82– or a 90-foot yacht in 10 to 12 months —an efficiency unmatched in the custom market. “We can build these boats on schedule, something that’s just not possible in the custom world.”
When it comes to performance, hull design plays a crucial role, particularly the deadrise and weight distribution of the boat. Healey explains, “It’s about weight and hull design, but mostly weight. “The hull bottoms of our boats and custom boats are darn close,” he says. That wasn’t always the case. “Our entries, 20 years ago, might have been a little bit different, not as much deadrise in the bow as a custom boat,” he says. “But today, there is barely a difference.”
Viking has focused on reducing the weight of their boats significantly over the past decade, allowing them to achieve similar or even better performance compared to custom sportfish yachts. “We’ve taken a lot of weight out of our boats in the last 10 years, and that weight gave us the ability to have the same performance as the majority of the custom boats,” Healey emphasizes. This weight reduction—combined with advancements in hull design and the Viking Advanced Propulsion System that utilizes struts and rudders with modified or “twisted” shapes—ensures that Vikings maintain excellent speed, stability, and fishability. These are all key factors that make them competitive on the tournament circuit.
Viking sportfish yachts have consistently won tournaments across various models and sizes, dispelling the notion that custom boats have an advantage. “We’ve won more legs at Los Sueños than anybody else, with a different boat every year—a new FRP fiberglass boat every year, different sizes, different engines,” says Healey, referring to the Los Sueños Signature Triple Crown out of the Los Sueños Resort and Marina in Playa Herradura, Costa Rica.
In fact, Vikings have won the Los Sueños Triple Crown four of the past five years, with Team Galati winning three times fishing a different Viking (a 62, a 58 and a 64) each year. “We’ve been fishing together for 25 years,” says Healey. “That’s tough to duplicate by another team.” That experience has been used to refine each new model, making Vikings even better fishing boats.
The success in recent years in Costa Rica has been impressive. In 2023, the Viking 72 Rum Runner claimed the Los Sueños Triple Crown, and last year the Viking 64 Fish Tank took 2nd Place overall. Fish Tank/Team Galati are also fresh off back-to-back wins of the Pelagic Rockstar Offshore Tournament, the largest tournament in Central America (fished out of Quepos). The team won in 2023, fishing Galati’s Viking 64, and offered up their newly delivered Viking 64 Fish Tank to capture the crown in 2024.
Back on the East Coast, the Viking 82 demo won the 2024 Bermuda Triple Crown and placed 3rd at Pirate’s Cove, a billfish tournament in the custom boatbuilders’ backyard in North Carolina.
Another critical benefit that comes with owning a Viking is the company’s excellent customer service and care. “We have our own service team from the factory at all major tournaments, including Los Sueños, to support Viking owners and their teams,” says Healey. “No one can offer our level of service, with fully staffed departments in both New Jersey and Florida ready to take care of our owners’ needs.”
Despite the proven tournament success and invaluable service aspect, the allure of a custom boat remains for some. Going custom can be “a personal journey for the owner,” says Healey. “People want to do their own thing. A lot of people thoroughly enjoy the process of building a boat. It’s more about the experience than anything else.”
Healey notes that many Viking owners also find great joy in the hands-on involvement in every detail of their build, putting their personal touches on the boat and outfitting it specifically for their fishing program. “We have about 20 customers a year who say that building the boat is as enjoyable as using the final product. They’re really into it, and they have so much fun doing it.”
A semi-custom Viking can offer both performance and a personalized touch without the extended build times and complexities often associated with custom projects. “At the end of the day, it’s about what you want from the experience,” Healey says. Viking aims to offer a perfect blend of performance, reliability, and personal expression, making their boats a compelling choice for serious anglers and sportfishing enthusiasts.
This article is written from a conversation between Pat Healey, Viking Yachts, and Mary Strauss, Galati Yacht Sales. The Viking-Galati relationship goes back 30 years when Galati Yacht Sales began servicing Viking Yachts on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Over the years, Galati became the area’s Viking dealer. Both companies, family-owned and operated, span three generations and share a commitment to delivering exceptional experiences on the water. Viking’s mantra to build a better boat every day perfectly aligns with Galati’s goal of consistently exceeding customer expectations.
Ready to start your Viking yacht journey? Whether you’re interested in building a semi-custom Viking or exploring the models currently available, our team is here to guide you. With over 55 years of experience in the yachting industry and nearly three decades of expertise with the Viking brand, we are dedicated to helping you find the perfect fit for your needs.
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