Albemarle is perhaps best known for express-style fishing boats, mostly inboard-powered. The 45 Carolinian is an evolutionary step, a walkaround design powered with triple 600-hp Mercury V-12s. Hull No. 1 is done in bright white gelcoat, with a faux teak toe rail that sets off the proud bow flare, broken sheer, tumblehome aft and an engine deck with room to service the outboards. The design is a more modern take on the traditional Carolina look, but its lineage is unmistakable.
“The Carolinian blurs the line between custom and a production build,” says Albemarle senior vice president Burch Perry. “While Albemarle is a production builder, there is a whole lot of custom that goes into this boat, and options that allow the owner to personalize it exactly how they want it.”
The 98-square-foot cockpit reinforces Albemarle’s commitment to its fishing-first design directive. The transom live well doubles as a kill box. There’s also two in-deck fishboxes, a starboard tuna door and mezzanine seating for watching the spread.
The mezzanine opens to access a dry mechanical space that houses the 13.5-kW Onan genset, Seakeeper 6 gyrostabilizer, Spot Zero watermaker, Eskimo Ice icemaker, electrical systems and other equipment. Hatches on the step to the mezzanine and the step up to the helm area are insulated dump boxes for the icemaker. They can be ordered with refrigeration to stow food, drinks and trolling baits.
The raised helm area has seating for six and resembles the flybridge of an offshore sport-fish, positioning the captain and crew for 360-degree visibility beneath a Palm Beach Towers hardtop. Side decks lead to a bow seating area, where there’s a double lounge and plenty of fishing room. A 20-gallon live well lives beneath the forward-most seat.
Director of sales and product development Keith Privott says the 45 Carolinian is the builder’s most versatile design to date, “combining incredible speed and performance, 360-degree fishability, a comfortable helm deck and a functional interior for overnighting. It will allow our owners to go farther and do more than ever before.”
Our test boat had three Release Marine teak ladderback helm chairs facing a dash with a pair of flush-mounted Garmin multifunction displays. All on-board systems can be monitored and controlled through the MFDs thanks to an Empirbus digital switching system. Forward of the console is seating for another three crewmembers, and everyone has a panoramic view through the helm enclosure. A faux teak helm pod is a nod to tradition, and the Mercury digital electronic engine binnacle and joystick made controlling the boat a simpler task.
Below, the salon has black walnut cabinetry, faux teak-and-holly floors, forward and aft seating, sleeping areas, a galley, and a head with a shower enclosure. There’s enough headroom for the tallest fishing mates. A dining table lowers electrically to become a V-berth, and the U-shaped lounge aft converts to an even larger sleeping space. The galley has a recessed electric cooktop, microwave, refrigerator and freezer drawers, solid-surface countertops, a sink, and drawers for dry goods and dinnerware.
We headed out for a quick romp in the Atlantic beyond a gnarly Great Egg Harbor Inlet. The wind had freshened to 20-plus knots from the southeast, and the shoals were alive with building seas and breaking waves. The Carolinian handled all of it without a hint of pounding, parting the waves with her sharp entry and fully loaded displacement of 30,000 pounds.
The hull is fiberglass-sandwiched Corecell that’s vacuum-infused with vinylester resin and strengthened with a fiberglass-encapsulated composite stringer system. After curing, the hull, deck and cockpit liner are mechanically fastened and bonded, creating a solid, rigid structure. When we ran into a head sea at 30 knots, the ride was soft, steady and reassuring at any angle of approach.
The 45 Carolinian cruises at 35 knots with a fuel burn of about 69 gph. With 630 gallons in the tank, range is close to 650 nautical miles at 3.3 knots, and 430 nm at 15.9 knots. The boat had arrived in New Jersey after an eight-hour run from Edenton, North Carolina, without a fuel stop. The outboards push it to a top speed of 47 knots to get to the offshore fishing grounds and back quickly and efficiently.
Albemarle has introduced seven models in the past eight years, including a 53-foot convertible designed in partnership with Carolina builder Paul Spencer. The 45 Carolinian is a head-turner with performance that will meet, if not surpass, most angler’s needs, and all the fishing features you could want.
SPECIFICATIONS
LOA: 45’
BEAM: 13’6”
DRAFT: 2’10”
DRY WEIGHT: 28,000 pounds
FUEL: 700 gallons
WATER: 100 gallons
BASE POWER: triple 600-hp Mercury V-12s
OPTIONAL POWER: quad 400-hp Mercury V-10s
