Henriques 50 Sportfisherman, Flagship of the Henriques Boats for Sale

Henriques boats for sale and why the 50 sits at the top

Henriques boats for sale rarely sit long in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 50 Sportfisherman is the most ambitious of them. Henriques Yachts, founded in Bayville, New Jersey, in 1977 by Portuguese-born boatbuilder Joaquim "Jack" Henriques, built its name on 35, 38 and 42 foot sportfishermen with outsize cockpits. The 50 took that formula to flagship size. Sport Fishing previewed the 50 SF among its 2012 new boats, and Marlin's first full owner story described a boat delivered in late July 2013.

Today the builder offers the 50 as an Express, an Express Hardtop, an Express Hardtop with Bridge and the flybridge Sportfisherman covered here. The company says the 50 platform has a 210 sq ft cockpit, the largest in its range. The family still runs the yard: Jack Henriques died in 2019, and his daughters Maria and Natalia and son-in-law Manuel Costa carry on the semi-custom tradition.

Bulldog construction you cannot see

Marlin's Ken Kreisler described the 50 as having a bulldog-tough appearance that is confirmed the moment you step aboard: no deck flex, beefy hardware, thick rails. Underneath, the bottom is hand-laid solid fiberglass sandwiched between layers of vinylester resin up to the waterline, with Divinycell coring in the hull sides, house and decks. Stringers are high-density foam encapsulated in glass with multiple cross members, and the hull and topsides are through-bolted with adhesive before the joint is glassed over.

The yard also does something unusual when fitting out. Once the main machinery is about half installed, the deck goes on before batteries, pumps and compressors are placed, so the crew can see what is accessible and lay the rest out around service access rather than as an afterthought. Distinctive gill-slit louvers on the house sides keep spray out of the engine room.

C18s, 1,000 gallons and an engine room with elbow room

Standard power is twin Caterpillar C18 ACERT diesels; Marlin's test boats had the 1,015 hp rating, and Sport Fishing's preview listed a maximum of 1,100 hp per engine. Kreisler found enough clearance to reach the outboard sides of both engines, the whole space and lazarette finished in gelcoat over vinylester, watertight compartments fore and aft, five bilge pumps and crash pumps on the engines.

Fuel totals about 1,000 gallons. On the boat Marlin tested, a T-shaped 750 gallon centerline tank sat under the cockpit fish boxes, with molded fiberglass saddle tanks following the bottom shape on each side and a transfer pump switch at the helm. Water capacity is 160 gallons. On the express-hardtop sister tested in 2017, the engine room also held a Seakeeper 9 and an 11.5 kW generator, with heavy stainless shafts each supported by two large manganese bronze struts.

Speed and fuel on twin C18s

Henriques quotes a 30 knot cruise and a 36 knot top speed with twin C18s. Marlin's 2013 test off Atlantic City matched that closely: 31 knots at 2,000 rpm burning an average 74 gph, and 36 knots wide open on 96 gph. The owner told Kreisler about running home for eight hours into big head seas and being glad of the boat under him.

The Express Hardtop version tested by Marlin in 2017 on the same engines cruised efficiently at 1,900 rpm and 29 knots at 68 percent load on 69 gph, and dropped below 60 gph at 26 knots. That owner had asked for shallow prop pockets and a shaft angle reduced by three degrees to keep draft down for Florida Keys use, and Marlin found no noticeable performance difference from the standard hull, which tells you how adaptable the yard is.

Layouts built to order

The builder's standard description is a spacious salon, three staterooms and two heads with teak joinery. Manny Costa told Marlin there is no set plan: two or three layouts are presented and mixed to suit each owner, with any fabric, wood and finish. The first owner Kreisler met chose a two-stateroom, two-head layout with over and under bunks forward convertible to a queen, the master to starboard and the galley down to port where a third cabin could have gone, freeing the salon for his crew to stretch out on 23 inch wide couches with rod storage beneath.

That flexibility is great when ordering and a homework item when buying used. Confirm the actual cabin count, berth sizes and galley position on any listing, since two boats called Henriques 50 SF can be very different below.

The cockpit and flybridge

The cockpit is enormous. Marlin measured 185 sq ft on the 2013 boat, with a pair of refrigerated in-sole fish boxes, a transom livewell, a large walk-through fish door, a mezzanine full of drawers and cabinets, a cockpit steering station to starboard and engine room access. The builder's literature also lists a freezer, livewell and room for a fighting chair, with optional full mezzanine seating.

On the bridge, test boats carried custom pedestal seats, teaser reels in the overhead, 32 foot Rupp double-spreader outriggers, a full enclosure and extensive rod storage, with a pod-style helm and room for big electronics. The yard handles most pipework; the express hardtop boat Marlin tested had a tower by Ocean View Marine Welding.

• Cockpit 185 sq ft on the boat Marlin tested; builder quotes up to 210 sq ft for the 50 platform
• Refrigerated fish boxes with macerators, transom livewell with window
• Mezzanine with tackle storage and cockpit helm station
• Flybridge with pod helm, enclosure and teaser reels

Prices, resale and running costs

The 50 SF listed at $1.5 million in 2012. We estimate a new boat in 2026 at roughly $2.6 million to $3.4 million, and used boats from 2013 to 2022 at about $1.1 million to $2.3 million. Few are built and owners tend to keep them, which supports values; Marlin's 2017 owner was on his fourth Henriques.

Excluding depreciation, plan on $110,000 to $200,000 a year for dockage, insurance, a mate or captain, C18 and generator service, bottom paint, tower and outrigger care and fuel. At 74 gph, a 100 hour season of running time burns about 7,400 gallons.