Ocean 48 Super Sport Review and Used Buying Guide

The Ocean 48 and the Leek family formula

Jack Leek founded Ocean Yachts in 1977, and three generations of the Leek family built sportfishermen at the company's South Jersey plant. The Ocean 48 Super Sport became one of the biggest success stories in that history. Built from 1986 through 2003, with one makeover and one complete redesign, it accounts for more than 400 hulls. On the brokerage market, that volume means there is almost always an Ocean 48 for sale somewhere on the East Coast.

The original 48 was an adaptation of the popular 46 Super Sport. Ocean learned from 46 owners who wanted more interior volume and a more contemporary style, and noted naval architect Dave Martin drew the new boat. The company aimed at what John Leek IV described as an owner-operator mentality: efficient yachts that customers could afford to run and fix themselves.

Ocean Yachts did not recover from the Great Recession. In late 2015 Viking Yachts agreed to buy the land and buildings of the plant to expand its own production, while explicitly not buying the Ocean product line. Every Ocean 48 is therefore a used purchase, supported by an owner community and independent yards rather than a factory.

1986, 1991 and 1995, the three Ocean 48s

Understanding the versions is the key to buying the right Ocean 48. The original 1986 boat offered two or three staterooms, with the two-cabin version using a galley-down plan. In 1991 Ocean gave it a makeover with a more refined house, new window shapes and a half tower, still powered by 485 hp GM 6-71 diesels for a mid 20s cruise and about 30 knots on top.

In 1995 the 48 changed from the keel up. Martin drew a new hull with more aggressive deadrise in the modified-V and more beam, and Ocean offered bigger power, including 680 hp MANs that delivered a 28 knot cruise. At the same time the company switched from stick-built interiors to modular interior construction. These later boats are the most sought after today.

• 1986 to 1990: original hull, two or three staterooms, galley down on two-cabin boats
• 1991 to 1994: restyled house and windows, half tower, 485 hp 6-71s
• 1995 to 2003: new hull with more deadrise and beam, modular interior, bigger engines

The interior that sold the boat to families

Ocean understood early that buying a sportfisherman is a family decision. The offshore angler might accept a bare interior; the spouse usually would not. The 48 Super Sport answered with a big L-shaped settee, a wet bar to starboard, a four-person dinette and an entertainment center, and on later boats a wide U-shaped galley up where two people can cook without bumping elbows. A galley-down option remained available.

Under-counter refrigeration keeps the galley open to the salon. The tradeoff for the huge salon is that the staterooms below are on the cozy side. They are meant for sleeping, with three deck hatches bringing in light and heads and stall showers sized appropriately for a 48-footer. Brokers like to say the 48 was a boat men could buy because the women loved the interior.

Cockpit, flybridge and fishability

The cockpit is not huge, but it seats five or six anglers comfortably and comes with cockpit controls, a fishbox, a livewell in the sole, tackle drawers and a tackle center. Freeboard is low enough to land fish easily yet high enough to keep children secure. Engines breathe through vents in the cockpit, keeping the hull sides clean, and the trademark Ocean taper toward the transom narrows the boat at the waterline without stealing cockpit space.

The flybridge ladder runs athwartships at a gentle angle. Up top, twin helm seats sit forward with good sightlines, side and forward settees provide seating and a rocket launcher hangs behind the helm, although the forward settee ends up close to the enclosure. Only a handful of 48s were fitted with flybridge air conditioning, so check whether the boat has it if you fish in the South.

Engines, speed and fuel burn

Engine choice defines the boat. Early hulls ran 485 hp GM 6-71s. Later boats most commonly have Detroit Diesel 6V-92s, which deliver about a 26 knot cruise and 30 knots on top without burning a ton of fuel. Some boats have 8V-92s, which fit but tighten the engine room. MAN options arrived with the 1995 redesign, with 680 hp versions producing a 28 knot cruise and a handful of boats (one broker counted three) carrying 800 hp MANs that brokers say cruise over 30 knots. Power and Motoryacht noted that the bigger MANs add horsepower but the extra performance does not always follow.

Fuel capacity is 685 gallons. No published test gives fuel burn for the 6V-92 boats, but a two-stroke pair at a mid 20s cruise drinks enough that 685 gallons is a canyon-run tank rather than a long-range one; ask the seller for real logbook numbers and plan Bahamas crossings with care.

How the Ocean 48 rides

With modest deadrise at the transom, about 12 degrees, the 48 pops onto plane easily and runs efficiently once at cruise. It sits well in a beam sea and the modified-V handles most conditions comfortably. In a big head sea, though, you will pull the throttles back sooner than on a deep-V Bertram or a heavier Hatteras, which is simply the nature of the hull. The 1995 and later boats, with their more aggressive deadrise, should handle a chop better than the originals.

Running costs and buying advice

Plan on roughly $35,000 to $70,000 a year to keep an Ocean 48, covering dockage, insurance, hauling, bottom paint, engine and generator service and routine repairs. Most owners run them without paid crew, although a mate on fishing days is common.

Used Ocean 48 Super Sports generally ask between about $85,000 and $320,000. The engine room is well lit and easy to work in, which makes servicing straightforward, and the Westerbeke generators and air conditioning units commonly fitted are easy to replace. Focus your survey on the engines, the deck coring and the tower, then compare several boats, because there are enough on the market that patient buyers usually win.