Viking 70 Sportfish Yacht Highlight [Boat Review + Video]

Explore PIPE DREAMER, a 70′ Viking Sportfish yacht for sale in Brielle, New Jersey. Mike Burke gives a personal tour of this vessel.

Hi, my name is Mike Burke with Denison Yachting. I’m here today to take you through a 2015 70-foot Viking, called Pipe Dreamer. Out of all the new boats that I’ve built, this current owner has built four of them, making this a very special boat. This is by far the nicest 70 Viking currently on the market. Now, I’m going to hand it off to Ryan and I’m going to let him walk you through and show you why Pipe Dreamer is an amazing 70 Viking.

This morning at sunrise, Captain Robby and I left the dock in a narrow window between storm clouds. We ran south from the Jupiter Inlet in order to put this amazing Viking through the paces. With most Sportfish yachts, you can tell if the client building her was more enthusiastic about fishing or cruising. The difference between these two mindsets, onboard pipe dreams is almost impossible to parse.

Everything about the profile of this 70 Viking is the result of innovations spanning decades. She features modern materials like the carbon fiber making up her deckhouse with finishing touches provided by more traditional materials. A big part of her performance package was the fact that it allowed Viking to remove 20,000 pounds of weight from the boat.

Her massive teak appointed cockpit is loaded with options that make the fishing part of this experience easy and exciting. Whether waging war from her fighting chair or spectating from the molded in mezzanine, no one has to miss out on the fun that this boat provides.

Stepping inside transports you to a completely different experience, one that’s quiet and luxurious. It wasn’t just the exterior of the yacht that was spared no expense but also the areas were you and your guests find themselves when the fish stop biting.

A 4-stateroom 5-head layout means that Pipe Dreamer can comfortably sleep 8-guests. When you step into one of these cabins, especially the ones we find forward, you’re sure to find a lot of storage and headroom. All of the headroom found below deck indicates that her bow is domineering with over 8-feet of freeboard that makes easy work of temperamental seas.

This towering freeboard bends towards the waterline as it traces back to the cockpit. Back here, the freeboard measures 3-feet offering optimal access to the water with the safety of a wide teak coming. In all this space takes up 208 square feet of this yacht’s impressive floor plan. This leaves more than enough room for fishermen and spectators to share this area as you pull fish on board through a portside tuna door.

When you’re ready to reload you have immediate access to your live bait via an aquarium live well in the transom or you can quickly grab frozen bait off a bait tray in the mezzanine. The sole of both the mezzanine and the lower portion of the cockpit is finished in durable and well-maintained teak that disguises an impressive amount of storage.

First found underfoot is a Seakeeper M26 gyroscopic stabilizer. This wide access makes it easy to service both the gyro and the steering system. The two other large hatches down here are fish boxes of which the portside is filled directly with ice. These fish boxes are huge yet they don’t obstruct her centerline fighting chair in any way.

The forward section of the cockpit is an observation mezzanine that provides this 70 Viking with a broad range of capacity. First, to port, we see a seating area with tackle storage below. You can remove the pad to reveal a top-mounted grill above the tackle center. A bench seat is found on the starboard side of the mezzanine that makes this Sportfish drastically more enviable.

This seating area covered by a molded hardtop may end up being the most views seating on board next to the captain’s helm seat. Outboard to starboard is an auxiliary KEP monitor that’s tied into the GPS and navigation systems. Also found in this area is a ton of storage for bait that’s refrigerated.

Looking centreline we locate the engine room access hatch found in the mezzanine steps. Pipe Dreamer has a fantastic MTU engine package featuring twin 16V 2000 M94s. Aft of the engines is a Cummins Onan gen set with twenty-seven-and-a-half kilowatt generators. In addition to her gen set, the engine room is also equipped with a 1,400 gallon per day water maker and a spot zero reverse osmosis system.

Each one of our MTU engines puts out 2600 horsepower offering her owner a platform with a go anywhere mentality. Sweetening the deal is the fact that these engines are covered under MTU extended warranties that last until March 3rd, 2021, or 3,300 hours, whichever comes first. With throttles pegged this 70 Viking reports reaching top speeds of 42 knots and cruises comfortably between 32 and 34 knots.

Stepping inside through an electric door we arrived at the part of the yacht that your wife is sure to sign off on. Taking up most of the yachts 19-foot-7-inch beam, it’s Pipe Dreamer salon that’s loaded with luxurious options and top-of-the-line finishes. An open area to relax is found aft right by the entrance. An L-shaped sofa wraps around a protected bird’s-eye maple coffee table. Below the sofa cushions is an expansive tackle storage area. 

Forward to starboard, we see a U-shaped dinette. A great feature of this 70 is the day head that’s found aft on the port side. Here, you can kick off your wet shoes and wash up before taking a seat at the bar. Forward of the day head, inside the upper cabinet, are the yacht’s AC and DC ship service panels with an Octoplex monitor above. Directly below the service panels is a sub-zero clear icemaker to complement the galley. And then parallel with the portside window is a 46-inch Samsung TV that hides away electrically.

Next, we come to the galley by way of a centerline island appointed with a golden beach stone countertop. This prep area also serves as your go to option for meals in between fish. Found in the island are two drawer style sub-zero freezers and four sub-zero refrigerators. Amtico flooring is the only thing that separates the two galley countertops.

The forward portion of the galley serves not only as a storage area but also contains a 4-burner Kenyan cooktop, conventional microwave, convection oven, and a stainless sink. Forward of the galley is what is commonly referred to as the doghouse. This is a glorified storage space that’s air-conditioned and crucial for long excursions.

Now, let’s leave the main deck and head down this set of stairs and check out the guest accommodations, the first of which is on the port side at the foot of these stairs. This cabin is considered the crew cabin because of her bunk layout and the fact that there’s direct access to the engine room found on the aft bulkhead. Like all of the guest cabins on board, this cabin is equipped with an ensuite head and shower. Leaving the crew cabin let’s continue forward in the guest companion way and make our way into the 70 Viking’s midship master stateroom.

The layout of the owner’s suite is centered around a walk-around berth. The storage here is mirrored with a banquette of drawers and hanging lockers to each side of the bed. With an open feel, this plush master dispels the idea that a Sportfish can’t be charming. On the forward bulkhead, there’s a 32-inch Samsung TV in addition to the ensuite entrance. Immediately outside of the master’s entrance is the yacht’s laundry center. Continuing forward and looking to port we arrive at the third stateroom which features bunks and an ensuite aft. And then finally we arrive at her final stateroom – the bow VIP.

Storage can be found on both sides of her island berth. Looking aft to the port is the cabin’s TV and a starboard is the entrance into the ensuite. Directly above this cabin is pipe dreamer’s stretching foredeck. Something that sets this area apart is the teak rail running around the perimeter of the bow. It boldly expresses what we know to be true about the yacht’s overall style. While finishes like this hint at the traditional, it’s the advances in this Viking’s engineering that really take the spotlight. Take, for example, the black metallic mask that wraps its way around the front of the deckhouse. In addition to being an aggressive aesthetic upgrade, it’s been painted onto an innovative carbon fiber deck house.

Forward on the bow is the windlass setup that features a Lewmar V4 windlass just forward of deep anchor lockers. A deleted pulpit buttons this area up neatly free of clutter. Wrapping up on the bow, let’s take a look at the flybridge which we’ll access from a teak finished ladder in the cockpit. Once we step up onto the flybridge, we see three Release Marine Trillian series helm chairs that face an island helm. Most visible is a teak Release helm pod with single lever controls on each side that have been integrated with bow thruster controls.

Above the wheel, we see three KEP multifunctional displays that are at the moment set up to display from left to right- a depth finder, chart plotter, and radar data when off the dock. Directly below these monitors is a Fusion stereo control, a pair of engine monitors that flank a Richie compass. The rest of the electronics are hidden away in weather-proof compartments. Below the portside hatch is an Octaplex control panel and a FLIR night-vision control.

In the starboard compartment, our engine stop-start controls, and a secondary bow and stern thruster control. Found overhead our four outrigger reels with additional navigation instruments just forward. These controls are comprised of an 8-inch Garmin GPS map, a pair of icon VHF radios, and an RD33 data display.

Flanking the helm and leading us forward is comfortable ultra-leather seating for your mate deckhand and your guests. In the forward section of this air-conditioned enclosure is a sink on the port side and there’s also a large bridge freezer box forward of the bench seat.

Also note this cutaway in the fiberglass that offers the captain a clear view of the bow as it tears through the water. 9-feet above the flybridge hardtop is Pipe Dreamer’s 15-step tuna tower. Found at this upper helm are all of the tools that you need to run this boat while the rest of the team follows your lead as you quarterback from beneath a matte black hardtop.

For control, the centerline is a stainless steel wheel and then there’s a Garmin multifunction display found on the port side. On the starboard side of the wheel our engine throttles, a VHF radio, and a Furuno no data display as well as a bow thruster or joystick.

Thank you so much for joining Denison Yachting, Mike and myself on today’s walkthrough of this 70 Viking. Should you have any questions, you can feel free to reach out to Mike Burke at any time.