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Meridian 459 Motoryacht

The published record on this model and what owners report, with the questions worth asking while a boat is still a listing. This page covers the model. Every boat still needs its own homework.

The published record

Length overall47.67 ft
Beam14.33 ft
Draft3'10"
Fuel330 gal
Water90 gal
Holding55 gal

Source: PowerBoat Guide's 459 Cockpit MY sheet. If a listing disagrees with these numbers, the listing may still be right. Settle the difference before it costs you.

A roomy planing motoryacht with stairs to the bridge and modest tanks. Get her real fuel burn at Loop speed and measure the air draft yourself.

The Meridian 459 is a cockpit motoryacht built from 2004 to 2008. PowerBoat Guide gives her 47'8" overall, a 14'4" beam and a 3'10" draft, with 330 gallons of fuel, 90 of water and 55 of holding. Gas engines were standard, and the boats for sale now mostly have twin Cummins diesels. Each of the two staterooms has its own head with a separate shower, and molded stairs lead up to the flybridge. Published clearances run from 14'4" to 17', and no published test gives her fuel burn.

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How to read the tags on this page. CLAIMstated by one source, not yet confirmed QUESTIONopen, and settled by looking at the boat itself Sources are linked where published.

Buying

CLAIM
Built from 2004 to 2008, a cockpit version of Meridian's 408 Motor Yacht PowerBoat Guide dates the 459 Cockpit MY to 2004 through 2008 and calls it a cockpit version of the 408 Motor Yacht introduced in 2003. Every 459 listing we read is a 2004 to 2008 boat. src: PowerBoat Guide's 459 Cockpit MY sheet
QUESTION
Has the 1,000-hour service been done, and has either engine been rebuilt? Several 459 listings mention a 1,000-hour service, and one discloses a starboard engine rebuild. On a boat this age, ask for the service records along with the hours. src: Denison listings for the 2007 'Pipe Dream' and the 2004 'Meant 2 B'
Your move: Ask for the engine and generator service records, and ask why any rebuild was done.

Livability

CLAIM
The engine room is tight, with low headroom Caswell calls the engine room the only tight area on the 459. You reach it through a lift-out panel in the salon sole, and lifting two more panels improves access to the engines. He calls it acceptable for the usual checks. src: Chris Caswell's 459 review in Yachting (via Denison Yacht Sales)
Your move: Ask your surveyor to confirm they can reach the outboard side of each engine and both shaft seals.
CLAIM
Molded stairs lead up to the aft deck and on to the flybridge Caswell writes that the steps to the bridge are comfortably spaced. Listings describe a molded staircase from the cockpit to the aft deck and molded steps from there to the bridge. src: Chris Caswell's 459 review in Yachting (via Denison Yacht Sales); Denison listing for the 2007 'Y-knot'
CLAIM
Two staterooms, each with its own head and a separate shower In Caswell's review the master's head is divided, with the toilet aft and a separate enclosed shower forward, and the guest stateroom has a door to a large day head with a shower. A 2007 listing lists a stall shower in the forward head. The master has its own slider to the cockpit and an athwartships queen. src: Chris Caswell's 459 review in Yachting (via Denison Yacht Sales); Denison listing for the 2007 'Y-knot'
CLAIM
A lower helm was optional, in place of the dinette Caswell's test boat had the optional lower helm, which replaces the standard dinette in the salon. He would skip it, because the flybridge is open to the hardtop-covered aft deck and can be fully enclosed. src: Chris Caswell's 459 review in Yachting (via Denison Yacht Sales)
Your move: Check which this boat has. Without one, every hour underway is spent on the flybridge.
CLAIM
The galley counters have no sea rails Caswell notes the absence of sea rails or lips on counter surfaces, especially in the galley. src: Chris Caswell's 459 review in Yachting (via Denison Yacht Sales)
Your move: Plan where things go in the galley before an open-water crossing.

Handling

CLAIM
The electric bow and stern thrusters can overheat with long use Caswell writes that these electric thrusters, used for extended periods, can overheat and shut down at an awkward moment. Holding position in a lock or against a current is when you'd lean on them. src: Chris Caswell's 459 review in Yachting (via Denison Yacht Sales)
Your move: Ask the seller whether either thruster has ever shut down, and how they use them in locks.

Air draft

CLAIM
Published clearances run from 14'4" to 17', and none says what it measures to PowerBoat Guide prints 14'4", which is also its beam figure, so treat it with care. A Bluewater listing gives 16'5" and a Denison listing gives 17' for other boats. All of them are under the Loop's 19'6" limit, but none says whether the radar and antennas are counted, and we haven't found anything saying what folds. src: PowerBoat Guide's 459 Cockpit MY sheet; Bluewater and Denison listings
Your move: Measure from the waterline to the top of the radar, the anchor light and the tallest antenna, with everything up, and ask what folds.

Fuel & range

QUESTION
What does she burn at 7 to 8 knots, and at cruise? We haven't found a published test with fuel burn. An Australian dealer's write-up of a 2005 boat with twin 380 hp Cummins quotes the owner at about 625 nautical miles at 7.5 knots and about 230 at 15 to 16 knots, on 330 gallons. That works out to roughly 4 gallons per hour slow and 22 at cruise, by our arithmetic. PowerBoat Guide calls her fuel capacity modest for a boat this size. src: TradeABoat dealer write-up (owner's figures); PowerBoat Guide's 459 Cockpit MY sheet
Your move: Ask the seller for logged burn at 1,200, 1,600 and 2,400 rpm, with the speed at each.

Engines

The engines research is part of the full profile inside the product. It covers factory options, tested performance and the engine-specific questions in our members' dossiers, and it travels with every dossier and survey brief built on this model.

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