Grady-White insurance,
through NBOA.

What makes a Grady different. Carolina-built, Hunt-designed.

Grady-White has been building boats in Greenville, North Carolina since 1959. Under Eddie Smith's ownership since 1968, the company stayed a single-factory, single-family operation focused on one thing: ruggedly finished coastal and offshore fishing boats designed to run farther, drier, and softer than the competition.

The defining engineering is the SeaV²® hull, designed for Grady exclusively by C. Raymond Hunt Associates (now Ray Hunt Design) — the firm that invented the modified-vee. A SeaV² hull runs roughly 20° of deadrise at the transom and sharpens continuously forward, reaching close to 30° amidships. That gives a Grady the soft, wave-cutting entry of a deep-vee and the efficiency and stability of a modified-vee aft. Downstream of that hull, almost everything about how the boats get owned, resold, and insured falls in line: owners keep them, second-owner prices stay high, and underwriters treat them as a better-than-average class risk.

Hand-laid hulls, fiberglass stringers.

Every Grady-White hull and deck is hand-laid — pre-cut fiberglass is placed by hand onto the gel-coated mold, which keeps glass-to-resin ratios and laminate thickness consistent across the build. Since 2015, all stringers and transoms are 100% composite fiberglass (bonded to the hull while still in the mold, then hand-laid over), eliminating the wood-rot failure mode that plagues older fiberglass boats. Closed-cell foam is sprayed between stringers for flotation, stiffness, and sound-deadening. The tradeoff Grady makes deliberately: a Grady weighs more than most direct competitors at the same LOA — which is precisely why it rides softer in a chop.

• SeaV²® continuously variable deep-vee hull — ~20° deadrise at transom, sharpening to ~30° amidships for soft entry with modified-vee efficiency aft
• 100% hand-laid hulls and decks — consistent laminate thickness and glass-to-resin ratio across the lineup, no chopper-gun layup
• All-composite fiberglass stringers and transoms on 2015+ boats — eliminates wood-rot structural failure common in older CCs
• Five-year transferable structural hull warranty — non-prorated, runs with the boat to the second owner for the balance of the term
• Closed-cell foam between stringers — flotation, sound-deadening, and stiffness without adding water-absorption risk

Serious offshore fishermen, and families who stay aboard.

Grady owners skew toward experienced offshore fishermen on the mid-Atlantic, Florida, and Gulf coasts — the folks running canyon trips out of Oregon Inlet, Morehead City, Hatteras, Destin, and Venice. A large secondary cohort is family cruisers on the Freedom dual-console line who want the same hull and build quality without the pure-fishing layout. Gradys get held a long time: single-owner boats ten years in commonly trade for 60–75% of original MSRP, and documented service histories are the norm rather than the exception. Underwriters read that ownership profile as lower first-party claim frequency and better-preserved hulls at survey.

The insurance angle. Where Grady shapes the policy.

Three things about Grady-Whites specifically shape how coverage gets placed: the slow depreciation curve makes agreed-value a non-negotiable, the offshore-capable lineup puts owners in navigation territories a standard policy doesn't cover, and the twin/triple outboard powerplants represent a meaningful share of hull value that needs its own treatment.

• Agreed-value over ACV — Gradys often trade at 60–75% of MSRP a decade in. Actual cash value would settle a 10-year Canyon claim at a fraction of replacement; agreed-value locks in a number both sides signed off on at bind. On a Grady, the premium delta over ACV is small and the settlement delta on a total loss is usually 2–4x.
• Navigation territory — the Canyon, Express, Marlin, and larger Freedom hulls are routinely run 30–100+ NM offshore, Gulf Stream, or to the Bahamas. Most standard policies cap at 12–25 NM. Bahamas specifically is an endorsement; crossing without it can void coverage. We place carriers whose territory matches how the boat actually runs.
• Survey requirements — marine surveys are typically required on Gradys 10+ years old for loan amounts above $50K or hull values above $100K. Budget roughly $20–25 per foot for an out-of-water condition and valuation survey — about $600–800 on a 28-footer. Keep the report; it's your evidence on any agreed-value dispute down the road.
• Outboard powerplant treatment — twin or triple outboards on larger Gradys commonly represent 30–45% of vessel value. Outboard-specific theft coverage, mechanical breakdown endorsements, and factory-warranty extensions (particularly on Yamaha F300s and F425 XTO's common on the Canyon line) are worth evaluating separately from hull coverage.
• Regional claim patterns — common Grady claims skew toward lightning strikes (mid-Atlantic and Florida especially), stolen outboards at the dock, cosmetic gelcoat damage from hard offshore use, and storm/haul-out damage during hurricane season. Total losses at sea are uncommon on this hull; underwriters know it, and deductibles and premiums generally reflect it.
• Carrier fit — we place Gradys most often with Progressive, Chubb (for larger Canyons, Marlins, and Express cruisers), and BoatUS/GEICO Marine. Each has different strengths on offshore territory, agreed-value thresholds, and outboard endorsements — NBOA shops the full panel rather than defaulting to one.

This is where an expert at NBOA can step in. As an independent marine insurance brokerage, NBOA quotes Grady-White owners across multiple carriers and matches the policy to how the boat is built, where it runs, and how you actually use it.

Grady-White models we quote.

Beyond the top brands.

NBOA places insurance on 1,100+ boat manufacturers across our catalog — from aluminum skiffs to mega-yachts. If your boat isn't listed here, it's almost certainly one we still write.