jfm
Well-known member
Here are the first pics I have of my new Sq78 in build. I hope the forum’s appetite for boat build/refits can absorb more such pictures 
and I’d be grateful for further ideas and comments from this forum on the mods that are planned.
Here’s a quick history: my previous squadron 78 (build story on this thread, and I'll call her Match1 here because the new boat will also be Match and I’ll call the new boat Match 2 here), was delivered March 2011 and I had a great 2011 season on her plus some early 2012 cruises. Then some folks came along and offered a nice price, so with emotional reluctance but commercial logic I handed her over to new owners on 4th July 2012. She’s now in Sweden.
I then had to decide on a new boat. All the weighing up of pros-cons that we all do when choosing boats is too much to describe fully in this post, so maybe return to that topic another time. But in brief, I wanted a fast flybridge not a trawler, a mainstream production boat (easy to sell) with long range (that eliminated the otherwise very nice Princess 78 fly), I loved the Ferretti 750 except I couldn’t live with its flybridge or inferior stabilisers, I thought hard about the lovely and customisable Sunseeker Y80 which has no significant negatives in my books, and then there was the devil I knew namely the Fairline Squadron 78. When I factored in the very high customer service (with a smile and with fun thrown in) from all the team at Fairline’s dealer Essex Boatyards, the fact EBY is financially sound, the fact I like the Fairline factory team very much and know the boat in a technical sense very well as well as knowing how far they will go in customisation at reasonable cost, the balance tipped in favour of another Squadron 78 custom.
So Match2 went into the mould this month. Pics below. Not much detail to see yet, sorry, but exciting stuff for me nevertheless because I have been boatless all summer and been engaged in long tech discussions with Fairline about the spec of Match2. I even slipped a build slot to allow those discussions to continue. So to have something tangible now on the go seems quite a milestone for me. Match2 will be by some margin the biggest customisation Fairline have done, with considerably more mods than Match1.
I’ll explain the various mods in stages if I’m able to keep this thread updated but here’s a quick list of some of the changes planned from the standard sq78, in no particular order. I say “planned” because if anyone has mods to these mods please shout, hopefully in time to incorporate them into the build:
1. Cat C32 ACERT engines, 1622hp each. 2 x 22.5 kva Onan gensets, 100 amps each approx. Sleipner fin stabilisers like Match1. Double size watermaker (300litres/hour). Complete redesign of black tank system (I wasn’t happy with Match1’s)
2. Satin walnut interior with lots of wenge and all-wenge galley. Plus lots of white. So much darker more contemporary nightclubby interior look than Match1. No beige or cream or buttery colours anywhere on the boat. Curved furniture and panels deleted and replaced by squared shapes. Lots of furniture and cabinetry changes. A bit more wood flooring than Match1 and handmade carpets.
3. I’m thinking of having white caulked decks. What do people think? Hate ‘em? Love ‘em?
4. Extra hull windows in crew cabin and forward guest cabin
5. Custom moulding for flybridge helm again, but different from Match1’s. Also triple Recaro fly helm seats
6. Latest LED lighting, both above and below waterline. The whole boat will be LED; no incandescent lighting at all. This should reduce my battery drain when anchored in the evening sans generator. Downlighters will be the new Cantalupis, 115 off, that use the new Cree 85% CRI LED, which I hope will be nice. u/w lights will of course be Lumishore, 6 of their latest and greatest
7. Exactly same internal staircase as Match1. This was a total success and I wouldn't dream of not having it. This time all the welds will be ground out and polished though. Plus, a redesigned external staircase in similar more modern design with LED downlighting etc to funk it up
8. Twin/double conversion in both twin cabins. Match1 had this in one twin cabins not both, and on reflection I should have done both so as to accommodate all combinations of guests. Match2 will therefore have 4 x guest cabins, of which 2=doubles and 2= twins or doubles. Plus a tweaked crew cabin that will be fitted out to "owner area" standard in walnut, and can be 2 x single beds, 1x double, or (new idea) wood-partitioned to make two separate single-bed cabins (sharing one shower room). Plus a 3rd “jump seat” bed in the laundry for kids or if an extra guest turns up. So, maximum 11 beds and as much convertibility as can be done, I think.
There’s loads more detail but that’s a quick summary of the main items. I’ll get some more pics in a few weeks. It’s meant to be finished about March 2013. I’ll try to keep the build/launch/sea trial story updated. I’d be grateful for ideas on things to include in the build because I really do plan keeping this boat for a few years (3 maybe? Haha!) rather than chopping it in after a season. That’s the plan anyhow, ahem. And please give me your love ‘em/hate ‘em thoughts on white caulked decks
Anyway, here are pics…
Hull moulding 9th October with first layer of mat on the gelcoat…
Hull moulding 19 October
Pictures below show the custom additional bow cabin windows (3 not 2 each side) – the first profile pic shows the finished look. These and all the windows are frameless and bonded “auto style” to flanges in the GRP moulding
This next pic shows the deck moulding, just gelcoated
Hard to see so I’ve market it in red, an additional crew cabin window is going in transom. To help you get your bearings the square tube coming to the foreground is the passerelle tunnel..
Bow thruster tunnel integral to the hull moulding...
This next pic shows stabiliser holes moulded in, using GRP moulded tube (like bowthruster tunnel) as a former, instead of cutting a hole afterwards as they did on Match 1. They've learned some shortcuts. I think Match2 is about the 6th Squadron78 built with fin stabs (Match 1 was the first, and fwiw 3 boats have been built with Seakeeper gyros). This pic also shows the hull thickening around the stabs
More hull moulding general shots:
That’s all the pics I have for now. I’ll try to update this as the build progresses and hopefully it will get a bit more glamorous
and I’d be grateful for further ideas and comments from this forum on the mods that are planned. Here’s a quick history: my previous squadron 78 (build story on this thread, and I'll call her Match1 here because the new boat will also be Match and I’ll call the new boat Match 2 here), was delivered March 2011 and I had a great 2011 season on her plus some early 2012 cruises. Then some folks came along and offered a nice price, so with emotional reluctance but commercial logic I handed her over to new owners on 4th July 2012. She’s now in Sweden.
I then had to decide on a new boat. All the weighing up of pros-cons that we all do when choosing boats is too much to describe fully in this post, so maybe return to that topic another time. But in brief, I wanted a fast flybridge not a trawler, a mainstream production boat (easy to sell) with long range (that eliminated the otherwise very nice Princess 78 fly), I loved the Ferretti 750 except I couldn’t live with its flybridge or inferior stabilisers, I thought hard about the lovely and customisable Sunseeker Y80 which has no significant negatives in my books, and then there was the devil I knew namely the Fairline Squadron 78. When I factored in the very high customer service (with a smile and with fun thrown in) from all the team at Fairline’s dealer Essex Boatyards, the fact EBY is financially sound, the fact I like the Fairline factory team very much and know the boat in a technical sense very well as well as knowing how far they will go in customisation at reasonable cost, the balance tipped in favour of another Squadron 78 custom.
So Match2 went into the mould this month. Pics below. Not much detail to see yet, sorry, but exciting stuff for me nevertheless because I have been boatless all summer and been engaged in long tech discussions with Fairline about the spec of Match2. I even slipped a build slot to allow those discussions to continue. So to have something tangible now on the go seems quite a milestone for me. Match2 will be by some margin the biggest customisation Fairline have done, with considerably more mods than Match1.
I’ll explain the various mods in stages if I’m able to keep this thread updated but here’s a quick list of some of the changes planned from the standard sq78, in no particular order. I say “planned” because if anyone has mods to these mods please shout, hopefully in time to incorporate them into the build:
1. Cat C32 ACERT engines, 1622hp each. 2 x 22.5 kva Onan gensets, 100 amps each approx. Sleipner fin stabilisers like Match1. Double size watermaker (300litres/hour). Complete redesign of black tank system (I wasn’t happy with Match1’s)
2. Satin walnut interior with lots of wenge and all-wenge galley. Plus lots of white. So much darker more contemporary nightclubby interior look than Match1. No beige or cream or buttery colours anywhere on the boat. Curved furniture and panels deleted and replaced by squared shapes. Lots of furniture and cabinetry changes. A bit more wood flooring than Match1 and handmade carpets.
3. I’m thinking of having white caulked decks. What do people think? Hate ‘em? Love ‘em?
4. Extra hull windows in crew cabin and forward guest cabin
5. Custom moulding for flybridge helm again, but different from Match1’s. Also triple Recaro fly helm seats
6. Latest LED lighting, both above and below waterline
. The whole boat will be LED; no incandescent lighting at all. This should reduce my battery drain when anchored in the evening sans generator. Downlighters will be the new Cantalupis, 115 off, that use the new Cree 85% CRI LED, which I hope will be nice. u/w lights will of course be Lumishore, 6 of their latest and greatest7. Exactly same internal staircase as Match1. This was a total success and I wouldn't dream of not having it. This time all the welds will be ground out and polished though. Plus, a redesigned external staircase in similar more modern design with LED downlighting etc to funk it up
8. Twin/double conversion in both twin cabins. Match1 had this in one twin cabins not both, and on reflection I should have done both so as to accommodate all combinations of guests. Match2 will therefore have 4 x guest cabins, of which 2=doubles and 2= twins or doubles. Plus a tweaked crew cabin that will be fitted out to "owner area" standard in walnut, and can be 2 x single beds, 1x double, or (new idea) wood-partitioned to make two separate single-bed cabins (sharing one shower room). Plus a 3rd “jump seat” bed in the laundry for kids or if an extra guest turns up. So, maximum 11 beds and as much convertibility as can be done, I think.
There’s loads more detail but that’s a quick summary of the main items. I’ll get some more pics in a few weeks. It’s meant to be finished about March 2013. I’ll try to keep the build/launch/sea trial story updated. I’d be grateful for ideas on things to include in the build because I really do plan keeping this boat for a few years (3 maybe? Haha!) rather than chopping it in after a season. That’s the plan anyhow, ahem. And please give me your love ‘em/hate ‘em thoughts on white caulked decks
Anyway, here are pics…
Hull moulding 9th October with first layer of mat on the gelcoat…
Hull moulding 19 October
Pictures below show the custom additional bow cabin windows (3 not 2 each side) – the first profile pic shows the finished look. These and all the windows are frameless and bonded “auto style” to flanges in the GRP moulding
This next pic shows the deck moulding, just gelcoated
Hard to see so I’ve market it in red, an additional crew cabin window is going in transom. To help you get your bearings the square tube coming to the foreground is the passerelle tunnel..
Bow thruster tunnel integral to the hull moulding...
This next pic shows stabiliser holes moulded in, using GRP moulded tube (like bowthruster tunnel) as a former, instead of cutting a hole afterwards as they did on Match 1. They've learned some shortcuts. I think Match2 is about the 6th Squadron78 built with fin stabs (Match 1 was the first, and fwiw 3 boats have been built with Seakeeper gyros). This pic also shows the hull thickening around the stabs
More hull moulding general shots:
That’s all the pics I have for now. I’ll try to update this as the build progresses and hopefully it will get a bit more glamorous
