50-60ft dinette

[RasmusDK]

Hi

I am currently looking at flybridge boats in the 50-60ft range(preferably closer to 50ft). The reason for this is that we would like to have a dinette next to the helm since we often steer the boat from inside. We have been looking at boats mainly from Princess, Fairline and Sunseeker (P57, Squadron 58, Sunseeker M56 and a few others) but we have noticed that the dinette in all of these boats (not so much the sunseeker) is lowered so that you cannot look out of the windows in the saloon if sitting in the dinette. We find this rather irritating and somehow strange that all of these shipyards chose to make it like this? In the newer P62 and P54 it looks like the dinette is raised a little, but that is only what i have seen from pictures?? Then again - the pictures of the new Princess v62 it looks like they lowered the dinette again which i simply doesent understand?

Therefore i would really appreciate if any of you with experience in any type of boats with dinette next to the helm have found this to be irritating, or somehow make it work?? Maybe some of you have some sort of experience with customising it a bit so that it is raised to window level??

- I apologise about my bad english. If there is something you do not understand i will try to explain it better!

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

The dinette on both the Princess P50 and P54 allows you to see out of the saloon windows. The V62 doesn't have a dinette upstairs, it is down below (maybe you meant the P62?).

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[Hurricane]

We fully understand you and your requirement.
This was one of the reasons that we liked our old boat.

You dont say if you are looking at new or second hand.

If second hand why not add the Sealine T51/T52 to your list - cracking value and we loved ours all the time we had her.

Not only do you get the dinette at a proper level but you also get the galley at the same level - another consideration that I think is worth adding to your criteria.

Here's a few pics of the inside of our old girl - showing the dinette and galley at the higher levels.

This arrangement worked so well for us that we kept the same idea when we bought our new Princess 67 last year. Fundimentally the new boat has the same concept in her layout except much bigger.

So, if you are considering a used boat then have a good look at the Sealine T51/T52.

 

[zt260]

Some loverly pictures there hurricane.
ash

 

[Nautorius]

Hello,

The new Prestige 50 will fit the bill nicely and what about an older princess 440 or 45?

Cheers

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

I think the Azimut 47 also fits nicely with a nice raised view, and for bigger size the also the AZ 55 has a suber dinnette with view to starboard

 

[RasmusDK]

Sorry about the late reply all. I thought that topics would be brought to the top when people answered - bit of a misunderstanding.

- I did in fact mean the Princess V62 - maybe its not the dinette upstairs, but anyways i do not understand why they chose to make it like that. Clearly (on a rainy day) i cannot be very interesting to look at the walls of the boat for several hours a day. Other makes (like the Sunseeker predator 62) got huge windows next to the seating, which in my oppinion seems much better.

Hurricane - I really like the idea of the Sealine you owned. I am not a big fan of the exterior look, but will definitely take a closer look at the boats.

Currently i am looking at used boats from 2000-2005 because that is the prefered price range. The only reason of going 50ft+ is to have that dinette arrangement next to the helm, but at window level, because we find it rather unpleasent to be placed below window level for several hours if it's a long trip. I actually dont know about the price of the new Princess 50 but i suspect that it is around 6-700000£ (fully equiped)? Which is a bit over the top. I really like the dinette on it though!! Also the new V53 is very attractive!

I hope to be ably to take a look at the new Prestige 50, but i have heard from owners of the Prestige 42 that the build quality is not as high as it could be.

 

[BrendanS]

You can set the forum to show posts with recent replies. You need to go into User Options to enable this

 

[oldgit]

"add the Sealine T51/T52 to your list "
If memory serves me correctly there is a T51 in the Jan issue of MBM for £210K.

 

[Hurricane]

[ QUOTE ]
I am not a big fan of the exterior look

[/ QUOTE ]
I've made this comment before but I think that the new Squaddies have very similar looks to the old Sealine T51,T52 and the smaller T47.
I, actually, think they look great.
I cant resist another pic and as these pics are already up on Photobucket here's a couple of shots of our old girl.

And another great one at night in Holland

A picture is worth a thousand words

Mike

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

This was one of the reasons we bought a Ferretti as the forward dinette is high enough to see out of the windows when under way. Ferrettis from around 2004 and older have a design with 2 seats facing each other (this from my boat) like this

This allows 2 people to sit facing forward in addition to 2 people at the helm. Unfortunately, for reasons best known to themselves, Ferretti changed this design on later boats to a much less practical curved seating area and deleted it altogether on their newest models
If you're looking at 2000-2005 boats, take a look at the Ferretti 53/530 and 57 models which have the older dinette design

 

[jfm]

Hi Rasmus. I'm confused about your problem. The boats you mention don't have no view from the dinette do they? On the Sq58, the side window doesn't come down to the top edge of the backrest of the dinette seat but there is still a great view out, see pics below.

If you compare with the sealine I'd say the Sq58 view out is better - the side window bottom edge is even higher on the sealine than the Sq58, isn't it?

 

[RasmusDK]

Hi Jfm. Well it is not so much a problem for me as it is a request to hear your personal experiences with these types of arrangements. As you say- the boats i refer to do not have (what in my oppinion) is fully optimal dinette arrangements. But the reason i would wanna move up to boats with a dinette next to the helm is that it would make sailing more social if theres a lot of guest on board. My worry is that it will turn out to be a uncomfortable trip if forced to sit below window level for several hours in what could be some rough seas(for example...)

I am going to take a closer look at the Sealine and Ferretti - not necessarily because it is better but because it is similar to the other.

I am not sure if i understand your comment about the dinette on your Squadron 58? As you say - the windows doesn't come down to the edge of the backrest but the view forward from the dinette is okay?

 

[jfm]

Yes, I'm saying on the Sq58 the side window does not come all the way down but the view forward is great. Pretty much the same as the sealine pictured above and many other 50-60footers. The Sq also has 2 very comfortable helm seats - electric adjustable recaros, and you can reach the screen without leaning forward, so much better than princess and sealine in that respect

I've done 5 years/8000nm/790 hrs in the Sq58 and never felt there is a bad view from the dinette. I like it so much I've bought another. I'm based in the med though, so the inside dinette isn't used as much as in N. Europe. In big seas I find that guests prefer to sit furter back in the saloon or the aft cockpit, where the boat motion is much less

 

[Sundays_Child]

All the boats you mention are planing yachts.

Have you considered a semi-displacement or displacement boat?

SD boats that could meet your requirements include the Grand Banks Aleutian 59 (I guess you could call it a planing boat with a keel): http://www.grandbanks.com/yachts/aleutian/59rp/deckplans.cfm

or the Fleming 55: http://www.flemingyachts.com/55layouts.html

Here's a 2003 asking GBP445K: http://uk.yachtworld.com/core/listing/bo...=10144&url=

Displacement boats could include the Nordhavn 55: http://www.nordhavn.com/55/drawings.php4

or the Selene 53: http://www.selenetrawlers.com/yachts.php?menu=21&text=1

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

yep Mike Ferretti 53, 530 is excellent due to its a bit raised position
but also still in production 550/551 has a similar layout with c-shaped dinette as the 58 Squadron

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

[ QUOTE ]
2003 Fleming 55

[/ QUOTE ]

I got quite excited when I saw this boat myself but if you go down to the small print, you'll find it's a hurricane damage repaired boat which is why it's relatively cheap

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

PY, I think RasmusDK wants a raised dinette for crew to look out when under way. IMHO, the latest Ferretti curved dinettes like on the 550 make this less possible because the seating faces inwards rather than forwards and there's not much to hold on to if it's rough

 

[Nick_H]

For comparison, this is the Princess 57. I can't say i've ever noticed the problem in two years of regular cruising, but then I don't spend much time driving from below. I suppose it could be a negative if you spend a lot of time helming from below with more than two on board.

 

[Sundays_Child]

Oops... missed that.