Absolute 47 at boats.co.uk Poole

i agree i hate them. But i cant think of another solution. My boat has unbeatable accommodation for a 40ft boat (3 sleeping cabins, 1 with island double, 2 en suites, big 3 sided galley, huge saloon. The payback is very poor deck storage and a pathetic excuse for a bathing platform.

Going OT but many local Sealines 360 or 380 Ambassador, a 350/360 and 450 Statesman locally all did extend the bathing platform (all about two to three plus original size).
Usually cost is around 5k EURO ex teak, and give a modern dimension, more space to enjoy the water. and most important a more secure tender stowage..
 
Agreed, regardless of whether you use it for "bathing" especially in the UK, that aft platform is a winner. My wife, watching others manoeuvring their (insert name of mobomaker) into a small space stern first, and stepping off the fixed platform, commented more than once that this makes the parking look "easy". I'm probably fighting a losing battle on this, much as I love sailing.
 
Agreed, regardless of whether you use it for "bathing" especially in the UK, that aft platform is a winner. My wife, watching others manoeuvring their (insert name of mobomaker) into a small space stern first, and stepping off the fixed platform, commented more than once that this makes the parking look "easy". I'm probably fighting a losing battle on this, much as I love sailing.
I love sailing too. You will come to love motorboating. And get a dinghygo.
 
Going OT but many local Sealines 360 or 380 Ambassador, a 350/360 and 450 Statesman locally all did extend the bathing platform (all about two to three plus original size).
Usually cost is around 5k EURO ex teak, and give a modern dimension, more space to enjoy the water. and most important a more secure tender stowage..

I’ve seriously considered it.
To do it properly, ie take the mould off an F43,, is £10k+ Only way to get the curves right as the curve needs to start about 4ft forward of the platform on the sides.
Anything else looks bodged on. And that’s not my thing.
I have considered a stainless and teak add on so it deliberately looks bolted on. Then my davits wouldn’t work. I thought of all sorts of solutions like a manual, winch operated hi lo. But put it in the too difficult box. Mr moneybags whitelighter’s (��) full blown hi low is a non starter!
I’ll put the money towards my next boat.
 
...I've just heard back from the broker, it's being moved to their Essex HQ so that's better for me, I can pop in one lunchtime, they also have a couple of Targas there too....

Well I went to see that boat today plus a few others. Summary of what I found is as follows.

Generally: Surprised at how modest the space below seems despite the overall size of these boats. My yacht has more room, bigger galley, more headroom, bigger cabins, and much more stowage, albeit arranged differently. So that was a surprise, I thought that the finer shape of the yacht hull would compromise the space below.

Absolute 47: The galley is inadequate for what we need, also found the cockpit layout cramped with the sun pad taking up valuable seating space. Guest cabin is impressive but is double only, not twin-with-infill. It's not in great condition cosmetically (to say the least) but guess it would scrub up.

Abs 41: As above but everything even smaller.

Targa 38: Better galley by some margin, felt very small below though. Very awkward access to guest cabin which had minimal headroom. Nice cockpit. Great view from the helm (at rest anyway), better than the Abs 47.

Targa 44 GT: Best of these four, great cockpit. Starting to feel properly spacious, although the berth in the bow cabin is set very high for some reason (maybe stowage underneath? Tanks?) which brings the sleeper uncomfortably close to the deck. Galley good, this one had an oven. Guest cabin with Jack & Jill head. Good to have showers in both,


Roll on SIBS.
 
Well I went to see that boat today plus a few others. Summary of what I found is as follows.

Generally: Surprised at how modest the space below seems despite the overall size of these boats. My yacht has more room, bigger galley, more headroom, bigger cabins, and much more stowage, albeit arranged differently. So that was a surprise, I thought that the finer shape of the yacht hull would compromise the space below.

Absolute 47: The galley is inadequate for what we need, also found the cockpit layout cramped with the sun pad taking up valuable seating space. Guest cabin is impressive but is double only, not twin-with-infill. It's not in great condition cosmetically (to say the least) but guess it would scrub up.

Abs 41: As above but everything even smaller.

Targa 38: Better galley by some margin, felt very small below though. Very awkward access to guest cabin which had minimal headroom. Nice cockpit. Great view from the helm (at rest anyway), better than the Abs 47.

Targa 44 GT: Best of these four, great cockpit. Starting to feel properly spacious, although the berth in the bow cabin is set very high for some reason (maybe stowage underneath? Tanks?) which brings the sleeper uncomfortably close to the deck. Galley good, this one had an oven. Guest cabin with Jack & Jill head. Good to have showers in both,


Roll on SIBS.

So you think the 44 has more space than the 47 ?
 
So you think the 44 has more space than the 47 ?

The Targa 44 felt bigger than Abs 47, yes but I didn't get the tape measure out, it's how it felt subjectively. Especially in the cockpit and the saloon / galley. More headroom in the saloon on the T44. Guest cabin on the Abs was bigger with the diagonal double. Headroom in owner's cabin above the bed was better on the Abs.

Some of the extra length goes into a bigger swim platform too.
 
The Targa 44 felt bigger than Abs 47, yes but I didn't get the tape measure out, it's how it felt subjectively. Especially in the cockpit and the saloon / galley. More headroom in the saloon on the T44. Guest cabin on the Abs was bigger with the diagonal double. Headroom in owner's cabin above the bed was better on the Abs.

Some of the extra length goes into a bigger swim platform too.

We have a 47 & in fact the 41 you looked at used to be ours, having tested the 44 You surprise me, but if we were all the same we would all be driving Trabants :D
 
To through a bit of a curve ball into the mix.
I had one of these a few boats ago.
https://www.yachtworld.co.uk/boats/...Kingdom?refSource=browse listing#.W319zuhKiUk
Gobbi management set up Absolute after Gobbi was bought up by Azimut.
If you look at the layout its very similar to both the Abs 41 & 47, but its on stern drives so is huge down below. probably as big as the 47.
It was a great boat for the money, although I paid about 115K in 2012 for an 04 model, so I think listing at 140K is a bit optimistic, but maybe times have changed.
 
To through a bit of a curve ball into the mix.
I had one of these a few boats ago.
https://www.yachtworld.co.uk/boats/...Kingdom?refSource=browse listing#.W319zuhKiUk
Gobbi management set up Absolute after Gobbi was bought up by Azimut.

Thanks, there are probably a load of models that I don't know exist, including that one!

...its very similar to both the Abs 41 & 47, but its on stern drives so is huge down below. probably as big as the 47. ...
The Abs 47 I looked at is an IPS boat so hopefully has some space benefits as a result.


At the moment this is an exercise in "should we change", and we can do that based on some examples of what is available. If we decide to do so, then the harder question is, "exactly what should we buy".
 
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Having had stern drive and IPS boats in the 40ft range. I think IPS setups take up about 3ft more engine room than a SD, more so if on jack shafts.
The Cranchi med 43 I had after the Gobbi was on IPS and was quite a bit smaller down below, but it did also have a massive swim platform, where the Gobbi didn't.
I think the 45ft to 50ft is a difficult size to compare, you'll have a few boats on SD which will be massive down below but possibly a bit difficult to handle, IPS boats which are a good all round compromise, then shafts which eat up loads of room in comparison, but are most peoples preferred option. A 50ft shaft drive boat will probably be not much longer down below than a 40ft SD boat, but will have a wider beam, which makes a big difference to how big a boat feels.
 
Thanks, that's interesting. Going up to 50' seems too big, at least based on my initial feelings, an extra 8' over my current (sail) boat to get what feels like the same space below seems an oddball. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong sort of boat....!

Hum.

Time to revisit one of your requirements then - go and see some fly bridges.

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