Absolute 52 vs Prinz 54 in MBY

There is already an alternative access hatch through the cockpit floor (see under feet of guy standing on port side on page 66 photo).

If you take the decision that you are not bothered about the dinghy garage, then you have excellent access to the engine compartment. If you want the dinghy garage then it is a compromise on the engine access. You could always keep the tender on the hi-lo bathing platform and have the best of both worlds?! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
There is already an alternative access hatch through the cockpit floor (see under feet of guy standing on port side on page 66 photo).


[/ QUOTE ]

Er, why then did MBY make an issue of engine access?
 
Weight, speed and other amenities: sounds familiar?

[ QUOTE ]
The boat ... had a weight of 17 tons. Later boats have benefited from a more refined infusion technique which has reduced weight

[/ QUOTE ]Reduced by how much?
Surely they are nowhere near the 12T that were discussed here in July last year, considering that the official specs report 13,8T empty (and I'm skeptical also about that).
Already at that time, I said "Sounds like a project target, rather than a realistic technical calculation." /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
There were other thoughts in that thread that are worth reconsidering now, btw.

PS: is Google going nuts? Searching 'Prinz 54 coupe' within ybw site is useless, and I had to switch to another search engine to find that thread...
 
[ QUOTE ]
True, but the test report stated that the Prinz only achieved 23kts before the hull was cleaned and that was without cruising gear and low on fuel. Load it up with gear and fill the tanks and that 23kts would be down to 21kts
IPS may be more efficient that shafts but putting 'only' 435hp (IPS600) engines in 52-54ft boats is pushing it a bit IMHO. I reckon the top speed with clean hulls of both boats will be below 30kts when full of gear and fuel. That may be OK for a flybridge boat but surely the average sports boat owner is looking for more poke?

[/ QUOTE ]

Very interesting Mike.
How much do you think a Stern drive/shaftdrive sportsboat or Flybridge would lose from when its tested 'light' to when its fully laden with fuel, water, crew and gear?

I've always been a fan of IPS boat, but certainly the article reads that its not been tested when heavy! Maybe some IPS owners on here would like to report about their boats.
Also a Mag like MB&Y, why can't they test a boat full of gear, fuel and water? Then if they did they'd have the answer to the question they mentioned several times in the article.

One other point! Is it not a bit dangerous to start an engine when there is someone down in the engine bay, especially one as tight as the Prinz is reported to be??? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Cheers

Al.
 
Re: Weight, speed and other amenities: sounds familiar?

I think you were right first time round. 13.8t sounds very optimistic and then the question is whether such a light boat is desirable anyway. It may be good for efficiency but when the sea gets rough, I prefer to have some weight under me
 
[ QUOTE ]
How much do you think a Stern drive/shaftdrive sportsboat or Flybridge would lose from when its tested 'light' to when its fully laden with fuel, water, crew and gear?


[/ QUOTE ]

Dunno, I guess the bigger/heavier/more powerful a boat is, the less it's going to lose. I don't think IPS or sterndrive or shaftdrive would make much difference. One thing's for sure though. A displacement boat loses v little when loaded

[ QUOTE ]
One other point! Is it not a bit dangerous to start an engine when there is someone down in the engine bay, especially one as tight as the Prinz is reported to be???

[/ QUOTE ]

Certainly it's dangerous to the ears but on most engines, the belts have protective grilles so you'd have to do something stupid to get tangled up in them
 
I have been somewhat interested in this new Prinz 54, which is why some of the thoughts on this subject have been great reading!

Although i have a few questions for you which i hoped you could help me with. First of all the pricetag:
In Denmark the base model Prinz 54 with IPS 600 costs and no extras at all: 547000£ inc. VAT- which i think sound a bit more than what you write in the beginning of this thread. Now i know the brittish pound is a bit weak at the moment but still i dont understand how the pricetag can differ that much.

After that is the metallic color which on the danish pricelist equals to 85000£. Now i havent seen any pictures of models without this metallic color so i dont know if its even possible to go without it? - Do any of you got any links for such? I have been searching everywhere but with no luck.

- I apologise my bad english. I may have misunderstood some of the earlyer threads which i apologise.
 
Acrlic, sorry I can't help you with this. Maybe somebody else can?
 
Going back to the head to head, I don't like the look of the Prinz too much. Maybe it's the single pane of glass in the windscreen but it just didn't do anything for me.

Mind you, I'd go for a Portofino 53 with some nice shafts over either of the boats tested.
 
The Sunseeker is definatly a nice boat, but also very different in design. Im not sure how to explain exactly, but since i live in Denmark and often sail in cold weathers i prefer a boat with a closed saloon - while still being open. A kind of flybridge boat - without a flybridge.

Both Sunseeker, Fairline and Princess all makes sport versions (which in my opinion) is almost useless for these colder weathers since you cannot seperate yourself from the weather with a door like you can in Prinz, Azimut, Windy Xanthos and so on(unless 60feet +)... Also the very large windows in the Prinz is very appealing to me, where i think Sunseeker especially need to put more window in their sports boats.

- All of above is opinion/taste only ofcourse.
 
Sorry Guys! been up to usual tricks running here there and everywhere.

Interesting report indeed, one of the first I have seen of just two Euro build boats in a test where there was no obvious competition from any of the usual fayre often referred to in the British press, quite a coup in a British magazine, although the tester did manage to make comparisons with similar sized open backed, saloon below style SC's.

Firstly, one should be aware the boat had only hit the water just before the magazine arrived and no on the water Pdi or commissioning had taken place, partly due to the time constraints of the magazine's deadlines to get the boat tested and partly because the boat had only arrived shortly before and was awaiting final parts which arrived just before she went into the water.

I can say that IPS powered boats are very susceptible to trim and on the first day we had no trim whatsoever, it seems to be an inherent issue with IPS..... trim tabs into the weather, absolutely great, no tabs bumpy ride, mind you flat out up the Solent in a planing hull into wind with no tabs at all is a bumpy ride for many a big planing boat.

As far as reduction in speed re weight of stores, fouled bottom etc, from personal experience having driven dozens of boats over the years including modern big diesel flybridge and SC's of 50' - 55 ' with even D12's once weeded up or even just heavy slime the speed can be knocked down from 30 knts to as low as 23 /24 knts . We do not expect nor would it be prudent to say anything otherwise than our 52 or indeed any boat would be less or more affected by such.

The rattles from the forward cabin, we have resolved that issue PDQ. The panel that separates the forward heads from the for'd cabin is riveted to the structural liner and so two pieces of grp rubbing together sounds like the boat is coming apart when in fact its just normal movement within the structure, a gasket between the two cures it.

We would be the first to hold our hands up and say the ABS 52 is not the perfect boat for everyone, it was never designed to be all things to all people, however if you want a roomy, attractive, fuel efficient, practical and cost effective 52 SC it is hard to beat, sure there are others of similar size but are either thirsty, open backed, smaller cabin-ed or more expensive, all are great boats in their own right and do different things for different people. If you can compromise on fuel burn or cabin space or no enclosed saloon or whatever because you want more speed, bigger cockpit, bigger galley but smaller cabins then they are the way to go for you.

All in all we are very pleased with how she has turned out and it seems the buyers think so too with every boat in production sold till the end of the year.

This has taught us one thing though, when they say they test a boat and report exactly as it is, they do. The next test we shall be careful despite any deadlines the boat will first go through pdi and commissioning before any tests ....lesson learnt /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
Well done Trev for standing up for your product. Now that video that Solitaire posted the other day. The ride seemed awful bumpy, the hull threw up a lot of spray and there were a lot of creaks and groans from the boat /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I really look forward to the day when I open a mag and read a new boat test that says that the test boat was really sorted with all pre-production niggles properly resolved. In this test your boat needed a few issues resolving and it's great to see you putting your hand up to this.

I thought Prinz had completely lost the plot with some half baked comments about their boat going five knots faster if it was 8 tonnes lighter. It's like saying if I was better looking and more talented I'd be George Clooney.
 
Well one does try /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I could say it was blowing a houlie the day Dave took the vid, a force 8 easy /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif actually it was quite rough, the vid doesn't show very well the big lumps and holes we found (mainly cus we were chatting and not looking where I was going /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif) . It was amusing back at LaRague, Dave was talking to the locals on the quay and they were all articulated about going to St Tropez later, "Oh Mr Dave it will be bad later must go now ".... Nah, says Dave, were British and tough /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. We were the only boat to leave the marina that day and we made good progress, around 1hr 20 mins for the trip which I guess was an average around 20 knts. Driven correctly and within the conditions prevailing the 47 is top boat, I would happily go out in much worse and be confident of making good progress, she has quite a fine entry forward and as long as you keep the bow down she just slices through the big bits.

The test does raise some interesting issues though. How fast should a family cruising boat be ? . In the trade / yards and magazines .....speed sells ! , the faster your product the better the order book. The Absolute 47 blows the doors of everything else in its class but if I am honest, er, exactly what for!, charging around at 38 - 40 knts is great .....for about 20 mins! then you get bored and go back to a comfortable 24 - 26 knts. We seem to get hung up on the speed thing, gotta do 35 knts or its pants...... rubbish !, if a cruising boat will happily trundle along at 24 knts, I am a happy camper and if I am doing it burning half the fuel, even happier. Its nice to blast up to 32.5 knts once in a while but the cost in fuel doubles get bounced about and everyone hanging on if its rough really ends being pain so you get all sensible and drive like normal people.
 
Update, We have just received hull number 14 and I am very pleased to report that all the little niggles reported are now sorted. QL tabs have been binned in favour of big chunky Lenco's , Structural liner now has a gasket inserted between it and the bulkhead to stop the sqweaks, the storage locker under the aft bed has been beafed up (looks like it would hold the QM II !) , Performance upwind is bob on and we are getting 32.8 knts flat out and a cruise of 26 knts comfortably. We did an acceleration test between our 52 and a fly with twin D12's of similar length (in the med a month ago) and there was nothing in it, she felt willing and had plenty of get up an go. Some extra sound proofing has been added to the engine room and we have added two extra hand holds/ rails in the saloon.

All in all a very impressive bit of kit ! and all this with just twin tiddly 435hp engines, we are getting 1.2 mpg at 24 knts which is just incredible considering she is a beamy 52 footer.

Sorry in chuffed mode /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif


Oh, and the new American oak wood is just gorgeous (I think anyway /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)


52oaksaloon.jpg


52helm.jpg


52Masteroak.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top