Are we conditioned by "aesthetic" boats?

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peterandjeanette

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Over the past few years very little has changed in modern boat design. Computers have all agreed on what a boat should look like and how it should perform.

OK, we have changed from square windows to tear drop windows, but other than that, all the major builders have kept the same "pretty" appearance. The usual designs of Fairline, Sealine, Princess, Sunseeker etc. haven't altered much.

Now, wandereing round SIBS I found that some builders have changed. Sealine have come up with the slab sided look, Maritimo have their skylounge, even Moody have a 45' with a proper upper saloon and not the usual dark cave I associate with yachts.

These boats cannot be called pretty - in fact they look totally abnormal. But, get inside them and it's a different matter. The Sealine SC47 is superb, much better than the Fairline Targa or Princess V boats of the same size. It's lighter, wider and more sociable. And there have been a number of times this year that I would have given anything for that enclosed skylounge of the Maritimo. (Picking seaweed off the fly bridge usually indicates a rough/wet trip. No, I don't use the lower helm, I love the height and visibility of the fly. Just go and sit in the helm seat of the Maritimo. It's like the flight deck of an airbus.)

So, what do we want? A pretty boat we can show off in the marina? Something that looks like a boat should? Or an innovative outer look with a very practical and modern interior?

Everyone has their own opinion. What's yours?
 
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess (well thats what swmbo says anyway)

I just like something that ticks all the practical boxes first and then looks a bit differrent from most of the lozenge shaped white sports cruisers - although ours is about as aerodynamic as a housebrick its nice to see the odd jaw drop when asked what speed she's capable of !

Same applies to yachts there are a great many of them that all look the same - thats why if I was planning a return to the rag side things like the Moody 45DS interest me.
 
Well this is the boat I currently lust after: The only Halmatic Azure 150: 15m; kevlar; a claimed 1mpg at 28 knots; built 1986; re-engined 2001; currently with James Dickens asking £225k. I reckon it would take an additional £75k to rebuild the interior and then you'd have something that you'd be equally happy going to war in or taking in the sunshine on the Cote d'Azur.

running500_002.jpg
 
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yes u British seem very close minded with the standard asthetics

that enclosed bridge you mention in this case Maritimo, is sure example of practicality in UK weather all year long
really it is strange that in Florida they invented these things to use a boat all year long in the most comfort 40 deg celcius in Summer with AC or 0 degrees in Winter with heating

I still reckon but, the real English design has also been abandoned for most of its part and is only offered today by Broom, Pearl and Trader
all the above builders you mention offer a British interpretation of a med boat, but how much does it really work to you up there is my endless question....
seeing the posts here of weather complaining not that much
 
1) Seaworthiness (fit for intended cruising area)
2) Strenght and quality of fit-out (need to stay together when cruising in 1 above and with reliable mechanics/electronics and backups where appropriate)
3) Safety (when underway and when stationary ... all from side decks to movement inside when underway)
4) Practicality for your kind of use (Does it tick the comfort and practicality boxes?)

Looks are subjective anyway, so play a minor role for me ...... a Nelson perhaps ??
 
SC47

peterandjeanette said:
Over the past few years very little has changed in modern boat design. Computers have all agreed on what a boat should look like and how it should perform.

OK, we have changed from square windows to tear drop windows, but other than that, all the major builders have kept the same "pretty" appearance. The usual designs of Fairline, Sealine, Princess, Sunseeker etc. haven't altered much.

Now, wandereing round SIBS I found that some builders have changed. Sealine have come up with the slab sided look, Maritimo have their skylounge, even Moody have a 45' with a proper upper saloon and not the usual dark cave I associate with yachts.

These boats cannot be called pretty - in fact they look totally abnormal. But, get inside them and it's a different matter. The Sealine SC47 is superb, much better than the Fairline Targa or Princess V boats of the same size. It's lighter, wider and more sociable. And there have been a number of times this year that I would have given anything for that enclosed skylounge of the Maritimo. (Picking seaweed off the fly bridge usually indicates a rough/wet trip. No, I don't use the lower helm, I love the height and visibility of the fly. Just go and sit in the helm seat of the Maritimo. It's like the flight deck of an airbus.)

So, what do we want? A pretty boat we can show off in the marina? Something that looks like a boat should? Or an innovative outer look with a very practical and modern interior?

Everyone has their own opinion. What's yours?
Click to expand...

"The Sealine SC47 is superb, " you must be on drugs! one of the worst boats at Cannes this week by a mile.
 
Funny thing, taste. Personally, I think the new Sealines are simply stunning. Anyone looking over the new F46 and SC47 must, surely, be bowled over by the fresh new ideas in their design. Sealine have always been very innovative in thier designs, building in practicality, like, stowing covers at the point where they're needed - something most other designers haven't even got round to yet. My first boat was a Sealine 410. Comfortable, safe, user-friendly and most of all, fabulous for staying aobard for long periods at a time. I could easily spend my spare time aboard a new F46 and never fail to be impressed with any part of it.
 
I think its also depends on your perception of a "boat". Perhaps thats exactly what it should be.. a boat with all those limitations and foibles and quirks. If you want an apartment that floats, maybe its not a "boat" you want.
Each to his own, of course, but sometimes seems to me that all the clever design seems to be aimed at taking "boat" out of the boat, and making it as much like a hotel apartment as possible...
One of the best boats I saw at SIBS was a small 705 Flipper... just a little,honest boat.
 
benjenbav said:
Well this is the boat I currently lust after: The only Halmatic Azure 150: 15m; kevlar; a claimed 1mpg at 28 knots; built 1986; re-engined 2001; currently with James Dickens asking £225k. I reckon it would take an additional £75k to rebuild the interior and then you'd have something that you'd be equally happy going to war in or taking in the sunshine on the Cote d'Azur.

running500_002.jpg
Click to expand...

BJB, that is surely built from the Marauder 46 moulds? They were JCL's, then went to Cleopatra in Wallasea Island. I thought they then went to Iceland, but might be wrong on that, though most Cleopatra stuff did go up there as I know the chap who loaded them onto the truck all those years ago. Anyway it looks like Marauder 46 moulds
 
BJB, that is surely built from the Marauder 46 moulds? They were JCL's, then went to Cleopatra in Wallasea Island. I thought they then went to Iceland, but might be wrong on that, though most Cleopatra stuff did go up there as I know the chap who loaded them onto the truck all those years ago. Anyway it looks like Marauder 46 moulds
Click to expand...

Thx for that. They certainly look similar but the sprayrail on the bow is a bit more aggressively sculpted on the Halmatic, I think. Full details on the one I mentioned are here. http://www.jamesdickensmarine.com/Brokerage/Powerboats/HalmaticAzure150.htm

I don't know how realistic £75k would be to rip out the insides and start again but a lot easier than trying to use anything that's there and could then re-plumb and rewire. There's clearly been some water ingress but that's no great problem because the interior is not really to my taste at all. Oh lord, don't get me started on a project.
 
About time to....and proper windows please...

The path we have been going down for for quite a while would appear to be of the exterior form of the boat taking priority over any function that the boat may be required to perform inside.
Witness the dark coal hole saloons down a dozen steep steps,the as many hamster sized bedrooms as possible approach,esp that lightless rat hole bedroom underneath the floor of many " luxurious" sports boats.


"It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic,
Of all things physical and metaphysical,
Of all things human and all things super-human,
Of all true manifestations of the head,
Of the heart, of the soul,
That the life is recognizable in its expression,
That form ever follows function. This is the law."

We have strayed from this path.
 
That form ever follows function. This is the law."

We have strayed from this path.

Not a very successful law then...
 
Hi BJB. On looking at that in more detail it has remarkably similar superstructure to Marauder 46 but it isn't the same. Too many differences in details on the moulds. And the hull is clearly different as you say

Blimey, that seems a well engineered boat but the "depth" of the interior refit needed is massive. I doubt £75 will fix it -more like 2 man years of refit plus £30k materials, so £125k +vat

Also beware of bodges. Note they have fitted a new polycarb windscreen. Yeah, that's becuase the build numbers were too low to tool up for a glass screen, so they fitted polycarb from new, and it scratched and went fuzzy (like the flybridge screen - see pictures). The new one might look mint now but it'll be trashed in a few years. Polycarb is considerably more prone to scrathcing than perspex, so make sure never to use the wipers :-)
 
IMHO, what Sealine are offering now is simply a different look. I don't see anything in the new F46 or SC47 which is radically different from any other boats on the market. It's all about differentiating the style of their boats from the competition rather than going out to offer something completely different, so it's all about aesthetics anyway. But I don't see anything wrong with that. Don't we all want to own things which are pleasing on the eye whether it be a boat, a car or even a wife, dare I say?
I do agree though that CAD has optimised boat design to such an extent that accomodation layouts are now very similar from one boat to another. Hull design and performance is also converging such that I don't believe that major builders produce boats any more that have serious performance or seakeeping faults. So, actually, given that, say, the average buyer of a 50ft flybridge boat expects 3 cabins and a saloon and given that there has to be 2 large lumps of iron somewhere in the middle of the boat, it's not surprising that little has changed in boat design recently. There is one other factor here as well and that is resale. Boat builders are rightly concerned that their owners achieve good resale values when they sell on or trade up so that naturally leads to conservative designs which offend the least number of people
 
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