Beneteau Swift 52

[Mino]

Anyone out there own one? If so, your opinion would be appreciated.

 

[Mino]

*watches tumbleweed pass through this thread*

 

[lisilou]

I was hoping someone would respond to your post coz I too would love to hear personal experiences of this and the 44. We looked at the 44 as one of our upgrade options but decided against it because it didn't have a separate shower cubicle. Looks like the 52 does. Loved this range! Fantastic layout and oodles of character. Wish I could help on the boating experience side of things for this but sorry, no can do. Watching this with interest tho.
Lisa

 

[Mino]

I was hoping someone would respond to your post coz I too would love to hear personal experiences of this and the 44. We looked at the 44 as one of our upgrade options but decided against it because it didn't have a separate shower cubicle. Looks like the 52 does. Loved this range! Fantastic layout and oodles of character. Wish I could help on the boating experience side of things for this but sorry, no can do. Watching this with interest tho.
Lisa

If you haven't seen these, check out the BoatTest.com reviews

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWZwWXyQFcA&feature=BFa&list=PL1A02182772152211&lf=plpp_video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX3LYpdEkAQ&list=PL1A02182772152211&index=62&feature=plpp_video

 

[lisilou]

Enjoyed that...thanks.
L

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Seeing as nobody has replied with first hand experience of owning a ST52, I'll lob in a couple of comments based on boat show inspections. IMHO Beneteau have covered all the bases in designing this boat and managed to incorporate pretty much every feature buyers of trawler type boats might expect on a boat of this size. Also by all accounts, the hull is excellent.
However it does suffer from the same drawback as every trawler type boat does and that is the saloon is very small for a boat of this size due to the wide side decks and the incorporation of a pilot house. Also the finish is typical Beneteau ie somewhat basic and not on the same planet as something like a Fleming 55. Having said that, I think the ST52 would be an interesting and seaworthy alternative to a run of the mill 50ft production planing boat. It seems also the demand for the ST52 is high so I guess depreciation might be less crippling than some other 50 footers

 

[Mino]

Seeing as nobody has replied with first hand experience of owning a ST52, I'll lob in a couple of comments based on boat show inspections. IMHO Beneteau have covered all the bases in designing this boat and managed to incorporate pretty much every feature buyers of trawler type boats might expect on a boat of this size. Also by all accounts, the hull is excellent.
However it does suffer from the same drawback as every trawler type boat does and that is the saloon is very small for a boat of this size due to the wide side decks and the incorporation of a pilot house. Also the finish is typical Beneteau ie somewhat basic and not on the same planet as something like a Fleming 55. Having said that, I think the ST52 would be an interesting and seaworthy alternative to a run of the mill 50ft production planing boat. It seems also the demand for the ST52 is high so I guess depreciation might be less crippling than some other 50 footers

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Have considered the Fleming. Lovely boats, excellent build quality. Haven't ruled it out yet; still on a fact finding mission and evaluating my needs. Time consuming, but enjoyable.