Boat in build pics (2013 Fairline Squadron 78)

I,m begining to think that JFM is starting to tease us lower orders !!!!.... titter titter !!!!!......... i wonder just how many of us are just twitching for some pics !!!!........ especially ME !!!!!!!!
 
Sorry to be slow with pics! Seatrial went very well yesterday. Weather wasn't great but was not as bad as forecast. Low grey skies and poor vis, but ok. For an hour there was a biggish sea which pleased the stabiliser guys becuase they collected a lot of calibration data. It was a good trip out - maybe 4 hours. Caterpillar and Sleipner (stabs) engineers were on board, plus several Fairline guys from the PDI and build teams were on board

I was really pleased with the boat. This was its first trip out with 3 hours or so on the engines. Everything worked. Every standard and custom bit of electrickery worked; no mistakes in the build. Even in the quite big seas, not a single panel (let alone a bulkhead) creaked or rattled. It was Bentley smooth. The Fairline team were very pleased too and you could see the pride in the boat getting a clean sheet. We had full fuel, water and holding tanks, plus water bladders on fly and aft to simulate tenders and aft gear, and it did 31 kts flat out. Top rpm was about 50 down on Caterpillar's requirement, so the props will be tweaked to take 1/2 inch of pitch off, which is perfectly fine. So all good, and much credit to the sq78 build team

I've put a few pictures below though nothing hugely exciting nor bikini clad, sorry

First pic below is when we were about to leave berth in Ipswich, with a nice Jongert or something parked in front

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Heading from Fairline's facility to the lock...

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In the lock, waiting for road bridge to swing clear...

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Wake shot in river orwell

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Loads of tech guys on board...

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Everyone was logging data on laptops :-) Here is the gear that the Caterpillar guys had plugged in: gauges and a laptop logging the data:

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A14 or A12 (I can't remember...) road bridge over Orwell left behind. This pic also shows one of the weight bladders full of water

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Below are first wake and running shots. Bit brown, sorry :-)

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Flybridge wasn't much in use due to cold weather!

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Then after a few hours at sea we returned up the Orwell river...

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Appraching Fairline's berths

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And all offloaded and berthed...

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ooh mister, mister, cooee mister, have you got a spare seat for an old fagit please mister? Have you, eh have you? Go on there's gotta be a spare seat somewhere mister. I can be ballast or eye candy or anyfink you wanbt really mister. Go on eh, whatcha say eh? Eh? :rolleyes:

Oh alright then, sodya you can go on your own.:cool:

Have fun and I bet you have a BIG smile when you get back. ;)
Hi Colin. Might have a spare seat on the Ipswich- Essex leg (2-3 weeks) or the Essex - Southamption leg (5 weeks). So long as you stay on the main deck there is no white carpet at all to spill a whole pot of tea on (will you ever be forgiven for this one? It was 1999 or 2000, ferchrissakes! :D)
 
Hi JFM. After seeing Match 1 at Excel and marvelling at the development of Match 2 a question arises as to balance. With all the modifications, enhancements etc, how do Fairline ensure she, yes she, sits squarely in the water both bow to stern and port to starboard? Cheers Geoff.
Yeah it is quite common among all boats with options to have balance problem. The solution is to glass some lead in, midships, by the chine. On Match 1 I had maybe 100kg on the starboard side under the master cabin sofa but as it happens Match 2 is looking ok with none. Will do a final check when tender etc is installed
 
Not looking too shabby JFM. When are the glitter balls and disco lights going in?
You jest Pete I know, but the correct answer to your question is "next few weeks". Purple uplit vases that use glass beads to split the (lumishore) light into RGB and paint RGB streaks on the saloon ceiling go in next week, followed shortly by other lighting including some with music controlled mode :-). Essential gear Pete :D
 
Must feel a bit deju vu? Does that potentially dampen the excitement levels to below that of Match 1? been there 'dun it sort of thing?

Still a fabulous boat whether it's your first or tenth!!
 
BIIIIIIIGG THANKS JFM for the update!!!! have been dreaming about this trial as if it were mine !!!!!.... glad all working A OK.... you say about an adjustment to the props, what sort ??.. 1/2" off/on the diameter or the pitch ??.. just hoping i,m allowed a sniff around at swanwick !!...(promise i,ll have a bath first).........A STUNNING CRAFT JUST STUNNING .......
 
What a thrill it must have been... and no problems, tribute to the Fairline build team, it's fine to see the boat being built, but nothing compared seeing it where it belongs, in the water. Have to say though the pics reminded me why we have our boat in the Med, getting too old & soft for all cold wet weather!! (Antibes has been a bit cold & wet lately though!)
Pan
 
Thank you so much for posting the pics! She looks absolutely fantastic, also in bad weather.

The white caulking definitely has my vote and even though it wasn't so frequent on these latest pictures I think the satin walnut and white/silver in the interior are stunning!

May I suggest an "unpacking Match II" video clip on YouTube once all the protective wrapping has to go off...? :p

Did you do any driving yourself to get a feel for the behavior and if so, any immediate differences to M1?
 
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BIIIIIIIGG THANKS JFM for the update!!!! have been dreaming about this trial as if it were mine !!!!!.... glad all working A OK.... you say about an adjustment to the props, what sort ??.. 1/2" off/on the diameter or the pitch ??.. just hoping i,m allowed a sniff around at swanwick !!...(promise i,ll have a bath first).........A STUNNING CRAFT JUST STUNNING .......
1/2 inch off pitch Steve, not dia. They use a machine just to bend them a bit. At least i think so; I've never actually seen the process. That's a small amount - these are 52inch pitch props. Fairline dont do this; they send them off to a prop specialist
 
Awesome stuff J, congrats!
Of course I can see why those folks onboard were wearing shoes, but considering that the external decks were not covered, didn't that make you a bit nervous? :D

Re. the results, 31 kts fully loaded, before prop tuning, and with fin stabs looks indeed a good result.
Surely the Cat laptop recorded also the rpm/speed/engine load/fuel burn numbers.
I for one would be very interested to see such tables, also because it would be nice to compare them with the IPS-equipped VdV boat.
I'm aware that most builders are not keen on publishing those numbers, but since it's your boat I guess they can't argue with the owner, if he wishes to disclose them...
 
1/2 inch off pitch Steve, not dia. They use a machine just to bend them a bit. At least i think so; I've never actually seen the process. That's a small amount - these are 52inch pitch props. Fairline dont do this; they send them off to a prop specialist
Yep, that's the right way to do it.
In further reply to the question from Steven, normally reducing the diameter is NEVER a good idea.
You always want to have the larger possible props for any given hull/propulsion, and adjust the pitch as needed.
In this case, surely you could get the engines spinning 50rpm more by grinding the blades borders, but that would mean reaching the target through a higher props slip, which is obviously a bad idea.
 
Thank you so much for posting the pics! She looks absolutely fantastic, also in bad weather.

The white caulking definitely has my vote and even though it wasn't so frequent on these latest pictures I think the satin walnut and white/silver in the interior are stunning!

May I suggest an "unpacking Match II" video clip on YouTube once all the protective wrapping has to go off...? :p

Did you do any driving yourself to get a feel for the behavior and if so, any immediate differences to M1?

Thanks! I'll post some more video soon - I have some of the sea trial on my iPhone

No i didn't drive. They had work to do, and there are no chartplotters (due to awaiting Garmin 8000) and these are shallow/sandbanked waters. It needed a pro who knew the waters, not me. They did kindly offer, but I declined for all those reasons - I'm in no rush. Duncan Carter was the skipper - he is a pro who works a lot for Fairline and drove Match 1 a lot too (London Boat show deliveries, etc). He is one of the few people I'd be happy to give my boat keys to and let him drive/deliver the boat becuase he is super-reliable/knowledgable and a very nice guy. He has driven perhaps half of the Sq74/78 ever built and he is better than me at telling if it "feels" ok. He is the grey haired guy driving hull #1 of Sq74 in London in the original brochure shots for Sq74/78. The main driving feel difference is that the ACERT version of Cat C32 engines (Match 1 was non-ACERT C32) have a bit more low end power so acceleration is strong (if you want or care), plus I have the lower helm seats mounted 80mm higher so the lower helm view out is nicer
 
The main driving feel difference is that the ACERT version of Cat C32 engines (Match 1 was non-ACERT C32) have a bit more low end power so acceleration is strong (if you want or care), plus I have the lower helm seats mounted 80mm higher so the lower helm view out is nicer
In theory, a better low end torque could also mean a tad lower minimum planing speed, which would obviously be nice. But what do I know...?
 
Awesome stuff J, congrats!
Of course I can see why those folks onboard were wearing shoes, but considering that the external decks were not covered, didn't that make you a bit nervous? :D

Re. the results, 31 kts fully loaded, before prop tuning, and with fin stabs looks indeed a good result.
Surely the Cat laptop recorded also the rpm/speed/engine load/fuel burn numbers.
I for one would be very interested to see such tables, also because it would be nice to compare them with the IPS-equipped VdV boat.
I'm aware that most builders are not keen on publishing those numbers, but since it's your boat I guess they can't argue with the owner, if he wishes to disclose them...

Thanks Mapis
They were all wearing soft shoes - side decks will be cleaned - I'm not worried :) I was wearing (soft soled) shoes too. All the internal sufaces/floors are covered. No worries!

Yes they logged the data but tbh I was too busy to collect it. Fairline have it all on Excel sheets and will give it to me with the boat. Maybe before and after the re-pitch. This data will be slightly worse than it should be due to "tight" engines (I think only about 5 hours so far) but I'll post on here in a few weeks. Their policy is to present "worst case": they collect data with full fuel, water, black tanks, plus water bladders to add a tonne for owner's gear, plus 9 men onboard. Though the hull is clean of course. My average cruisng is of course 3-4 tonnes lighter than that. Plus I have more reliable tabs on this boat than Match 1 with N2K indicators on the dash screens so I can tweak trim/fuel burn with those

I'd expect maybe 350 litres/hour at typical 20knots cruise with clean hull. IIRC and FWIW, that is about 1700rpm. I could often see 17.5-18litres/nm at 20kts on Match1's dashboard - with a middle load of fuel and water, and somewhat dirty bottom. When Match 1 was on delivery in spain with low fuel and clean bum it was 16-16.5 lpm at 20kts, = 320-330 lph. That would be about 54 tonnes, and when I refueled in Sant Carles adding 6.5 tonnes plus water it went immediately to 18 lpm. The tabs on Match 1 were a bit rubbish so I didn't use them much. All my figures here are with stab fins of course but not dynamic centring software

On match 2 I'll improve slightly: I have stronger trim tabs with N2K indicators, that I can use reliably, plus ACERT engines which maybe help a little, plus dynamic stab fins centering software

I dunno how that compares with others including IPS but yes I'll post my data in due course. That said, if multiple IPs is more fuel efficient I really couldn't care less. I'm sticking with my beautiful Cat C32s on shafts, thanks, :D :D
 
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