Boat sold looking for a Princess 72 or similar

[Tesams]

Hi

Sold our 58 earlier this year, currently in Majorca looking at a couple of P72’s, the forum was really useful when we bought our 58 a number of years ago.

Does anyone have any experience of the 72 good or bad? I’d appreciate any comments. Other option on the table the SS73 or SS75.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jrudge]

I was on the boats.co.uk one yesterday ( it was in port ) and it seemed very nice.

Why not ask James for a day charter rate?


Jeremy

 

[jfm]

I dont want to rain on parades but take care with this particular boat from the princess range. The hull rides bow high and there are some interesting engineering decisions on some builds eg check whether the fin stabilisers are mounted under the wing fuel tanks. Bluntly it would not be top of my list in the 72 ft department. The princess 78 and 82, and the Sq78, are considerably better boats in my book. I am perhaps being fussy and of course it is very far from a bad boat in absolute terms.

 

[MrB]

I dont want to rain on parades but take care with this particular boat from the princess range. The hull rides bow high and there are some interesting engineering decisions on some builds eg check whether the fin stabilisers are mounted under the wing fuel tanks. Bluntly it would not be top of my list in the 72 ft department. The princess 78 and 82, and the Sq78, are considerably better boats in my book. I am perhaps being fussy and of course it is very far from a bad boat in absolute terms.

On a side note and as the op asked about a SS75, how do you compare the SS75 and SS86 in comparison to the above mentioned boats? No trick question, I just trust your opinion.

 

[MrB]

On another side note, who keeps 5* every thread? lol

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

Princess 78. I am perhaps being fussy and of course it is very far from a bad boat in absolute terms.

Structural wise the Princess 78 is a mess. Do you know the meaning of flopper dopper, it takes an Oscar for it.

I have meet four captains in four different boats who would not want to venture in this boat in anything more then a meter of wave, and I am starting to think it is not a coincidence.

72 have less of these problems as far as I have been told by an owner.

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

On a side note and as the op asked about a SS75, how do you compare the SS75 and SS86 in comparison to the above mentioned boats? No trick question, I just trust your opinion.

Sunseeker 86 Yacht is a much better boat then the 75 Yacht. 75 is too much full in the hull and is a nice harbor boat.
Sunseeker basically made a bubble of the 73 and 70 hull and filled it with stuff as much as they could.
Old 73 was a better boat.

 

[MapisM]

Do you know the meaning of flopper dopper

I for one don't, care to elaborate?
Ref. Prin 72 vs. 78, as I understand jfm was saying the opposite, i.e. that the the latter is better than the former...

Btw, just recently I suggested to a new member in the gyro stabilization thread that he might be better off retrofitting stabs to his P62, instead of replacing her with an F62, but that's just because I've yet to find a "modern" boat from any yard whose build quality didn't go downhill, compared to the previous decade.
What's your take on that?

 

[Portofino]

If I may chip in , it’s the big Princess,s that jack it in and drop to D speed in a chop nearly all the time .
I,ve noticed this over the 4 years running my Itama ( considerably smaller ) past them in the the same sea state in the same direction.
Prob is the subsequent pitching looks worse as we pass for the guests than when they were on the plane .
Stabs reduce roll that’s a given but don,t seem to do anything to reduce pitching ,especially when they drop off the plane , as now the waves lift the bow more .

Just reinforces the “ try before you buy “ ethos
Never mind deposit subject to sea trail malarkey. Just brass them up the diesel € or @ least offer if serious.

 

[MapisM]

Blimey PF, aren't there any decent weather days left, in SoF?
Going out in conditions where it is uncomfortable to cruise at D speed in a 70+ footer (because of pitching!) is pretty far from my idea of boating for pleasure, regardless of any hull differences!

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

I for one don't, care to elaborate?
Ref. Prin 72 vs. 78, as I understand jfm was saying the opposite, i.e. that the the latter is better than the former...

Btw, just recently I suggested to a new member in the gyro stabilization thread that he might be better off retrofitting stabs to his P62, instead of replacing her with an F62, but that's just because I've yet to find a "modern" boat from any yard whose build quality didn't go downhill, compared to the previous decade.
What's your take on that?

Possibly you are right in the last sentence.
Flopper dopper means a high amount of flexing.
The Princess 78 suffers a lot of this in the super structure, and this is noticeable with panels and furniture splitting up each time you venture in not kind weather.

A captain I know who used to run the Princess 78 and is now running a Ferretti 800 (a bit newer to the 78) and occasionally an 830 (same age), told that in his opinion the Ferretti quality twice better.
The only problems he had with the Ferretti was a blocked passarelle mechanism, and garage door and its German motor which did not want to close the door.

Another Princess 78 captain I know today runs an Azimut 68S, and interestingly he said despite the hype he thinks the 68S he runs is a much better boat to the Princess, with the exception for the limited engine room space. Which I think is expected since the Azimut is a smaller size.

 

[volvopaul]

I for one don't, care to elaborate?
Ref. Prin 72 vs. 78, as I understand jfm was saying the opposite, i.e. that the the latter is better than the former...

Btw, just recently I suggested to a new member in the gyro stabilization thread that he might be better off retrofitting stabs to his P62, instead of replacing her with an F62, but that's just because I've yet to find a "modern" boat from any yard whose build quality didn't go downhill, compared to the previous decade.
What's your take on that?

I’d agree with you 100% on that’s one , the newer they get the cheaper in quality they are, I heard Princess are running the factory 24/7 and according to sources it’s showing up badly with regard to the state of unfinished new boats .

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I’d agree with you 100% on that’s one , the newer they get the cheaper in quality they are, I heard Princess are running the factory 24/7 and according to sources it’s showing up badly with regard to the state of unfinished new boats .

I've even heard that from a boat salesman. Basically after the 2008 crash all the manufacturers reacted by trying to reduce costs and thats had knock on effects on quality. I've looked at a few new boats recently and I've been far from impressed

 

[Eren]

I for one don't, care to elaborate?
Btw, just recently I suggested to a new member in the gyro stabilization thread that he might be better off retrofitting stabs to his P62, instead of replacing her with an F62, but that's just because I've yet to find a "modern" boat from any yard whose build quality didn't go downhill, compared to the previous decade.
What's your take on that?

Totally agree. In the last 2 years I am running a 2009 SS Manhattan 70 (which is actually 73). I have done a quite detailed refit on the boat and was always amazed with the quality that I saw at the places where a regular owner would not normally be looking at. In the last decade most of the brands are being run by funds and they try to cut from each piece. In the end the final product is a lower quality one than the ones produced before.

 

[jfm]

If I may chip in , it’s the big Princess,s that jack it in and drop to D speed in a chop nearly all the time .
I,ve noticed this over the 4 years running my Itama ( considerably smaller ) past them in the the same sea state in the same direction.
Prob is the subsequent pitching looks worse as we pass for the guests than when they were on the plane .
Stabs reduce roll that’s a given but don,t seem to do anything to reduce pitching ,especially when they drop off the plane , as now the waves lift the bow more .

Just reinforces the “ try before you buy “ ethos
Never mind deposit subject to sea trail malarkey. Just brass them up the diesel € or @ least offer if serious.

This is a bit nuts and we surely have to keep this real. You might have seen some big Princesses choose to slow down, but the idea that your Itama can smash through head seas with greater passenger comfort AOTBE than a 72 or 78 Princess is just nuts. A 50 ish tonne 70+ footer can take head seas in remarkable comfort when AOTBE passengers in a < 20 tonne 40 footer would be enduring a tough time.

 

[Portofino]

This is a bit nuts and we surely have to keep this real. You might have seen some big Princesses choose to slow down, but the idea that your Itama can smash through head seas with greater passenger comfort AOTBE than a 72 or 78 Princess is just nuts. A 50 ish tonne 70+ footer can take head seas in remarkable comfort when AOTBE passengers in a < 20 tonne 40 footer would be enduring a tough time.

Suspect they slow down drop off the plane etc to protect the boat ,from dropping to bits ,you know slamming etc etc .It so happens they simultaneously when the bow seems to pitch more at D speeds appear to me to be actually more uncomfortable for the passengers .
Saw one passenger lean over the side and puke once as we slid past .
Had some of them try and run in my wake .
Anecdotal evidence all new Princess.


Odd they drop to D seemingly early that’s all , you are right it’s not the L or tonnage ,should be able to cope so conclusion must be some other reason .What I see just reinforces the line of this thread =build or lack of build adds up .

 

[NGM]

Suspect they slow down drop off the plane etc to protect the boat ,from dropping to bits ,you know slamming etc etc . .
Saw one passenger lean over the side and puke once as we slid past ..
Had some of them try and run in my wake ..
Anecdotal evidence all new Princess.
.

This is quite a bizarre post ...

Firstly as you say this is guess work on your behalf, you have no idea why they slowed down, why the guy was puking or why they chose to follow your wake

Whilst I don't have comparable evidence I wouldn't challenge the view that boats from a decade + ago were built in a more solid fashion. However that doesn't mean that today's boats are of such quality that the boats structure and internals are it risk in any meaningful sea state. Whilst it's probably nice to have a boat that's built like an outhouse I'd be surprised if many of us leisure boaters chose conditions to test theory.

I spent the summer on a brand new Princess, we covered 500nm in various sea states, nothing cracked, nothing fell off, no one was sick and we didn't feel the need to run for cover in the wake of a sports boat.
So there is some factual evidence that you can use as balance for your anecdotal.

 

[Portofino]

This is quite a bizarre post ...

Firstly as you say this is guess work on your behalf, you have no idea why they slowed down, why the guy was puking or why they chose to follow your wake

So there is some factual evidence that you can use as balance for your anecdotal.

Not the same boat btw ,the 3 illustrations ,and other 70 ftr s don,t slow down as per JFM ,s post if I understood it correctly?
Guy oppersite me new (July ) 55 FB had his saloon table fall off it’s two days ago while watching the Cannes yacht racing .
It did get choppy in the AM .
Hatch locks have been changed too , kept flying open .

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

Btw a Princess 78 is a boat from a decade ago, more or less since it started production in 07 if I am remembering well and was produced till 10.
The think about the Princess 78 is that I have spoken with four different captains and all boats seem to flex a lot and had a lot of problems with what is moderate choppy seas (especially for a 78 footers).
That is why most of them drive slow in choppy seas.

So the Princess recent product might be better to it for all I know. I spoke to an Italian owner captain on a Princess 72 and he was very happy of the boat.
He did mention its bow high attitude though as JFM pointed out.
Speaking of tonnage and weight as JFM points out, he did come from an Uniesse 57 Open (about 28 t loaded) and in his opinion the Uniesse was a much better sea boat to the 72 in this case, though he said that is a trade off you make for comfort and a flybridge. This was for all I understood an experienced Italian owner, and this Princess 72 with no hard top had about 800 engine hours this in 2015 and in its third season running.