Build Quality

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Having just had a demonstration on the differences of boat manufacture. Technical points like glassed in bulkheads viz riveted in place , would anyone here be able to comment on the quality of the british built Princess and Fairline and would it be right to suggest that Fairlines hand assembly and making techniques is superior to Princess cnc and cut to size process???
 
more then in the bulkheads the difference between these two is more in the fittings of the furniture doors handles etc, with Fairline having always a better quality product
for what I have seen so far both builders have glassed bulkheads and the stringer and bulkheads are standard foam core filled, meaning they dont use Airex or Divinycell or Core Cell which have water resistant grades
still build quality is such deep talking u might inspect 100 boats from the same builder built in similar times and most will end up with a different problem mostly because of the human nature going into building boats...
 
I have never understood why so many in this country cling on to the belef that 'hand made' is intrinscly better than machine made.

Look at it this way, the CNC machine gets it pin point perfect first time and everytime. Hand made, while you are rely on Bob not be having an off day/tired day/lazy day, and even on top form he wont make the same peice the same twice.

Dont make the mistake of thinking the use of presision CNC machines means they are doing it to cut corners. In reality, it is to improve consistancy and improve overall quality
 
Whitelighter said:
I have never understood why so many in this country cling on to the belef that 'hand made' is intrinscly better than machine made.

Look at it this way, the CNC machine gets it pin point perfect first time and everytime. Hand made, while you are rely on Bob not be having an off day/tired day/lazy day, and even on top form he wont make the same peice the same twice.

Dont make the mistake of thinking the use of presision CNC machines means they are doing it to cut corners. In reality, it is to improve consistancy and improve overall quality
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Absolutly agree, and I use cnc machines at work. But a cnc accuracy placed inside a flexible hull might mean it will not be an exact fit. So would it be better to hand cut it to shape?? Is that where hand assembly comes in?? just curious.

My prestige is great, but I do accept that its cosmetic finish is made up mainly by a man with a mastic gun. Something I havent seen on Princess
 
Been round the Princess factory several times while on a weeks course and following the build on our MY95 and the CNC furniture shop is very impressive, it means that all grain on the drawers and cupboard fronts match as they are cut from the same panel. And Princesses system for making the laminated doorframes is clever too.
Then all the units are lacquered and baked 6 times to get a deep finish. When you see the work involved in fitting out a boat its amazing they are so good as nothing can be done by robot, everything is installed by hand and so potentially the human error factor is enormous when you see the different crews going in and out of a boat, i.e propulsion, sparkies, plumbers, carpenters, and cabinet makers, soft furnishings etc, a 42 ft Princess is not so big when there are 10 guys working in there. I was out on trials on an 85 footer and there were at least 30 onboard working while we were out testing!
If you want to see bad fit and finish, look at a Bavaria, the guy with the mastic gun gets payed by the kilometer!! I have never seen so much used to cover gaps where bulkheads join.
 
build quality

A couple of astinors in our marina
and they wont be beaten for poor
fit and finish and cheap materials.

Lada riva's were rolls royce compared
with these.
 
ok so princess and Fairline are on par for build quality, Would you agree that Fairline tend to lead the way with innovation in design and Princess stay traditional???
 
hbp47 said:
ok so princess and Fairline are on par for build quality, Would you agree that Fairline tend to lead the way with innovation in design and Princess stay traditional???
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I think as a generalisation that is probably true, certainly historically anyway.
Recently however Princess have started to move the gmae on. They now make what is for me, the very best looking and working hard top sports boats in the business, compared to Fairlines ugly gran turismo HTs that look likt they just took and open boat, glassed in the roof and glazed the holes in the side.

FB wise, and interior design wise I think you are right, with Princess remaining more traditional while Fairline are quicker to incorporate modern ideas interms of fabrics and finish touches, though neither lead the way and even Fairline stick to fairly traditional layouts.
 
Whitelighter said:
I think as a generalisation that is probably true, certainly historically anyway.
Recently however Princess have started to move the gmae on. They now make what is for me, the very best looking and working hard top sports boats in the business, compared to Fairlines ugly gran turismo HTs that look likt they just took and open boat, glassed in the roof and glazed the holes in the side.

FB wise, and interior design wise I think you are right, with Princess remaining more traditional while Fairline are quicker to incorporate modern ideas interms of fabrics and finish touches, though neither lead the way and even Fairline stick to fairly traditional layouts.
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ok so who does lead the way in flybridge designs then? AZUMIT?
 
It depends what you rate. If it innovation, then Sealine with the marmite F46, Azimut seem to do their own thing as well. Fariline have been quite radical with the 55Sq and the Phantom 48 mid cabin too.

Princess just build good looking, solid, well made boats, but dont break the mould. Not a bad thing, unless you want something cutting edge.

i like princess', and may well end up with one as the next tub...
 
Whitelighter said:
It depends what you rate. If it innovation, then Sealine with the marmite F46, Azimut seem to do their own thing as well. Fariline have been quite radical with the 55Sq and the Phantom 48 mid cabin too.

Princess just build good looking, solid, well made boats, but dont break the mould. Not a bad thing, unless you want something cutting edge.

i like princess', and may well end up with one as the next tub...
Click to expand...

You...with a Princess.. what flybridge
 
CMJ said:
AZIMUT - Definately!
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Good design or just.... a confused mess ?

CIMG0099.jpg
 
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the 55 has been in the making since 2000, so that is already 9 years, they sold about 400 of it
it also created the way for a full beam owners stateroom in smaller less then 20 metre motor yachts
they started doing mid ship owners stateroom already before with the 1993 presented AZ54 Cinquantaquatro later renamed the 58 Full in 1997 not full beam though as Azimut
apart from the design Azimut is always a trend setter in the materials it uses
for example it was a pioneer in the use of glassing fameless windows on its boats, from 1991 and fully frameless in 1993 with the 78 Ultra, in 1999 it also introduced cystalized mirror like windows on the 68 Plus
it also introduced a couple of revolutions in the open hard top sector with the 68S, first the integrated hull windows and a couple of other solutions too

they also have the higher budget for a R&D which I think is more to double to any builder which guess what is followed by Ferretti

yes wheter you like them or not Azimut paves the way for the modern meditterrean boats design

now tell me who did not copy these solutions in MY...
 
oldgit said:
Good design or just.... a confused mess ?

CIMG0099.jpg
Click to expand...


Not good, but great! I agree with you oldgit slightly though ref confusion as I think the large hull windows don't necessarily go.....the AZ50 doesn't have these and therefore does not look confused IMHO - just perfect.

With their exterior looks, and solid build, you can't beat these I reckon (if you put finances aside!) :)
 
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