Considering new Princess V42

For me it was interior space, quality of joinery & the overall feel. As Paul Say's, go look at one. I had a Volvo tech working on it a while ago & even he commented on the quality compared with some of the main UK brands. Unfortunately, Absolute after sales is not all that now, don't know if it ever was, but it would put me off upgrading which is a shame, because the only boat I would upgrade to now is an Absolute.:( Financially, even the princess sales guy said I would be better off selling & then buying a Princess, unlike fairline where Essex Boatyards will at least make you feel that they didn't use vaseline.:D & yes, the Absolute was cheaper, but believe it or not, that was not the main deciding factor.
 
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I saw the new Absolutes and I must say they still continue to raise the bar. May be the new small STY models look more bulky in design and dont ride as good as the old ones, but on an Italian forum someone showed a 43, 53 and 64 inbuild and all is impressive done in a factory which is neater then a hospital. Something to be impressed actually.

I used to deal a lot with the Absolute people in the past, as the staff mostly comes from 1960s founded Gobbi, and 1994 till 2002 I must say I had the best after sales service ever. I bought everything from them and things usually came in at a week's time.

RD have you have ever tryed to contact directly the factory? Again Italian friends from the forum have a newer 40 STC, 41 and a 45 and all speak well of direct factory after sales.
The guy of the 40 STC (2 years old) is doing a tour of West med since months, and has gone up far till Gibraltar. I think at the moment he is in Menorca.

If you want no sun-pad, and a big cockpit I would also look at the Cranchi 43 Med. IPS powered but impressively spacious inside with one cabin being full beam owners.

There is a lot of boats to look in this size, obviously if the boat will be kept in the UK, the British brands have a sort an easier sale later on the used market, altough that road is also a two way road. Meaning that the way the market is you can also be forced to reduced the price because of over supply of a certain model.
 
Sessa C42 Volvo engines

Thank you for your note.
I haven't signed yet on the dotted line. I'm still finalising the spec list and need to do one more sea trial - the whole process is actually great fun! Can't wait to get the boat though....
Your reply is very helpful. Forgive my ignorance, but what engines do you have on the C42HT? VP D6-310? If so, are you happy with the engines?

Hi, my Sessa has Volvo penta engines D6 330hp each. had no problems so far (after 4 years). However I have them serviced every year and what ever needs doing gets done!
I also think the Absolute boats are good, go for a 2 cabin version with 2 toilets. They are very usefull! One toilet packed up on us in greece on a 2 month cruise but was saved by the 2nd toilet aqnd shower!!
Good luck. capt peter
 
I saw the new Absolutes and I must say they still continue to raise the bar. May be the new small STY models look more bulky in design and dont ride as good as the old ones, but on an Italian forum someone showed a 43, 53 and 64 inbuild and all is impressive done in a factory which is neater then a hospital. Something to be impressed actually.

I used to deal a lot with the Absolute people in the past, as the staff mostly comes from 1960s founded Gobbi, and 1994 till 2002 I must say I had the best after sales service ever. I bought everything from them and things usually came in at a week's time.

RD have you have ever tryed to contact directly the factory? Again Italian friends from the forum have a newer 40 STC, 41 and a 45 and all speak well of direct factory after sales.
The guy of the 40 STC (2 years old) is doing a tour of West med since months, and has gone up far till Gibraltar. I think at the moment he is in Menorca.

If you want no sun-pad, and a big cockpit I would also look at the Cranchi 43 Med. IPS powered but impressively spacious inside with one cabin being full beam owners.

There is a lot of boats to look in this size, obviously if the boat will be kept in the UK, the British brands have a sort an easier sale later on the used market, altough that road is also a two way road. Meaning that the way the market is you can also be forced to reduced the price because of over supply of a certain model.

pm sent
 
Does any of you have experience with the reliability of sterndrives on a Princess V42 in the very salty waters of the med? I've been told keeping the boat in the water all year is foolish.

Many thanks in advance.
 
Does any of you have experience with the reliability of sterndrives on a Princess V42 in the very salty waters of the med? I've been told keeping the boat in the water all year is foolish.

Many thanks in advance.

Jimmy the Builder keeps his Fairline Targa 40 at Antibes, while it is not a Prinny, Vega has twin VP Outdrives, which will be similar to the Prinny. VolvoPaul on this forum does maintenance on the Med, where and when it makes sense, so you might get an update from him too.
 
Does any of you have experience with the reliability of sterndrives on a Princess V42 in the very salty waters of the med? I've been told keeping the boat in the water all year is foolish.

Many thanks in advance.

We currently have 2 boats that have lived in the water in mallorca 365 days of the year for the last 7 years with no problems on either drive or hull due to extra saltiness (is it actually significantly more salty than anywhere else? I didnt know it was) . One has twin volvo dph stern drives, the other a single mercruiser alpha 1 .

Anodes and antifoul last for 12 months before requiring replacement.
 
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It is not actually true, and this can vary from Marina and berth. If you have a sailing boat next to you it will make again an extra difference for the galvanic corrision in the water.
If the pontoons are hold by chains like ours in Malta your zincs serve about 6-9 months. (6 with a couple of sailboats nearby).

Also most boats who left them for 12 months will need the alloy props replaced or a deep repair, and if you have stainless props these will eat the zinc anodes even faster.
In my experience in the med and salt water unless you change them in water never leave stern drives more then nine months. Unless you do not want a heavy bill later on.
 
[QUOTE
Also most boats who left them for 12 months will need the alloy props replaced or a deep repair, and if you have stainless props these will eat the zinc anodes even faster.
In my experience in the med and salt water unless you change them in water never leave stern drives more then nine months. Unless you do not want a heavy bill later on.[/QUOTE]

This does not fit with my experience, like I say above, we have two boats, one with 2 x dph drives, and one with a single merc alpha 1. Both boats are left in water 365 days per year for the last 7 years, with zero corrosion of any underwater parts. Everything has been fine. we replace anodes every 12 months, and antifoul every 12 months and all is fine.

I guess it must vary from marina to marina depending on lots of factors like electrical leakage from your boat, other boats, other boat types, the marina itself But like I say we have had no issues in 7 years.
 
Thank you for your note.
I haven't signed yet on the dotted line. I'm still finalising the spec list and need to do one more sea trial - the whole process is actually great fun! Can't wait to get the boat though....

Just caught up with this thread, so did Alwaysbyboat ever buy a boat?
 
No, he hasn't yet. Plans pushed back as I had to solve a business issue first. Very frustrating but the flip side is that many new interesting boats were launched in the meantime, so once I'm back in the market it will be fun to update the short list.
 
Does any of you have experience with the reliability of sterndrives on a Princess V42 in the very salty waters of the med? I've been told keeping the boat in the water all year is foolish.

Many thanks in advance.
VP -DPG 2003 -anodes changed every 12/12 -no issues what so ever in South of France ,past 8Y .
Birth is concrete . Boat has some sort of galvanic insulator device - not sure exactlty what?
Each drive has 3 anodes - seem to last Easter/Easter .Infact all the sterndrives boats -well the VP,s seem to last 12/12 .

You can see the anodes ,on the DPH there is one on top of the exhaust flange ,they hardly shrink

Prop anode on my DPG ends up arround 1/2 ( Al props)

Seem a few mercruiser steering ram anodes seem to fizz -look pretty bad
Thousands of outdrives arround
 
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