Do I need a Flybridge (SIBS)

[trouty12]

Went to SIBS testerday. Seemed quiet but that made it easy to get on boats etc.. The highlight for me (and S.W.M.B.O) was a ride out on a Princess V46. Blasted around Southampton water chasing another Princess (V65), 34 knots jumping other boats wake and generaly being hooligans.

All my sea boating to date has been on flybridge boats but now I am thinking.... The bridge is great for helming from but otherwise little used. Its either too cold or the confines of the marina dissuade us from using it much. In return we have more cost, more weight, more windage and more height. Plus the cost of equiping two helms.

The handling of the V46 stunned me. The boat was so agile and landed so softly I was amazed. I want one soooo badly. Anybody got 400K theeir not using?

 

[DAKA]

The boat was so agile and landed so softly I was amazed.

If you just want to play in Southampton water going through wake the probably not.

If you want to go offshore the Flybridge will give you a sensation of security as the waves look so much smaller and seldom splash over the top.

Think about the times you have been out and had splash covering the lower helm, do you really want to be inside looking out through w/s wipers ?

 

[trouty12]

If you just want to play in Southampton water going through wake the probably not.

If you want to go offshore the Flybridge will give you a sensation of security as the waves look so much smaller and seldom splash over the top.

Think about the times you have been out and had splash covering the lower helm, do you really want to be inside looking out through w/s wipers ?

Fair point DAKA. I've had heavy spray over the upper helm on more than one occasion. I guess things would look a little different in the north sea than they did in Southampton. I suspect part of the reason I was so impressed will be down to the improvement in hull/boat design (mines 20yr old). If so, i assume new flybridges would be eaqually impressive.

 

[AndieMac]

the Flybridge will give you a sensation of security as the waves look so much smaller and seldom splash over the top.QUOTE]

These are some photos of a 48' game fisher (Waterdog) from Jupiter Inlet, Palm Beach County in Florida coming in over a barway, being helmed from the flybridge.
The 61 year old skipper appeared to over run the large cresting wave and the quick broaching action that ensued followed by the quick righting action, ejected him from the helm and over the port side into the water.
The deck hand came up from down below to take the helm (must have been upper helm only?) and circled around, but had to leave the bar so as not to risk loosing the boat and passengers.
Shore based surf rescue recovered the skipper,who later died in hospital.

There were a huge amount of photos in the email that came to me, but this is essentially what happened...

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Went to SIBS testerday. Seemed quiet but that made it easy to get on boats etc.. The highlight for me (and S.W.M.B.O) was a ride out on a Princess V46. Blasted around Southampton water chasing another Princess (V65), 34 knots jumping other boats wake and generaly being hooligans.

All my sea boating to date has been on flybridge boats but now I am thinking.... The bridge is great for helming from but otherwise little used. Its either too cold or the confines of the marina dissuade us from using it much. In return we have more cost, more weight, more windage and more height. Plus the cost of equiping two helms.

The handling of the V46 stunned me. The boat was so agile and landed so softly I was amazed. I want one soooo badly. Anybody got 400K theeir not using?

Definitely a V46? Only produced about 2002-2004 and then promptly replaced by the V48. 400k is way more than you'll need to get into one of these - if you can find one for sale.

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[Chris_d]

the Flybridge will give you a sensation of security as the waves look so much smaller and seldom splash over the top.QUOTE]

These are some photos of a 48' game fisher (Waterdog) from Jupiter Inlet, Palm Beach County in Florida coming in over a barway, being helmed from the flybridge.
The 61 year old skipper appeared to over run the large cresting wave and the quick broaching action that ensued followed by the quick righting action, ejected him from the helm and over the port side into the water.
The deck hand came up from down below to take the helm (must have been upper helm only?) and circled around, but had to leave the bar so as not to risk loosing the boat and passengers.
Shore based surf rescue recovered the skipper,who later died in hospital.

There were a huge amount of photos in the email that came to me, but this is essentially what happened...

That is scary shows what can happen, good advert for wearing a lifejacket and the folly of removing things like guard rails to make the boat look swish

 

[Major Catastrophe]

I have just looked at all 52 photographs. That was a scary incident and reminds me of the time I broached at Fort Belan on the Caernarfon bar.

As I looked to my right through the wheelhouse side window all I could see was green water as the window was under water.

Everything inside did a 360, including the Waeco fridge freezer, and I am glad that I was 'safe' inside the wheelhouse and not on a fly.

Mind you, I learned a lot about crossing a bar with a following sea against the tide that day.

 

[trouty12]

Definitely a V46? Only produced about 2002-2004 and then promptly replaced by the V48. 400k is way more than you'll need to get into one of these - if you can find one for sale.

Cheers
Jimmy

Fairly sure a V46. Was told it was about 2yrs old and used by Princess as a test bed. Had had various systems installed/removed over time for test purposes. twin Volvo 575HP with 250 hours on, shaft drive. The best bit was how it impressed SWMBO (often the reluctant boater), so much so that we went straight onto the display V45 for a look around!

 

[AndieMac]

I have just looked at all 52 photographs. That was a scary incident and reminds me of the time I broached at Fort Belan on the Caernarfon bar.

As I looked to my right through the wheelhouse side window all I could see was green water as the window was under water.

Everything inside did a 360, including the Waeco fridge freezer, and I am glad that I was 'safe' inside the wheelhouse and not on a fly.

Mind you, I learned a lot about crossing a bar with a following sea against the tide that day.

The bars can be just as bad as head seas. The problem is it may appear sedate, then a big 'mother' just rares up in front of you out of nowhere, then you've lost the screen, the patio doors and the engine hydro-locks from the ingress of waist deep cockpit water.........it can ruin your whole day!

 

[Mino]

Interesting thread.

I originally wanted a flybridge and a planing hull, then as my desire to liveaboard became stronger, I ended up taking a serious look at the Aquanaut GV 1700 which is displacement and CE Class A. After yet more thinking and research (now wanting low air draft for the European canals and higher cruising speed than the Aquanaut allows, and the whole issue of maintaining a steel hull), I'm going to purchase an Elling E4 when I've got enough of the folding stuff saved up. The points that you (and others) have made confirm thoughts I've already had and brought other, previously unrealised, points to light. And yet on a calm, sunny day, I'll miss not having a flybridge. Although the boattest video review mentions that one can have a bluetooth wireless remote option that would allow one to steer from the bow seat if desired.

http://www.boattest.com/Partners/Partner-Main.aspx?lp_id=3211169&t=BOAT-TEST&Videoid=2318&p=0&s=

BTW, good luck getting what you want! If you desire it enough, you'll figure out a way.

 

[MapisM]

this is essentially what happened...

Wow AM, that's possibly the most impressive pics sequence I've ever seen of a boat accident!
Safety aside, I never understood the point of those suggesting to helm from upstairs also in bad conditions, in order to have better visibility. Either they must have boats whose lower helms are really awful, or they never cruised at night and/or in thick fog...

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Isn't the case here that the boat has no lower helm?

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[MapisM]

Yep, the poor chap didn't have a choice in this case, but many boaters would have considered safer to stay upstair even if they had a choice, I reckon.

 

[AndieMac]

Wow AM, that's possibly the most impressive pics sequence I've ever seen of a boat accident!
Safety aside, I never understood the point of those suggesting to helm from upstairs also in bad conditions, in order to have better visibility. Either they must have boats whose lower helms are really awful, or they never cruised at night and/or in thick fog...

He appears to be coming from calm conditions at sea, and the barway may have appeared sedate from offshore as he makes his final approaches to the estuary entrance.
Maybe he should have held station behind the break and watched the wave sequence, who knows.

 

[MapisM]

Maybe he should have held station behind the break and watched the wave sequence, who knows.

Yep, possibly.
The approach to the breaking wave in the first pic looks perfect, though.
Judging by that, I wouldn't have been so scared to do the same even with my much smaller lake boat.
My guess is that he (istinctively?) released the throttle on the wave edge, thus letting the bow fall, which initiated the awful broaching. Very sad that the only one who really knows can't tell us his story anymore.

 

[trouty12]

Ouch! Dont like the content of those pics' at all.

To drift (pun intended) the thread a little: the problem I (and I suspect many leisure boaters) have, is that its difficult to experience different types of boat/hull. I like the look of several of the trawler yachts, loved the spin on the sportcruiser and still enjoy my flybridge (I'm sat on it as I type this). Even if you could test drive all these you would probably learn very little as conditions vary with every trip. You need to spend quite a lot of time with a boat before you discover all it's strenghs and weaknesses. You are left reading boat tests and talking to other boaters but as these are naturally subjective, its still difficult to know.

One thing I'd love to know is just how much better a modern hull design is compared with my 1991 Birchwood semi-displacement. By better I mean in terms of efficiency, sea keeping, ride comfort. I had a taste on the V46 but, as pointed out, conditions were hardly taxing.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Blimey thats an horrific set of photos. I'm shocked. Maybe its the foreshortening effect of the photos but the waves dont look big enough to broach a 48ft battlewagon like that. Scary

 

[MapisM]

Maybe its the foreshortening effect of the photos...

Yep, coming to think of it, the boat position in the 2nd pic shows that the waves were probably bigger than they appear in the pics.
Six feet or so, maybe?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Depends whether you like sitting under a flappy leaking canvas and spending an hour zipping it all up again at the end of your trip. And if the sports cruiser has a hard top, you might as well nail a couple of chairs and a steering wheel on top and give yourself 50% more deck loafing space. I don't buy this notion that sports cruisers are the sports cars of the sea. Most of them have very similar hull characteristics to their flybridge cousins; in fact some are the same. For sure a sports cruiser will feel as if its more sure footed but thats only because you sit much lower. Obviously, up on the flybridge, any movement of the boat is magnified but that doesn't make a flybridge boat worse

 

[Bojangles]

For me, helming from a flybridge is more enjoyable and gives a better feeling of speed. At 20knts, inside you feel as if your hardly moving. As already said, in a sportcruiser it can take ages to take down all the canvas (and ages to put it all back if caught out by the weather. On a f/b boat, your guests can retreat downstairs if it rains and you can shift to the lower helm and carry on (and quickly move back out when the rain goes off).