Fairline Phantom 43AC, engine removal and fire exit(s) trouble ?

Fusebox

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Hello,

An opportunity has presented itself, and I'd like to hear your opinion on the subject title, fire exits and engine removal.
I am fairly sure I've read somewhere that a section of the boat (some roofing, probably) must be removed in order to have engines taken out of the boat. Does anyone one know what this entails ? If a cutout is done, what is the cost of replacing this section, and is it then replaced as a removable section or glassed completely back in ? Can't seem to find the information now that I'd like to re-read...

I have never been inside one of these, but from the pictures it seems that a quick exit in case of fire, or other misfortune, might not be the most prominent feature of this boat ?

The design may not be optimal, but I do find some of the features are very nice.

Your thoughts, please ?
 
With many aft cabin boats, such as Brooms, there is a cut-out hatch built into the saloon roof to enable engine removal - our Broom 41 had one and it was sealed in place. I don't think that the Fairline 43AC has such a cut-out and I am not sure that removing saloon windows would provide sufficient space to get a 63p out so I guess the roof would have be cut. Putting it right would not be impossible but would need a professional boatyard to do it - I have no idea what the cost would be but I wouldnt have thought that it would necessarily be prohibitive but probably not cheap either. Options would be to create a permanant removable hatch or to intsall a large sunroof, which is what Haines aft cabin boats have and are quite a nice feature, providing plenty of natural light into the saloon.

As for fire escape both the fore and aft cabins have hatches onto the foredeck and into the cockpit respectively so this combined with the standard access to the saloon is typical of many aft cabin boats and perfectly accceptable in my view.

Overall, very nice boats and given that the requirement for engine removal is probably (hopefuly) unlikley it is probably worhty of consideration.
 
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Thanks, Greg2.

Got word from the seller, and said that engines might be hoisted into the main cabin and settle on some scaffolding to keep it while performing "minor" repairs that can't be done in-situ but not quite require engine-out. I guess most work can be done on the VP 63P engines that way.
Would be anxious about the interior of the main cabin while doing such repairs in whitish upholstery surroundings :-)
 
I would have thought that most issues could be delat with whilst the engines are in situ - it would be something major that required lifting into the saloon.
 
Many years ago BA peters had a school boat , they rebuilt both engines in situ as it’s impossible without major grp surgery to take them out , a great boat .
What’s wrong with the engines ?
 
Surly the boat would have to be sub 60 k to be viable ,as there is bound to be interior damage , ps VP is that a job you would take on
 
Surly the boat would have to be sub 60 k to be viable ,as there is bound to be interior damage , ps VP is that a job you would take on

Ha ha , not in Norway it’s too cold and beers to expensive for me .
Seriously I’ve rebuilt many in situ and boy does it make your back ache .
 
Thanks for additional info. Good to know that an actual in-situ rebuild has been performed, however demanding on the tech :-)
The boat is listed at approx £135.000, but seems to be available at £110.000, still quite a bit higher that the £60' suggestion above.

The engines (and boat) are fully operational, according to seller, so my question is only to check that a repair would be possible IF anything should happen in the future.
Should this be necessary, the repair bill will be fully settled with Very Expensive Beer. Not sure aboute the current rate, though :-)
 
Thanks for additional info. Good to know that an actual in-situ rebuild has been performed, however demanding on the tech :-)
The boat is listed at approx £135.000, but seems to be available at £110.000, still quite a bit higher that the £60' suggestion above.

The engines (and boat) are fully operational, according to seller, so my question is only to check that a repair would be possible IF anything should happen in the future.
Should this be necessary, the repair bill will be fully settled with Very Expensive Beer. Not sure aboute the current rate, though :-)

That asking price sounds about right - one went locally to us recently and was asking similar (a bit more in fact). The £60k suggestion for one of these is way off IMHO.
 
I’ve got one and love it!
I just enjoy the amount of space, the flexibility and sea keeping. I admit the looks especially the stern aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. I wanted a boat with space so looked at the normal flybridge boats and the problem is unless it’s 30 degrees it’s freezing up top and no protection from wind etc and I’ve driven lots. The 43ac has the best of both worlds with a Targa style cockpit so you can have the canopy up or down and more social. The 63’s aren’t the fastest but gets on the plane quick enough and will cruise all day at 24 knots WOT at 29 knots, so who wants to fly around at much faster speeds? Buy a rib for that!
I was a bit worried about the transition from my Targa 43 to the 43AC but I look at it as a Targa on steroids! ?
 
That asking price sounds about right - one went locally to us recently and was asking similar (a bit more in fact). The £60k suggestion for one of these is way off IMHO.

He did not say it was all in working order ,I was suggesting 60k if they had to cut and put 2 new engines in ,
 
I didn't think of entering that information, but should have stated that engines are currently OK. Sorry about that.
I agree on the price estimate if engines were to be replaced.

Great to hear from a present owner, Sojourn.

It is still up for sale, apparently, so thinking hard here :-)
 
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