Fairline Phantom 48 vs Fairline Phantom 50 vs Azimut 50

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trying to choose between these 3 boats all year 2008 in similar condition, Fairline 48 with D9 575, Fairline 50 with D12 715 and Azi 50 with Cat C12. any ideas?
 
Welcome to the madhouse.
Was the Ph50 still built, in 2008?
Anyhow, that's the only one that doesn't sport the fashionable midship cabin.
You must ask yourself (and any women that might be involved in the purchasing decision! :rolleyes:) how important that is.
If not much, you are missing a lot by not including the Ferretti 53/530 in your radar.
Just a tad larger than anything else in that list, but much better in most if not all ways.
 
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I have worked on all these models over the years.
The 48 is the most up to date boat in my view, has great engine room access for servicing, the 3 cabin layout works really well , great build quality.
The 50 is a lot older design with the main cabin in the bow, out of date in modern terms, challenging to service some points especially port impeller.
Azimut, great stylish boats , caterpillar engines can be serviced by independent but some areas require dealer only time which in the uk is eye watering charges from Finning.
I’ve sent you a pm.
 
The Fairline 50 is a better boat to the P48. Phantom 48 has a small third cabin, and midships cabin is a bit a joke in this size. There are smaller sport cruisers as the Gobbi 425 and Absolute 45 which had a better midships cabin to the P48 for example.

I would give this between the Azimut 50 and P50, and the Azimut wins in aft deck space, and loses in small third cabin. Ferretti also made the 500 a very nice boat also possible to have with two crew cabins, or the a large two cabins version. The Ferretti 500 is not superior engineered as the 53/530 though, which was a step above most major competition in its size and era.
Can also look at the Princess 50, Mk1 and 2, different in flybridge design, while Mk.3 has a totally designed interior with midships cabin and smallish third bunk cabin. The 50 Mk.III runs very bow high, though finishing quality is a bit better.
 
Your shortlisted boats are all great choices and I would include the equivalent Princess 50 in the list as well. They all float, they are all well made and they will all behave at sea much the same too. I wouldn't include the Sealine T50. (I owned one for 5 years)
Your choice of boat will likely be at least 10 years old now. In itself not a problem at all, but boats can be temperamental as they get older depending on usage and ownership. I would tend to prioritise engine and generator access over everything else. Consider the aircon set up as well - can you get at the compressors and air handlers. Are they self contained units or remote compressors with either circulating water or circulating gas.
I wasn't that bothered by having a mid cabin on a 50' boat. We had one on the T50, but overall I prefered the forward cabin. Except at anchor the forward cabin is quieter with better headroom over the bed. In a mid cabin in a marina you get more noise from fenders, aircon systems, water pumps etc and the big windows just look into the neighbours boat. (and vice versa- remember to pull the curtains)
 
As PYB says above, the midships master on the Phantom 48 is actually tiny in real life, the mattress is something crazy like 1.3m wide. Would be a showstopper for me.
 
and what about the looks of the respective boats ie the aesthetics between the Phantom 48 , phantom 50 and the Azimut 50? does any of them look dated? we're talking the 2007/2008 models here
 
Zero interest to convince the OP, but imho also in this respect the F53 was head and shoulders above the rest, particularly in the latest years with the longer side window (rebadged as 530).

That said, choosing a boat based on how dated (or not) her appearance is, sounds rather weird to me.
But each to their own, of course!
 
Zero interest to convince the OP, but imho also in this respect the F53 was head and shoulders above the rest, particularly in the latest years with the longer side window (rebadged as 530).

That said, choosing a boat based on how dated (or not) her appearance is, sounds rather weird to me.
But each to their own, of course!

i think you have to choose on a whole package, appearance is a factor, as is useable space, engine and hull condition and built quality, and seakeeping IMHO
 
appearance is a factor
I can't deny to be a bit of a luddite, but I didn't say it isn't.
It's the attention to fashion ("does any of them look dated?") that I don't get, in a boat.
You might say that Sanlorenzos, Alalungas and Canados built in the 90s are all dated compared to a 2019 Sunseeker.
But in a few years, the formers will still be as "dated" as they are now, while the latter will rather be seen as fugly, than just dated... :rolleyes:
 
I can't deny to be a bit of a luddite, but I didn't say it isn't.
It's the attention to fashion ("does any of them look dated?") that I don't get, in a boat.
You might say that Sanlorenzos, Alalungas and Canados built in the 90s are all dated compared to a 2019 Sunseeker.
But in a few years, the formers will still be as "dated" as they are now, while the latter will rather be seen as fugly, than just dated... :rolleyes:

quite true. let's focus a bit on the Azimut 50 Fly, 2008 version. what do you think?
 
I can't deny to be a bit of a luddite, but I didn't say it isn't.
It's the attention to fashion ("does any of them look dated?") that I don't get, in a boat.
You might say that Sanlorenzos, Alalungas and Canados built in the 90s are all dated compared to a 2019 Sunseeker.
But in a few years, the formers will still be as "dated" as they are now, while the latter will rather be seen as fugly, than just dated... :rolleyes:

As you say, all boats date but some age well, others don't.
 
quite true. let's focus a bit on the Azimut 50 Fly, 2008 version. what do you think?
Do you mean aesthetically, or overall?

Ref the former, I guess you could already call the fin shark design dated by now, but personally I don't think it will morph from dated to awful over time, as imho will happen with some of the newer S/skrs.
Time will tell, obviously.

Ref. all the rest, she's a good boat.
I considered the 55 (which is somewhat similar) a few years ago, and I liked her in more ways than one.
Btw, I half recall to have heard from Poweryachtblog of this parish that between the 50 and the 55, it's actually the smaller hull that is better.

Otoh, there are also things I don't like in the Azis: cored construction, cheap and thin teak, somewhat Ikea-like interiors, plus several other details.

So, considering also that I live aboard for 6 months or more, eventually I preferred a boat with a bit more of home feeling - something lacking in just about all Azis I've seen.
But if it's "just" a boat you are interested in (as most boaters are, if I'm honest), they are surely worth your attention!
 
Otoh, there are also things I don't like in the Azis: cored construction, cheap and thin teak,

I think with the exception of Ferretti everyone used 4/5 mm teak, I think at the time Ferretti was 8 mm. Azimut had solid hull bottoms at the time, cored hull sides in Diab PVC Core and top sides. They where among the first to go this direction. Today both Azimut and Princess use the same system of Diab core, and Sunseeker does the same to the upper structure deck.
Azimut start doing part bits of hull bottoms in around after 2010 on some models.
Princess and Fairline up until 2009/10 had balsa cored hull sides. In around 2009/10 Azimut started doing some bits of the bottom hull in PvC core. I think Princess is still fully solid bottom.

Ferretti uses the Scrimp system of infusion and have since early nineties also used PvC core for the hull sides.
 
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