Fairline Squadron 50

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Umm, that's particular view Deleted User which of course you're entitled to. But it's not a universal view (fortunately). Many boat owners care very much about guest and crew accommodation and largely forget the fact they're "the owner" while on board. Otherwise each time any of us accepted a kind invitiation from a friend to stay at their house or whatever it would bite us on the bum - we'd be allocated the lawnmower shed to sleep in. If you really "don't care" you might as well ask the builder to dispense with any bulkheads and just put in a 50foot master cabin

Yes thats an excellent idea. We could turn the whole upper saloon and lower deck into the 'owner's suite' and bung a couple of crew cabins at the back for the guests which, in my case, are either teenagers or unwelcome relatives. Nope, can't see any prob with that. They're damn lucky to get an invite on to my boat anyway
More seriously (only slightly), I'm trying to understand your point about what sacrifices you have to make to incorporate a midships master cabin. You dont get utility rooms on 50 footers, however they're laid out, so the sacrifice, if thats the right word, is in the guest cabins. The first guest cabin is usually forward where the master cabin used to be and is often better than the first guest cabin on a boat with a forward master cabin, so no sacrifice there. It is true that the second guest cabin on a midships master cabin 50 footer is usually very small and has bunk beds but how much of a sacrifice this is will depend on how its used and how often. In my experience, kids love bunk beds so no issue there, so the question really is how often the 2nd guest cabin is used for adult guests and in my case that would be hardly ever so I definitely wouldn't swap a midships master cabin for a better 2nd guest cabin.
The other sacrifice area is the galley and perhaps this is an issue. There usually isnt enough space to incorporate a galley above a midships master cabin and give that cabin adequate headroom so the galley is either placed down at lower deck level or at the aft end of the saloon. I dont like galley down arrangemets particularly on Med boats because carrying stuff from the galley to cockpit or flybridge is much more difficult. IMHO, this is the biggest weakness of the Princess P50 and P54 layouts and also the Man 50/52 and I could see this being a problem for some owners who like cooking and entertaining on board. Apart from this, though, I dont see any other issues with midships master cabins

 

[Hurricane]

Hey, Mike - seems you need a bit more supprt here.

In forward cabins, I've always found that you (kind of) have to climb into bed from the end and shuffle you way forward. Making the bed can also be difficult because you cant stand (or sit come to that) at the head end of the bed. We have a huge forward cabin and its the same for that.

It isn't difficult to see that a centre mid cabin has so much more going for it. Apart from my initial comment of no more "slap and tickle" you just have so much more space and if you are paying that sort of money, you really do want the best.

I do, however take jfm's point about the Sq58's laundry room but there isnt room on a 50 footer for a laundry room anyway but IMO there is plenty of room for a mid cabin.

EDIT: Deleted User - our posts crossed - both of us made the point on the laundry room for a 50 footer independantly.

jfm - wait til you've had one - you wont want to go back!!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Otoh, if yours does, I guess you must be already considering a return to Costa Smeralda?

Lord, no! I keep her away from shops as much as I possibly can. Thats one of the good things about Croatia. There are no expensive shops selling clothes/shoes/jewellery/artwork/antiques, only shops selling cheap tat which is absolutely fine by me.
2 weeks with SWMBO in Cervo would bankrupt me

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

In forward cabins, I've always found that you (kind of) have to climb into bed from the end and shuffle you way forward. Making the bed can also be difficult because you cant stand (or sit come to that) at the head end of the bed. We have a huge forward cabin and its the same for that.

Thanks H, I was feeling a bit outnumbered. jfm wouldnt know about making the bed in a forward cabin as he has hot and cold running stewardesses throughout his boat to do just that kind of stuff but we mortals do indeed have to struggle with that. After fitting the fitted sheet on our forward cabin bed, I need a lie down to recover

 

[jfm]

I'm trying to understand your point about what sacrifices you have to make to incorporate a midships master cabin. ...

the second guest cabin on a midships master cabin 50 footer is usually very small and has bunk beds but how much of a sacrifice this is will depend on how its used and how often. ...

The other sacrifice area is the galley and perhaps this is an issue. There usually isnt enough space to incorporate a galley above a midships master cabin and give that cabin adequate headroom so the galley is either placed down at lower deck level or at the aft end of the saloon. I dont like galley down arrangemets particularly on Med boats because carrying stuff from the galley to cockpit or flybridge is much more difficult. IMHO, this is the biggest weakness of the Princess P50 and P54 layouts and also the Man 50/52 and I could see this being a problem for some owners who like cooking and entertaining on board. ...

Apart from this, though, I dont see any other issues with midships master cabins

You've kinda listed the sacrifices perfectly there Deleted User. The value one places on those sacrifices, and on the midships cabin, depends on personal preferences. For me it's too high a price to pay but for many others it isn't. Hence this debate!

I agree that making the forward cabin bed is hard work but I don't see the appeal of not having a stewie on a 60er size boat upwards There is tons of laundry, loads of GRP to wax, decks to make straw brown, covers to attach/remove, stainless steel to polish, food to buy, awkward front cabin beds to make, etc. Why do folks want to do this stuff themselves?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I agree that making the forward cabin bed is hard work but I don't see the appeal of not having a stewie on a 60er size boat upwards There is tons of laundry, loads of GRP to wax, decks to make straw brown, covers to attach/remove, stainless steel to polish, food to buy, awkward front cabin beds to make, etc. Why do folks want to do this stuff themselves?

They don't. Thats what I have a wife for

 

[Hurricane]

They don't. Thats what I have a wife for

 

[scubaman]

More seriously (only slightly), I'm trying to understand your point about what sacrifices you have to make to incorporate a midships master cabin. You dont get utility rooms on 50 footers, however they're laid out, so the sacrifice, if thats the right word, is in the guest cabins. The first guest cabin is usually forward where the master cabin used to be and is often better than the first guest cabin on a boat with a forward master cabin, so no sacrifice there. It is true that the second guest cabin on a midships master cabin 50 footer is usually very small and has bunk beds but how much of a sacrifice this is will depend on how its used and how often. In my experience, kids love bunk beds so no issue there, so the question really is how often the 2nd guest cabin is used for adult guests and in my case that would be hardly ever so I definitely wouldn't swap a midships master cabin for a better 2nd guest cabin.
The other sacrifice area is the galley and perhaps this is an issue. There usually isnt enough space to incorporate a galley above a midships master cabin and give that cabin adequate headroom so the galley is either placed down at lower deck level or at the aft end of the saloon. I dont like galley down arrangemets particularly on Med boats because carrying stuff from the galley to cockpit or flybridge is much more difficult. IMHO, this is the biggest weakness of the Princess P50 and P54 layouts and also the Man 50/52 and I could see this being a problem for some owners who like cooking and entertaining on board. Apart from this, though, I dont see any other issues with midships master cabins

Chipping in a bit late but FWIW my vote for mid cabins, I'm with Deleted User here. From our point of view, he has the 'sacrifices' listed perfectly. Of the boats discussed here, Sealine T50 is the only one I've had a closer look at and I think that the mid cabin works well there. Two proper cabins (and a nice lowered bed in the front cabin) and an ok third cabin for kids. A token crew cabin but usable for a washer, I suppose. Very few 50 footers have crew anyway?

Only thing I wasn't so sure about was the galley (up) which was short on storage and a bit exposed for all to see.

But all in all and from our perspective, a mid cabin on a 50 footer works well and I know I'd rather have a mid cabin with big hull windows than have that replaced by two okayish guest cabins (which often tend to a bit gloomy).

As to the original post, I still think that your boat is going to look fantastic. Congratulations!

 

[petem]

I think that a second decentish cabin is important as the wife has got to sleep somewhere!!!! The comment regarding a big single cabin is interesting. It reminds me of the Sq52 with a mid ships master, a second in the bow and no third. I recall even hearing rumours at the time of some owners dropping the galley!

 

[Hurricane]

I think that a second decentish cabin is important as the wife has got to sleep somewhere!!!! The comment regarding a big single cabin is interesting. It reminds me of the Sq52 with a mid ships master, a second in the bow and no third. I recall even hearing rumours at the time of some owners dropping the galley!

Yep - thats a point and I believe that Sq 62 was didn't sell well either. Maybe Failine just haven't had the luck with mid cabins.

All I know is that I put the mid cabin on the top of my list for a big FB cruiser.
In fact, I quite liked the Sq 62 - SWMBO ruled it out though - the galley was down below - she wanted to have the galley on the same level as the dinette.

 

[Adaero]

Having been recently looking at 2/3 year old 50ft FB's we are still undecided about which layout is best for us. We have so far looked at the Sealine T50, Princess 50, Manhattan 50 and Azimut 50 but have been overall disappointed with the mid-cabin layouts (FL P50 still to see). Yes, there is a lot more space, I would also agree that any wave slap would be reduced but being 6ft 2" I'm not sure if I could live with the vastly reduced head room. If it was just above the bed it wouldn't matter but on some of the above you only have around 4ft sq of the whole cabin where you have full headroom. Undressing and dressing with two of you in the cabin would be a nightmare, similar to trying to dress in a shower cubicle I would imagine?
As far as the galley goes it makes sense for us to have a galley up situation, it’s much more sociable, easier to get food to the cockpit and FB but the downsides are having dirty plates etc on show and secondly the space is normally reduced.
We learnt when we bought our current boat that everything, to some extent, is a compromise which until you actually live on board for any length of time it’s difficult to call. Something that you think is unworkable now becomes a redeeming feature and other features that you think are brilliant become a right pain.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I think that a second decentish cabin is important as the wife has got to sleep somewhere!!!! The comment regarding a big single cabin is interesting. It reminds me of the Sq52 with a mid ships master, a second in the bow and no third. I recall even hearing rumours at the time of some owners dropping the galley!

Yup the Sq52 wasn't exactly a roaring success for Fairline. I remember David Marsh of MBM hailing it as a design masterpiece but the plain fact was that not many people are willing to buy a 52 footer with only 2 cabins, especially when the 2nd cabin has a double bed as well. That and the fact that the flybridge was very small made the Sq52 a bit of a hard sell. Eventually I believe Fairline managed to shoe horn in a 3rd cabin next to the galley on later models.
I've been tempted by used Sq52s myself because they fall into the 'lot of boat for the money' category but been put off by the above factors

 

[admillington]

The offer is still open if you wish to come and see ours. In fact, if you want to buy a Phantom 50 you can buy ours as we are going for the new Squadron 50. If you have time speak to James Barke at Essex Boatyards and arrange a visit to the factory and you will see the reasons to buy a Fairline.

-Andrew

 

[benjenbav]

When I first switched to power, my Portofino 31 was berthed next to a (then) spanking new Phantom 50 which I thought was absolutely gorgeous. I can recall being mightily impressed as they came in with bow and stern thrusters moving the boat sideways whilst I struggled to master the mysteries of sterndrives.

From the vaults, a poor quality camera phone picture - taken just after my new covers but before replacing the fenders.

If the new Sq 50 is as much of an advance on the P50 as you expect, you will have a real winner on your hands.

 

[MapisM]

I just came across this...

...and thought it would fit nicely in this thread.
PS: anyone who can explain me the logic of the explanation given for the f/b helm on port side wins a cigar.

 

[jfm]

No cigar here becuase that explanation is absurd. But the reason for the port flybridge is often connected with height over what is below, eg the galley or something. Or it's connected with general layout constraints (which is why my old phantom 42 had a fly helm that "needed" to be opposite side to lower helm, so they selected stbd helm below and port helm on fly, which was the right choice in those circumstances imho)

 

[Hurricane]

PS: anyone who can explain me the logic of the explanation given for the f/b helm on port side wins a cigar.

Thats Easy - its where the flybridge stairs should be!!!
They obviously had the spare space so they filled it.

Actually, this is a failure with ALL the builders.
We should start a campaign - "Bring Back The Flybridge Staircase"
IMO, boat builders dont use the boats - or at least they dont expect their customers to use the boats - and it ALL the builders.
It must be a cartel.

 

[CMJ]

...and thought it would fit nicely in this thread.
PS: anyone who can explain me the logic of the explanation given for the f/b helm on port side wins a cigar.

Eh - I must be being thick 'ere and misunderstood the question and subsequent answers - 'tis almost 1 in the morning though BUT, I reckon they're saying that with the f/b helm on port side, you can look down the external f/b stairs (must be on port too - the only set of stairs you get!) and see the bathing platform from the helm - flippin handy and same on AZ50. Bring on the cigars (or give me a slap for being thtupid!)

 

[jfm]

I reckon they're saying that with the f/b helm on port side, you can look down the external f/b stairs

Ah, yes that's right. You mean you look down thru the hole/hatch in the deck and see the swim platform. Of course, doh!

I think MapisM owes you a fine Cuban Montecristo from his humidor

 

[mjf]

Absolutely, mine is to port on the F/B and I think on most Princess boats I have seen all provide a view of the swimming platform corner. Essential IMHO