Fairline squadron 58

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brannan77

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Hello
I have had my Fairline Targa 47 in a season now, really enjoy it.
But as usual, looking always for other projects.

So now I've got this idea that I want a Fairline Squadron 58th

My question is about your experiences of them, what to keep an eye on before purchase?
 
IIRC, jfm of this parish once told that models from 2004 onward are better, for some reason I can't remember.
Anyway, just wait till he will spot this thread.
If there's anything he can't tell you about the Sq58, you can safely assume it's not worth knowing! :)
 
brannan77 said:
Sorry!, 2003-2006.
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You own the greatest Fairline Targa model and the SQ58 of this vintage is one of the greats. An excellent sea boat, great engine room with the fuel tank ahead of the engines, the D12s are rock solid,excellent fly bridge, useful storage off the galley.

only funny thing is that the dishwasher breaks into the twin cabin's bulkhead.
 
admillington said:
You own the greatest Fairline Targa model and the SQ58 of this vintage is one of the greats. An excellent sea boat, great engine room with the fuel tank ahead of the engines, the D12s are rock solid,excellent fly bridge, useful storage off the galley.

only funny thing is that the dishwasher breaks into the twin cabin's bulkhead.
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Even the Fairline security guard says this was a great model.
 
I had a 2007 model for 6 years and did nearly 1000 hrs and about 70 weeks of cruising. As has been said before, they're one of the best boats Fairline have ever built;
- incredibly capable hulls that punch well above their weight / length and run beautifully flat
- low profile so they're remarkably stable at anchor
- long production run so by the time they got to hull number 100+ they sure knew how to build them (not to say the earlier ones weren't good!)
- class leading flybridge which seats 10 people in comfort
- internal staircase (which have stupidly IMHO been discontinued in virtually all subsequent models across all brands)
- very handy utility room (if specified) which acts as a laundry, pantry, tool room etc (even though this doesn't necessarily sell boats at boat shows, this feature is hugely useful in the 'real' world at sea)
- D12's are very robust, reliable and torquey

the list goes on and on…. great boat which can these days be picked up relatively inexpensively.
 
I had 2 of them: a 2004 and one of the last ones they built in 2009. As said above, great boats. Brilliant flybridge. There were a couple of slight facelifts in late 2003 then 2008, but the changes were slight. If you need specific info ask away.
 
Whitelighter said:
That woman in the nice dress and high heels at the boat show told us so...
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She obviously forgot to explain that to SL. They still built their brand new 78 and 86 with internal f/b stairs ONLY.
Ain't it good to know that you (and Deleted User, etc.) will have such choice, for your next upgrade...? :cool:
 
Any opinions, please, on the suitability of a Sq58 for spending much of its time at 8 knots and maybe only about say 10% at planing speed? I too like the advantages of having an internal stairway between helms, however we have been looking to replace our existing semi-d with another, but a little larger at somewhere between 50-60 feet. Trouble is, there just aren't that many of them, and having just returned from viewing a Swift 52, only to have found how tiny and impractical some of the accommodation would be for us ( no idea how really big people would use the showers, and mountain goats only up on the forward berth despite its overall high volume), I'm starting to think that a good planing boat with its superior accommodation might make more sense.
As with a number of others on here, slow speed isn't so much about saving money but more about our generally preference for just pootling along and enjoying the journey. Thing is though, how practical would a 58 be at this sort of speed in average conditions, and also, does having the forward cabin as opposed to a midship cabin as the master, pose any problems, such as excessive hull noise when moored?
 
'having just returned from viewing a Swift 52'

Was it by any chance the grey hulled one with the captains chair on the bathing platform and the seakeeper gyro?
If so what was it like condition wise if you don't mind me asking?
 
stillwaters said:
Any opinions, please, on the suitability of a Sq58 for spending much of its time at 8 knots and maybe only about say 10% at planing speed? I too like the advantages of having an internal stairway between helms, however we have been looking to replace our existing semi-d with another, but a little larger at somewhere between 50-60 feet. Trouble is, there just aren't that many of them, and having just returned from viewing a Swift 52, only to have found how tiny and impractical some of the accommodation would be for us ( no idea how really big people would use the showers, and mountain goats only up on the forward berth despite its overall high volume), I'm starting to think that a good planing boat with its superior accommodation might make more sense.
As with a number of others on here, slow speed isn't so much about saving money but more about our generally preference for just pootling along and enjoying the journey. Thing is though, how practical would a 58 be at this sort of speed in average conditions, and also, does having the forward cabin as opposed to a midship cabin as the master, pose any problems, such as excessive hull noise when moored?
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I think the 58 runs at displacement speed better than many other planing boats due to its low profile and therefore low cg - so it doesn't roll at these speeds as much as other planing boats. I travelled at 10 knots on our 58 for about 30% of the time but often had to speed up to take advantage of the hydrodynamic stability one achieves when on the plane. So it's never going to operate at slow speeds as well as a displacement hull would, so personally I think I'd be inclined to go for a boat designed to go at 10 knots if that's what you intend to do 90% of the time. There must be something that meets your accommodation needs? Trader? Fleming?

As far as the forward cabin is concerned, they're definitely noisier but at least you can more easily tell if the wind picks up overnight - in the midships cabin I've found I'm blissfully ignorant!
 
MedMilo said:
it's never going to operate at slow speeds as well as a displacement hull would, so personally I think I'd be inclined to go for a boat designed to go at 10 knots if that's what you intend to do 90% of the time.
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Actually, if you consider rolling alone, it's not just the Sq58, but ANY planing boat that tends to roll LESS than a displacement hull of comparable size - counterintuitive as it might seem.
I mean, "less" in terms of rolling angle. The rolling period can be a bit shorter, and the reaction a bit more hectic on a P hull, hence being less comfortable even if the angle is lower.

Anyway, there are two other important factors:

The first is that most D hulls are fitted with stabilizers, so obviously comparing a stabilized D hull with a non-stabilized P hull is like day and night.
But in recent years, stabilizers became more popular also on P hull, and it's also possible to retrofit them.
Decent stabilizers work wonder on any boat, so in terms of rolling the P/D difference can become almost irrelevant.

The second is that rolling is not the only thing affecting onboard comfort. Yes, it is the most critical single driver of seasickness, but there's much more than that.
This subject has been widely discussed in the past, and also recently in this thread, where I posted a video which would have been interested to make - in parallel - on a similar size P boat.
I'm sure that the onboard stability/smoothness would have been nowhere near what can be seen in that video.

The bottom line is that your conclusion above is spot on, imho: for anyone who wants to cruise at D speed, a P boat used at D speed is bound to be a second best choice.
Btw, I am considering to do the same change as stillwaters - and not because there aren't decent D/SD boats around (though I surely wouldn't include the ST52 among them!), but because their cost is ridiculously higher than any P boat of comparable size. Offer and demand, I suppose.
But at the end of the day, there are compromises in any boat choice.
A boat whose hull is a second best for the use I have in mind is a compromise worth making, considering what sort of P vs. D boats my budget allows me to consider... :)
 
MedMilo said:
--So it's never going to operate at slow speeds as well as a displacement hull would,!
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Hmmm ..... Not so sure ? .... Don,t write planning boats at D speed off so quickly .

This is why - “Hull design is like sex: Everyone knows the basics; it’s the details that separate the good efforts from the bad "::)

Depends on the detail ,the size ,angle of the hard chines ,and size ,angle and importantly length of the spray rails .
With a deeper than average V ,deadrise for a given Hp and weight to get lift you need flat chines and extending the spray rails as far back under the hull also also gives lift .Its those flat bits that generate the lift , in the V .
It’s also important to understand that harder chined boats with a deeper V are generally more stable than round bilged boats. This is because the hard edge of the chine is more resistant to rolling than a nice soft round edge.Especially if they are wide. *A hard chined boat equal in waterline beam to a round bilged boat will be stiffer.

Static stability is only part of the picture however. *Another component in planing boats is dynamic stability. And it is an important one, even at 10knots .*Those same forces that attempt lift a deep V planing boat with wider hard chines + extended spray rails above the water ,at D speed also stabilize the boat and counteract rolling. *

Displacement boats have no such benefit, thus the need for fin stabilizers and flopper stoppers.

*Planing boats gain stability once on plane. They actually are stiffer running at speed. The deep-v has the added advantage due to the deadrise because the planing forces are always working to right the boat. These forces are acting normal to the surface of the hull through the center of lift. *On flatter bottomed displacement type hulls these forces are acting normal to the bottom also, but do not counteract a roll.

Also at D speed a deep V with a flared bow is more stable down wind into a 1/4 ing sea because the v acts like a keel and the boat needs little steering input staying straight .Planning bosts have a finer entry .The CoG tends to be more stern wards along with a more flared bow minimises the risk of the bow stuffing into the crest of the next wave .
Where as round D hull will tend to rotate more around its flat bottom ,that why it may have a little keel to help ,but will still need a lot more steering input .

Pics--You can see the flat chine is pretty wide and the spray rail importantly runs to the all the way to the stern .
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Here a pic of a Whitelighters Ferretti -note the absence of the rails running all the way back ,infact it's smooth and offers less roll resistance.( sorry Jez ,just happened to have this in my P bucket )
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I ve spent ages in yards looking at hull forms and relating them to how i see them perform -dynamically and at anchor .
Actually enjoy it (well its better than spotting trains :))

So the answer for the Op is have a look at a Sq 58 out of the water , at the tiny hull details

For MapisM --nevermind fussing over flywheel size in your recent post ! ,it's the hull form In my view that's more important .
AIMHO
 
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