Ferretti preview @MYC

[Whitelighter]

My internal steps (let's be realistic it's not a staircase) take up so little room - ok you have a single helm seat downstairs rather than a double bench but:

I have never driven the boat from the lower helm anyway and if I did the crew (company) can comfortably sit on the forward facing seat of the dinette opposit. And my boat is a mere 15m.

We almost exclusively use the internal access (though that might in part be influenced by the fact our external access is quite a steep ladder) and now I've got it I'd be loathed to give it up

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Yes Mike. I admired Ferretti for being bastions of internal flybridge stairs (and indeed the poor flybridge is the only reason I didn't buy a 731 then the 750 that it morphed into) but alas even the great Ferretti have succumbed to fashion: they are not including a second staircase in the new 780. Their 800 will become their smallest boat with internal stairs. Such a shame.

Boat salesman keep telling me that their customers are not demanding internal stairs so on the basis that boat builders are generally not stupid, I can only conclude that they are right and there is no demand for them. I suspect what might happen in a few years time is that they'll come back into fashion. One builder will fit internal stairs into his new 60ft flybridge model, tout it as his latest and greatest technical innovation and everybody will say, wow, I've got to have that on my new boat

Btw what didn't you like about the 731 flybridge?

 

[Nick_H]

I think losing the internal stairs is less of an issue with the new trend towards having the galley aft. I'd still prefer the internal stairs, but i'd live without them on an aft galley boat.

 

[MapisM]

I think losing the internal stairs is less of an issue with the new trend towards having the galley aft. I'd still prefer the internal stairs, but i'd live without them on an aft galley boat.

Good point.

 

[jfm]

Boat salesman keep telling me that their customers are not demanding internal stairs so on the basis that boat builders are generally not stupid, I can only conclude that they are right and there is no demand for them. I suspect what might happen in a few years time is that they'll come back into fashion. One builder will fit internal stairs into his new 60ft flybridge model, tout it as his latest and greatest technical innovation and everybody will say, wow, I've got to have that on my new boat

Btw what didn't you like about the 731 flybridge?

Yup, you're probably right on the staircases thing!

Don't get me wrong, 731 (and the 750 evo version) is an awesome boat. I love nearly everything on it and was close to buying. Main deck in particular is wonderful, esp on the 750 version. But the flybridge is a huge disappointment. The dash is ugly as well as having bad functionality/ergonomics and a view obscuring upper edge that serves no useful purpose, I don't love the all white plastic finish and I prefer teak decks, but the killer is the helm seat set up: you press a button and part of the dining sofa rises up electrically, spins 180 deg, and becomes a driver's seat. This whole conversion concept is such a bodged ill thought out disappointment. On top of that, the "seat" is more of a stool; you want a backrest for a long trip. And there is no seat for a navigator or buddy. Not that you can do any navigation of course, because the big dash magically has no space for a suite of screens.

All this could have been fixed by changing the dash moulding (that is retro-diy-able) and moving the helm unit a metre forwards (there is space - see 2nd pic below), but they didn't, and retro converting that aspect is difficult. With the boat being built in Italy I'd have to get all the rework done down in the Med and so I decided against it. But all that aside, it is actually an awesome boat with a whole bunch of best-in-class features (including an internal staircase!)

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I think losing the internal stairs is less of an issue with the new trend towards having the galley aft. I'd still prefer the internal stairs, but i'd live without them on an aft galley boat.

Yup very fair point. Because the galley is aft on our boat, I try to make sure that food and drinks go up the external steps to the flybridge to avoid spillages on my new carpet! However, I also like to keep the patio door between saloon and cockpit closed at sea to avoid fumes and spray being drawn into the saloon and also for safety reasons because I don't like guests, particularly kids, using the external steps where I can't see them. So for those reasons we use the internal steps all the time at sea and I would still miss them if they weren't there

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

. But the flybridge is a huge disappointment. The dash is ugly as well as having bad functionality/ergonomics and a view obscuring upper edge that serves no useful purpose, I don't love the all white plastic finish and I prefer teak decks, but the killer is the helm seat set up: you press a button and part of the dining sofa rises up electrically, spins 180 deg, and becomes a driver's seat. This whole conversion concept is such a bodged ill thought out disappointment. On top of that, the "seat" is more of a stool; you want a backrest for a long trip. And there is no seat for a navigator or buddy. Not that you can do any navigation of course, because the big dash magically has no space for a suite of screens.

All this could have been fixed by changing the dash moulding (that is retro-diy-able) and moving the helm unit a metre forwards (there is space - see 2nd pic below), but they didn't, and retro converting that aspect is difficult.

See what you mean! I didn't realise the 731 had a revolving helm chair. Thats a joke. But as you well know helm seats have been a Ferretti blind spot since for ever. I got so fed up with the helm seats on my 630 I modified them. Yup the foldaway dash is another Ferretti thing and you're right it does leave space for only one plotter/radar screen. In all honesty I haven't found that a major issue providing the screen can display plotter and radar simultaneously. More of an issue for me on my boat is that there is no room to duplicate the excellent MAN MMDS engine info screens present downstairs on the upper helm. If you want to access that info at the upper helm you can only do it by laboriously scrolling through the tiny display screens on the analog rev counters using a small rubber button. A right PITA. Apart from that I see that the 731 has those uncomfortably low backrests on the flybridge seating which I had on my 53. Oddly on my 630, the backrests are much deeper which makes the dinette a far nicer place to sit

Overall the 731 flybridge seems to be a typical Ferretti job. All the basic ingredients are there in terms of the sheer acreage of space and IMHO also the layout with sunbed forward and dinette under the bimini is spot on. But the execution and design detailing leave a lot to be desired

 

[jfm]

Yep, and such a shame because main deck, aft deck, accom deck are great, best in class in many respects, with healthy dose of Italian design flair. Anyway, don't want to rant, just answering the Q about flybridge and my reasoning for not buying a 731/750

 

[baylabayla3288]

I think losing the internal stairs is less of an issue with the new trend towards having the galley aft. I'd still prefer the internal stairs, but i'd live without them on an aft galley boat.

On my Fe 480 the galley is more back than in most similar boats being in the salong 2 steps down, opposite to the sofa but we still tend use almost exclusively the internal stairs. I find the internal stairs particularly useful also for moving between the two helm stations. On long runs I typically start helming from the fly and then move inside not because of the wind but because of sun exposure. Maybe we have more sun reflections from the water due to the on average lower sun angles here in the north than in the Med. Even the bimini does not do a good job in preventing sun burn. Anyway also in bad weather it becomes very handy to have easy access to have a peek from the fly every now and then.