looking at buying a princess 32

[craysee]

Hi all,
I am currently looking at a princess 32 with a 350hp yanmar on shaft.
it goes really well but as i will be using it for mostly offshore work was wondering if they have any common problems i should be aware of?

looking through online sales, they seem to have a variety of beams and differing headroom.
is this misinformation from the vendors, or do they differ slightly.
and also some state they have semi displacment and others planing hulls. do they differ below the waterline?

thanks in advance
cheers craysee
/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[PCUK]

The Princess 32 is a planing hull but is based on the Project 31 which was a revamp of the Senior 31 which was available with various hull forms.
They have been around long enough to iron out most faults so if the surveyor says it is sound, it should be OK.

 

[Divemaster1]

The P32 should all have the same dimensions..

If the one you're looking at is this one....

.... then it appears to have been extended in the transom area and someone have added a modified Princess 33 Flybridge...

To my knowledge none of the P32 were delivered with a flybridge. Most of P32's were also sterndrives and the stern extention on this one may go somewhat towards explaining that. The P32 can, with the right engines reach planning speeds, but the hull is semi-displacement and usually have a small keel which helps directional stability ... Have seen a P34 with 2x 40A series Volvo, on sterndrives and she cruised around 18 as well, so speed is obtainable.

General with Pa Priness of this age, I'd look for leaks around the windows etc., as the seals are not the best ones. Generally well built boats, and this one appears to have gone through some "modifications" throughout the years..., which Princess did not think of at the outset...

 

[craysee]

Yes, thats the one.
it was extended when the old volvos and legs were replaced and as far as i understand is now about 36ft.
i havnt seen it out of the water yet, so dont know if the swim platform forms part of the hull or is just mated onto the stern.
i suspect its the former giving a greater water line length.
it was built in 77 and seems very tidy for its age.

 

[Divemaster1]

Official stuff for P32

Over 2000 built from 1969 - 1980(all with sterndrive), based upon Project 31/Senior 31, with different superstructure and modified transom), round bilge hull capable o semi-displacement speeds (25 knots, or more with 2x140 on sterndrives).

LOA 32ft 3in (9.38m)
Beam 10ft 0in (3.04m)
Draught 2ft 9in (0.84m)

 

[oldgit]

This is only a very personal opinion,but that boat is powered by an engine well in excess of anything else which ever powered it.
Engines in that vintage of the P32 boat built (1970-1980 ) normally were powered by a couple of 2 x 125hp engines at most or were more likely a pair of 75hp something or other Peugeot/Volvos.How she handles with twice the designed power would perhaps be of some interest.

 

[rich]

Me, I would walk, No Run away,To much power for a P 32.

 

[hlb]

It seems impossible to get a straight question from newbies on here. A P32 with a 350 Yanmar?? But wait a bit. No. It takes the brains of the forum to work out, it's actually 36ft long and with a fly bridge. So a rebuilt, one off.

The threads all go the same way.

I'll drip feed information, in order to maximise response and for my entertainment, waste as much of other folks time as possible. A bit like we are all drones or soldier ants.

 

[craysee]

Thanks very much for wasting your valuble time hlb, but if you took half as much to actually read the questions and the other half to actually come up with some constructive comment, i would be much more appreciative of your input.


[ QUOTE ]

was wondering if they have any common problems i should be aware of?

looking through online sales, they seem to have a variety of beams and differing headroom.
is this misinformation from the vendors, or do they differ slightly.
and also some state they have semi displacment and others planing hulls. do they differ below the waterline?


[/ QUOTE ]
If you want to take another 5 min out of your valuable day, your input will be well taken into account and help build an overall picture for me.
as there are only five of these here in new zealand it is very hard to get info .
Do they have any Common problems and are they standard in beam and head height,
the beam and head height has been kindly answered by other forum members, but other than leaky windows, no common problems have been mentioned

thanks again
craysee

 

[SimonA]

MBM did a review on the Princess 32 a few months back in the used boat section. You might be able to get hold of a reprint.

If I find my copy I'll let you know what it said.

 

[craysee]

thanks simon, much appreciated

 

[JasonB]

Hi Craysee,

The only common problem I've come across is that my wife doesn't like them in their original layout. The one you've found certainly sounds interesting but I would have reservations on what has been done to this boat (I'm no marine engineer by the way!) perhaps a better bet would be a flybridge 33 or similar? Failing that, one hell of a survey would be in order.

I have old MBM somewhere that had a feature on the 32, if you can't find anything else PM me and I'll try and dig it out for you (just moved so I haven't a clue where anything is!)

J.

 

[craysee]

cheers jason, sounds good

i will put up a couple of pics, as there sounds like there is a bit of interest about the mods, from most people.
i realise its not easy to answer questions about modifications hence the reason i did not ask about them.

cheers craysee

 

[craysee]

 

[Divemaster1]

Ok ... here are my thoughts on this extended / modified P32... but cannot add experience on the P32's as I never have owned one..

Stability: The P32, which at the outset was a narrow beam for its LOA, will with the additional weight on top (flybridge etc.) be a bit "roly poly" with a rather high centre of gravity. how she will behave in beam seas, or by lying still beam to will have to be experienced. the added hull length will not significanly affect side stability.

Hull Lenght / modifications: If the extention have been professionally done, (survey required), this will nave increased the hulls displacement speed and could improve her performance. However, this depends on what have been done to the underwater hull. With a different propulsion unit (Shaft rather than sterndrive) some modifications must have taken place and whilst lower maintenance cost have been achieved with shaft, additional drag have been added. Hence no improvement in performance over and above 2 x 130's (40A series). The additional hull lenght will probably not have any impact on interior space.

Propulsion : The Shaftddrive puts different load on the hull to sterndrive. Whislt the propulsion power from the sterndrive is on the stern itself on the back plates, a shaft drive will put the propulsion load on engine mountings, or on a flexible coupling somewhere. As a minimum, I would have requested a survey into how the engine mounts were dimensioned and designed to allow for the additional load a single shaft drive of 340 HP brings to the hulls' stringers.

Top Structure: With the additional flybridge and load op people on a roof which were not designed for the load, there needs to be some sort of strenghtening here. An investigation into how this was done/achieved ought to be conducted.

Practicality Presume the additional fridges and freezer onboard have been placed under the aft deck (where double engine installations were).. How practical is it to access these and are there enough battery power to supply these without putting the engine starting battery at risk?

Stress: With the additional load and modified superstructure etc., you ought to conduct a survey into how structurally sound the boat is... With this I mean that you will have additional stress loads into places which were not originally designed for this load. A full survey ought to reveal areas of concern as indicated in "Top Structure" above.

Personally I think she looks interesting, but also raises a number of areas of concern. Not being "original" may make her difficult to sell again, and this needs to be reflected in the purchase price.

 

[SimonA]

[ QUOTE ]
Not being "original" may make her difficult to sell again, and this needs to be reflected in the purchase price.

[/ QUOTE ]


My thoughts as well. I saw a P32 for sale recently that had been chopped about and changed (just internal changes) up for sale for £14,500. That's about £8k less than the normal asking price.

 

[craysee]

thanks alf, thats exactly the kind of constructive critiscism im after.
i will foward those questions onto the surveyor, she comes out of the water on thursday.

re the frefrigeration gear, (not that i know anything about refrigeration) all but one of the fridges run off the main engine. if you look at the photo of the engine bay you can see in the bottom left of picture some of the equipment.
and here is the freezer (helm seat mounted on it)

the vendor has owned it for 29 years and brought it to new zealand when he emigrated, he had the engine and hull modifications professionally done in 93, so i guess any structural stress points or weaknesses should show up in the survey.

the princess brand is basically unknown over here, i dont think the mods will make it any harder to sell than it already is. compared to anything else we have on the market this seems an awful lot of boat for the money they are asking. and i really like the layout, with the downstairs helm in the cockpit, a lot of our helms are internal
but i dont want a boat that is going to fall apart on me either.

cheers craysee

 

[oldgit]

Think that there is a suspicion on here that she may be a tad over powered and not very sea kindly where you intend to use her,presume open water with long swells etc.
99% of these boats over here are found in up river locations or sheltered estuaries at best and am sure that some have done epic voyages in these old girls in the past but....... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[macnorton]

I have a Project 31 the "sister boat" made with the same hull, these boats hulls are built like a brick outhouse.
With decent keels are quite stable up to F6, I would expect the mods on this one would make it roll, I would suggest a rough weather sea trial. don't wan't a boat that scares the c**p out of you in a moderate sea.
Try here for more info http://www.princessownersclub.com/

Good luck Rick

 

[craysee]

Thanks to all those that took the time out to respond, i appreciate all your opinions.

we had her out of the water today and within about 2 min of it being water blasted thet surveyor found it had a serious case of the pox.
apparently they are a lot more prone in a warmer climate like ours, not that its hot but water temp ranges from about 16 - 24 degrees celcius.

at this stage i have passed it in, but talking with the owner he is getting the osmosis expert in to give a full evaluation and costing to repair. $20-30k NZD 7-10k English Pounds is what the surveyor estimated.

thanks again

cheers craysee