New build Princess F55 flybridge

[henryf]

Let me start with an apology. When it comes to build threads there can be no substitute for the Grandaddy of all build threads, that of JFM’s Fairline 78 from 2012

Boat in build pics (2013 Fairline Squadron 78)

Unless rumours of highly modified Sanlorenzo blueprints are true and JFM has the energy / desire to repeat the process…..

This will be a pale imitation in comparison but in some ways maybe our build is more typical of what to expect. I’m not going to micro manage this. Princess build an off the shelf production boat rather than a custom build. They have built 134 F55 Flybridges prior to ours so I’m hoping they’ve learned what they are doing by now. My trying to alter the formula will only spoil the cake, I’m not a marine engineer or a marine architect.

There’s also a danger that if I insist on deviating from Princess’ standard build and we later have problems I may find myself on my own. Taking the standard product puts the onus of responsibility back in Princess’ court.

I know a good boat from a bad boat and we use ours in anger offering it for charter in the Solent. We’ve chartered our current Princess 50 Mk3 for 10 years now and it’s performed flawlessly. Prior to that we had a Princess P42 flybridge. Both the 42 and the 50 were bought new as stock boats, this is the first one we’ve commissioned from scratch.

I’m someone who adapts to his surroundings rather than asking them to fit my mood so stock boats are fine but there weren’t any available this time round and thanks to the strange times we live in it’s actually cheaper to order a new boat and wait rather than buy stock for immediate use.

 

[henryf]

Whilst owning the 50 we’ve never really been tempted until the F55 came along. The 52 and 56 flybridge boats from Princess were OK but I felt the galleys were a bit compromised and struggled to see sufficient benefit for the price it would cost to change. The F55 finally offered enough to make the leap.

An order was placed at the 2021 Southampton boat show and by Southampton 2022 the hull had been moulded. But I’m running away with myself a bit.

At the boat show I was talking to Sunseeker (Manhattan 55) as well as Princess. The boys from Poole presented a gold standard sales pitch. No stone was left unturned, no closing line or technique overlooked. I got all 57 chapters of the salesman’s bible.

By contrast Roger Lipman the Princess group Sales Director was wearing a slightly ill fitting jumper and didn’t seem that bothered as we had a grown up discussion around price and timescale. Don’t get me wrong, he wanted to retain his top YBW Princess brand ambassador and did whatever he could to keep me sweet - but there was no pressure. Maybe it’s a sign of just how good they are in Swanwick but I almost see them as friends.

With such long lead times you’re never going to see the heady discounts of 2009 but one thing a long lead time does mean is there will be price increases before you take delivery. Princess honoured the price at the show regardless of any changes moving forwards so there’s an effective discount when you finally take delivery.

After Southampton 2021 I managed to get a sea trial on a F55 and there was quite a difference compared to our Mk3 50 flybridge. The 50 is quite a sporty boat for a 50 foot flybridge. Very responsive to the helm she turns into corners beautifully and can be trimmed to perfection for all weather conditions. The F55 feels a bit more grown up. The flat rear section of the hull means it remains more upright in turns and has a wider turning circle at speed. Over use of the trim tabs reduces speed significantly so they need to be used with caution.

The wind dodge on the Mk3 50 flybridge means the skipper is kept nicely protected. The F55 has a much lower dodge meaning the skipper has more of the wind in the hair experience. In an ideal world I’d sacrifice looks for a taller screen dodge on the F55 but that isn’t an option.

In the ensuing 10 years between now and the build of our 50 Princess have worked hard to improve their product so there are many often small details which all combine to encourage your hand into your pocket but there’s no getting away from the hard truth it’s a fair chunk of money to move up from our 50 to a new F55.

Towards the end of 2021 we organised a trip to the Princess factory. It was the first time I’d visited so didn’t really know what to expect. I’d toured the Sunseeker factory previously but it was a while ago.

There’s a lot to take in. A model range spanning 35 feet to over 95 feet, design, production, engineering laid out over pretty much the whole of Plymouth. Our F55 is actually being built in their massive Langage facility in the outskirts of Plympton, one of several Princess facilities. The hull is moulded using a resin infusion process. Essentially a layer of glass fibre is placed in the mould. A foam core is sandwiched between it and another layer of glass fibre. Resin is then introduced under vacuum to ensure total penetration.

Once the basic shell is moulded stringers, engine mounts and so on are added by hand. Reinforcement is designed into critical areas such as through hull fittings. Everything is custom cut to fit the design and moulding. The foam core comes in kit form with each individual piece located in a specific spot, it’s a bit like doing a 3D jigsaw puzzle.

Princess design in house for most of the time and are somewhat unusual in that they build full sized mock ups of all their designs. As technology improves there’s a temptation to utilise CAD / 3D visualisation techniques to allow virtual walk throughs. They’re good but a full size mock up allows designers and engineers to walk through and touch the boat, sit at tables, understand eye lines and visual limitations from the helm and so on. Are the hand rails where you want them? Do you catch the edge of a piece of furniture when moving around the interior?

Princess have some impressive technology dotted around the town including full sized 5 axis milling machines which take up a whole room. These can be used for hull or topside work allowing rapid table to touch capability for designers.

 

[henryf]

We’ve done the rounds both in the UK and Europe looking at everything available within our price and size range. There’s a danger having had a couple of Princess boats and being British that we become biased towards Princess and the greater British output. During trips to Cannes and Dusseldorf we’ve actively sought out alternatives. We want to come away thinking Princesss isn’t the best option but it’s never happened. There are individual elements elsewhere that appeal but for us there’s not been a whole boat that ticks our boxes and believe me I’ve looked. The fact I use boats in anger means its often seemingly trivial things that tarnish a design and then when I find a great design things go south when exploring the engineering spaces and general construction.

At Southampton ’21 we spent a lot of time with Sunseeker looking at their Manhattan 55. It’s a vastly improved product over the previous 53. Internal space has increased and they finally addressed the gap between themselves and Princess who have constantly evolved the interior space for a given hull length. However for us it just wasn’t a boat we could comfortably use in anger. Mooring lines rub gelcoat, there is no hand rail fitted when going down the outer sides on the gunwale and a styling bulge pushes you out away from the side. On a boat with step through bow seating this is not good, you can’t safely get guests, food and drink forwards and crew are put in danger. It’s also quite hard to reach side cleats from the dock side when you’re the height of my crew.

Some of the differences between Sunseeker and Princess are just styling choices. Sunseeker designs are very bold, Princess a bit more conservative and that suits us. The one thing I did like on the Manhattan was its transom entry into the crew cabin. Entry into the F55 crew cabin is awkward.

Having placed an order we had to start thinking about spec and options. Whilst the F55 is a production boat rather than a custom boat you still have quite a few choices to make.

Basic layout is fixed, the only thing you need to decide on the the treatment of the 3rd starboard cabin. We opted for electric sliding beds which can be altered between a double or a twin arrangement and cleverly the bedside tables adapt to suit each one. The master cabin is a wonderful full beam affair, we opted for the seating / coffee table or workstation to port rather than storage. Time will tell if it gets used, certainly there’s a romantic notion of enjoying a coffee whilst admiring the view through the massive hull windows or sitting there quietly working on a computer whilst at anchor.

The forward VIP cabin is a fixed double with a Jack & Jill ensuite which doubles as the day head.

Princess offer something called their Allure collection. It is an upgrade to some of the fabrics and finishes throughout the boat. Teak cappings are deeper, the helm seats have an improved design and some of the fabric choices are improved. It’s one of those boxes which pretty much everyone ticks. I’m not sure a boat would be ruined without it but we went for it anyway to be safe.

Wood choice is a personal thing. We’ve enjoyed dark cherry on the last 2 boats so opted for the dark walnut this time with a satin rather than a high gloss finish to give it a modern twist and encourage longevity. We’ve also gone for an extended walnut floor between the galley and the starboard cabinets. We will probably fit a free carpet on top to give us the best of both worlds.

 

[henryf]

The F55 has an aft galley design. Previously this has been an Achilles heel on many boats and something which put us off changing the 50. We couldn’t live without a full size fridge freezer, under counter options were too small and required you to stoop down when using them. The F55 features the same full size unit of our Mk3 50.

We’ve gone for a fully electric galley, I wouldn’t have gas on a boat any more through choice. It’s safe, clean and given we have upgraded the generator a no brainer.

Speaking of upgraded generators the primary reason for this is the addition of Tropical air conditioning / reverse cycle heating. The 50 Mk3 we have was a cancelled order stock boat and as such had some stuff we wouldn’t ordinarily have opted for. One item was the aforementioned air conditioning. I wouldn’t be without it now. The air handling volume is massive meaning the boat heats up or cools down very quickly and can be set to maintain a desired temperature. It’s now one of those base line must have things.

Something we haven’t gone for is a crew cabin. Instead we are using the space for a dedicated storage area. Charter provisions can be kept safe easily accessible from the aft galley and the general boating clutter has a place to live. The current boat has a crew cabin and we’ve never once used it for sleeping, it just acts as a store. The toilet is redundant. The fact that entry into the F55’s crew cabin is a bit awkward thanks to the encroaching moulding as you go down the stairs means I’d rather have the open space rather than a bed and toilet area.

The F55 crew cabin also only accommodates a single person but all our charters operate with a skipper and a crew member so we have to use a cabin anyway.

The most expensive box we’ve ticked is for fitment of a Seakeeper 9 gyro stabiliser. I’m really interested to find out how much of a game changer this is. As much as anything it’s for the charter business. People looking to book a charter who are worried about sea sickness will be reassured by the stabilisation. We’ve managed without one so far but how much of a difference will it make?

I understand that on the plane it will have no effect and the planing hull’s design and use of trim tabs will be the dominant force, but at anchor or slow displacement speed I’m hoping it works well. We’ve done a lot of displacement cruising in 2022 and drinks are much cheaper than diesel. Guests can’t get through 200 plus litres per hour like the engines can so enjoying the journey with a drink rather than flying along on the plane should make sense. It also allows us to present a more environmentally considerate package to would be customers.

Engine wise we have Volvo D13 900hp lumps on shafts. I love shaft drive boats, easy to control, simple to maintain and very intuitive. We aren’t bothering with a joystick. We have variable thrust bow and stern thrusters which, combined with those shafts should make things straightforward enough on their own. If you can’t learn to handle a shaft drive boat with thrusters you probably shouldn’t be out on the water.

The Hi-Lo bathing platform on an F55 is theoretically an “option”, certainly ticking the box costs money. Of choice I’d love a fixed platform with a crane but the reality is Princess have never built a fixed bathing platform F55 and I don’t want to be the first. Our 50’s passerelle / crane makes tender launching a doddle, I’m going to have to learn a new technique with the Hi-Lo platform and hopefully keep my feet dry. Time will tell.

We haven’t added additional teak over and above the Allure collection upgrade. I’m probably going to retrospectively fit fake teak on the flybridge at some point on the basis it’s easier to keep clean than the real stuff. Side decks will remain GRP.

Fabrics and carpet choice is something I’ve left to the girls. Apparently my choices are not in keeping with a modern marine environment so I’ve done what I’ve been told to . I shall let you all make your own minds up when the thing is finished. Hard wearing, long lasting and stylish - so I’m told.

You get a massive TV in the saloon which goes up and down electrically. We’ve also opted for a huge TV in the master cabin. I did think about fitting our own to save a few quid but in the end weakened. I’m not a massive TV in the bed person - hey the master cabin is where the magic happens but I can see some people want to snuggle down with a bit of Netflix.



The forward VIP guests and 3rd cabin guests will have to make do with their iPads, and that’s the thing, for a fraction of the cost of installed TVs I can leave iPads in the cabins.

Audio wise the Princess upgrade is an eye watering £35,000 and includes a load of head units dotted around the boat. The standard offering features bluetooth tech which allows you to send tunes from your phone through the boat’s speakers. I haven’t explored it, we’ll see what turns up on the day and I’m sure it will suffice. Worst case £2,500 gets some funky Bang & Olufsen Bluetooth speakers should they be needed but there was no way I was going to drop £35k on music.

WiFi will be courtesy of a standard 4/5G mobile hub. I use one on the P50 and it serves the network enabled TV well.

Navigation wise we’ve gone for Princess’ recommended options upgraded where possible to include extra screens at both helm stations. We could have had something specific retro fitted after construction but once again I’m trying to keep a single point of contact should we have any issues in the future. I will have to learn how to use everything being familiar with our Raymarine 120W up to now.

 

[Richard.C]

Looking forward to many more instalments of this story.

 

[henryf]

Looking forward to many more instalments of this story.

You won't have to wait too long as I'm going to play catch up to bring everyone up to date. I think we've got the final factory visit to come so I'll bring it up to that point.

 

[benjenbav]

Thanks Henry: a fascinating insight into the new boat. It looks fab and a couple of pix acted as a reminder of just how big it is - especially the shot with the wiring looms and miles of cable.

Do Princess send a team to commission the boat with you or is that all done prior to handover?

 

[Seastoke]

You won't have to wait too long as I'm going to play catch up to bring everyone up to date. I think we've got the final factory visit to come so I'll bring it up to that point.

 

[jfm]

Thanks Henry. Super interesting, and looking forward to the next instalment. Thank you also for your kind words about my earlier build thread, and I hope to write something about my Italian Job (and Dartmouth Job) when I can find some time.

I watched a YouTube tour of F55 the other day (the Jack Haines one I think) and it is quite remarkable in the space it offers. The move up from your 50 is going to feel like a lot more than 10%.

Tell the girls we wait with interest all their soft furnishing choices and scatter cushions. No pressure.

Which boat in those pics is yours?

Geeky question: how do they install the bowthruster? Pic 8613 looks like a block inserted to created the bottom half of the tunnel (axopar style), but I can't see the corresponding half of the puzzle in pic8580.

Have you sold the old boat?

 

[stuartwineberg]

10 years, my word. You were kind enough to let me crew for a day when you first bought her and wanted to do some runs to calibrate the log. Good luck with the new purchase

Let me start with an apology. When it comes to build threads there can be no substitute for the Grandaddy of all build threads, that of JFM’s Fairline 78 from 2012

Boat in build pics (2013 Fairline Squadron 78)

Unless rumours of highly modified Sanlorenzo blueprints are true and JFM has the energy / desire to repeat the process…..

This will be a pale imitation in comparison but in some ways maybe our build is more typical of what to expect. I’m not going to micro manage this. Princess build an off the shelf production boat rather than a custom build. They have built 134 F55 Flybridges prior to ours so I’m hoping they’ve learned what they are doing by now. My trying to alter the formula will only spoil the cake, I’m not a marine engineer or a marine architect.

There’s also a danger that if I insist on deviating from Princess’ standard build and we later have problems I may find myself on my own. Taking the standard product puts the onus of responsibility back in Princess’ court.

I know a good boat from a bad boat and we use ours in anger offering it for charter in the Solent. We’ve chartered our current Princess 50 Mk3 for 10 years now and it’s performed flawlessly. Prior to that we had a Princess P42 flybridge. Both the 42 and the 50 were bought new as stock boats, this is the first one we’ve commissioned from scratch.

I’m someone who adapts to his surroundings rather than asking them to fit my mood so stock boats are fine but there weren’t any available this time round and thanks to the strange times we live in it’s actually cheaper to order a new boat and wait rather than buy stock for immediate use.

 

[Greg2]

What’s not to like about a new build thread?!

Very interesting and look forward to seeing her take shape. Many thanks for taking the time to share ?

 

[henryf]

Hi there everyone.

Having had a pair of new stock boats from Princess we've built up a relationship with Swanwick (Argo / Princess sales) but not really the factory. This has been a really interesting insight into the complete build process. I hadn't really appreciated the massive infrastructure Princess have beyond the assembly line. You hear talk of we build this or that but it's only when you see the raw materials going in one end and finished components coming out the other end.

It's going to sound a bit corny but I also feel a deeper affinity with the Princess sales team. I had a relationship with Roger the big cheese and previously Adam who actually now works for Princess the factory after a stint out in Asia but having someone like Alan hold your hand through the build process is really useful. Ultimately they are there to make money but I don't feel any of the advice has been profit or commission lead, rather pointing out areas where you might not have thought about the consequences of a spec choice. The Swanwick team are quite small so we've seen guys over the course of boat shows and so on but finally I get to see what they do for a day job !

Yes we've taken a deposit on the current boat and had it surveyed. We just need to do the out of water / sea trial bit which couldn't be done due to poor weather. I'm not too worried about that as the actual boating part is second nature and it's a great bit of kit. What's really exciting is that the buyer is keeping her coded and we're going to work together keeping her on the Charter Solent website. The two boats will make a great pairing. For people restrained on budget we can still offer a really smart 50 foot flybridge and when we need more than one boat we've got a lovely matched pair so guests don't feel short changed. We can also hand hold a bit and pass on some of the knowledge we've gained over the past 10 years. I'm much more confident bringing the F55 to market than I was all those years ago with the P50.

In terms of commissioning the factory do their thing, Princess sales do their thing and we then get time ourselves with Princess sales to find our feet with the new boat. There's a bit of stuff that I need to learn and every day is a school day, I'm always open to suggestion. The thing about boating is getting that feel for your boat, knowing what noises are, knowing why something might not be reacting as you'd expect and so on. We'll get professional help from Princess sales then spend time on the water pre-season. Having Princess sales there is a very big part of the purchase decision. The Sirena was a really interesting boat but essentially we'd be on our own with a sort of arm's length support package. With Swanwick we can just pick up the phone and have physical help.

Yes, the bow thruster is a strange set up. I'll give you chapter and verse after my next factory visit. At the moment I haven't posted any pictures of the actually boat, they'll start coming in the next instalment. The second visit was a bit daunting as I suddenly realised we'd got a boat coming, the third visit was exciting because it started to look like an F55.

 

[henryf]

10 years, my word. You were kind enough to let me crew for a day when you first bought her and wanted to do some runs to calibrate the log. Good luck with the new purchase

I remember it, I was calibrating the log in preparation for my Yachtaster Offshore exam !

 

[jfm]

The two boats charter partnership is very clever and nicely differentiating (so long as he doesn't inadvertently/accidentally pinch all of your business! ).

On another (me = broken record) point, the F55 looks like it is just within the limits to put on a lorry and do a Mediterranean season. Just saying. Will it have a passerelle?

 

[andy59]

Enjoying the write up Henry , always interested in build threads, super informative seeing how it’s done and no doubt the finished article will be gawjus ?. Looking forward to seeing you out there ?

 

[Mr Googler]

Do love a build thread! Thank you for taking us on the journey. Great picture stood by the mahoosive engines!

 

[John100156]

Looking forward to further updates - excellent choice.......!

 

[henryf]

The two boats charter partnership is very clever and nicely differentiating (so long as he doesn't inadvertently/accidentally pinch all of your business! ).

On another (me = broken record) point, the F55 looks like it is just within the limits to put on a lorry and do a Mediterranean season. Just saying. Will it have a passerelle?

You don't need a passerelle in Thailand. They have wisely emulated the very effective alongside berthing technique as per UK marinas.

Did you want to reciprocate with photos of Antibes or just admit defeat and spare your dignity

Happy with the price / reward balance between the 2 boats

 

[henryf]

Enjoying the write up Henry , always interested in build threads, super informative seeing how it’s done and no doubt the finished article will be gawjus ?. Looking forward to seeing you out there ?

We will definitely break bread this season

 

[andy59]

I will make sure i keep some freshly laundered fenders on board