P330 or Fairline Cornice

oldgit said:
We will have to disagree about which one has stood the test of time better, the 330 presents a trim well balanced nicely proportioned more modern looking looking boat
The Corniche basically resembles an over filled tub of lard. :):):)
Click to expand...

How hard. Did a Corniche did something to you. :P
I was in love with the 31 Corniche when the first one came to Malta in 1986, then a lot of them came a couple years later and in a few years we had half a dozen running around, all shafts and diesel and a couple with radar arch.
I think the radar arch (1988 onwards) made the super structure a bit too heavy. Do you remember the Fairline ad calling 40 knots with twin 2 x 270hp V8s Volvos :)
 
Last edited:
I've had a couple of days to make some more enquiries but I think out of the two boats I looked at overall and all things being equal I preferred the Princess but i'm led to belive there may nw be issues with one of it's engines plus I didn't like the attitude of the broker when I questioned him on it - he said he wasn't aware of an issue but even if there is one it's fair enough as my survey would highlight that and then I could get it knocked off the asking price. I've had a bad expereince before and although nothing in boating terms is guaranteed I'd like the new boat to be OK as much as possible from the start.

The Corniche as a boat gets really good recommendations across the board and I do like it a lot as well. I also feel the broker has been more honest . As this is in the water I'm thinking of getting an engine survey done to start with and if ll being well look to get the hull surveyed too.

Cheers
D
 
superheat6k said:
If you are interested in the Corniche then worth at least looking at its bigger sister, the Turbo 36.
Click to expand...

30% more boat...
" to buy
" to insure
" to run
" to service
" to moor
with dinghy your,ll be charged for 42ft feet most places and Fairline Phantom 46 offers so much more :)
 
Last edited:
Princess all day.

Worth more money, more sought after and a better boat. The fairline seems a little over priced to me.
Fortunately they are both shafts. I think these both came with legs too. I would defo avoid these.
The princess will be better finished also and I love that it’s more original than the fairline.
Both have good engines.
Ultimately and like any comparison of such a purchase it would depend on their running condition and mechanical condition. Survey would be a great idea.
Check they have strong history and eveidence of service receipts etc.
Failing all that, I know of someone that may part with a P385 in unrivalled condition for its kind. Twin TAMD61s and a serivice history as long as your arm and leg together !! And for not much more money.
 
PowerYachtBlog said:
How hard. Did a Corniche did something to you. :P
I was in love with the 31 Corniche when the first one came to Malta in 1986, then a lot of them came a couple years later and in a few years we had half a dozen running around, all shafts and diesel and a couple with radar arch.
I think the radar arch (1988 onwards) made the super structure a bit too heavy. Do you remember the Fairline ad calling 40 knots with twin 2 x 270hp V8s Volvos :)
Click to expand...

I remember one of those straight through exhaust and 12 knots out of the box!You had to laugh!
 
We owned a 1987 model Corniche on shafts for 5 seasons, purchased in 2012. We enjoyed the boat very much, and it gave us troublefree (relatively) operation throughout our ownership.

The corniche comes with about 12 different layouts, including versions with sterndrive and shaft. Ours were the dinette version, with two separate beds in the forward cabin.
The dinette version gave us an extra room, which served us very well. However, the layout with dedicated bedrooms were on our wishlist.

It rides a bit bow-up, to the point I was not comfortable piloting from inside as I had to sit upright to see forward. No problems on the fly, of course. We had about 60kg extra weight with a Zodiac 10ft RIB on davits, so might account for some.
Flybridge is also a bit cramped, but large considering the relatively small boat size.

We looked at a P330 before we found the corniche, and the galley seemed much more cramped than the corniche. Probably due to the dinette solution.

If you go for the corniche, I have a tip for a new black water tank installation (240L) which served us VERY well.

Some corniches came with a water tank in the bow, which might be possible to retrofit. This should help, and would also give you total water capacity of around 500-600L (if I remember correctly that aft tank is 300L). Probably a lot of work, though.
We travelled mostly at a comfortable 1500rpms, which amounted to about 7.5knots with approximately 1.5L/nm consumption total.

The P330 looks a bit smarter, but I think I would go for the corniche again.
 
Dazzajohm said:
Yes we have actually, but after looking again I'm not quite sure why I've not paid it more attention. Possibly because going to have a look is a 7hr round trip for me :-/
Click to expand...

it is local to me - if you want someone to have a look over it to see if it worth the journey let me know.
 
Fusebox said:
We owned a 1987 model Corniche on shafts for 5 seasons, purchased in 2012. We enjoyed the boat very much, and it gave us troublefree (relatively) operation throughout our ownership.

The corniche comes with about 12 different layouts, including versions with sterndrive and shaft. Ours were the dinette version, with two separate beds in the forward cabin.
The dinette version gave us an extra room, which served us very well. However, the layout with dedicated bedrooms were on our wishlist.

It rides a bit bow-up, to the point I was not comfortable piloting from inside as I had to sit upright to see forward. No problems on the fly, of course. We had about 60kg extra weight with a Zodiac 10ft RIB on davits, so might account for some.
Flybridge is also a bit cramped, but large considering the relatively small boat size.

We looked at a P330 before we found the corniche, and the galley seemed much more cramped than the corniche. Probably due to the dinette solution.

If you go for the corniche, I have a tip for a new black water tank installation (240L) which served us VERY well.

Some corniches came with a water tank in the bow, which might be possible to retrofit. This should help, and would also give you total water capacity of around 500-600L (if I remember correctly that aft tank is 300L). Probably a lot of work, though.
We travelled mostly at a comfortable 1500rpms, which amounted to about 7.5knots with approximately 1.5L/nm consumption total.

The P330 looks a bit smarter, but I think I would go for the corniche again.
Click to expand...

Thats a great bit of info cheers for that. Seems the Corniche in general is quite well liked despite it's bow high issue :-)
 
Greg2 said:
it is local to me - if you want someone to have a look over it to see if it worth the journey let me know.
Click to expand...

I did speak to the Broker on this earlier actually and the VAT status is questionable which is no good for me as I regularly go across the channel but thanks very much for the offer :-)
 
By way of an update, the Princess is definitely out of the equation. I was tipped off that the boat had an issue with one of it's engines breathing. I queried this with the broker who said he has no knowledge of this. I made the point that from the information I had the owner knew of this issue and was told that it's not down to the owner to disclose the issue but down to me to ascertain there is an issue there by a survey and get a reduction. Nevertheless I requested the broker have a conversation with his vendor and was subsequently sent some reports which show not only is one of the engines breathing but the oil in the other one showed high levels of copper most likely caused by bearing or clutch plate wear.

Needless to say I will not be going anywhere near the Princess after this nor looking at boats through that broker.

Cheers for all the comments, advice and suggestions. I think I will stick to my original plan and try to find a decent Corniche.
 
Dazzajohm said:
By way of an update, the Princess is definitely out of the equation. I was tipped off that the boat had an issue with one of it's engines breathing. I queried this with the broker who said he has no knowledge of this. I made the point that from the information I had the owner knew of this issue and was told that it's not down to the owner to disclose the issue but down to me to ascertain there is an issue there by a survey and get a reduction. Nevertheless I requested the broker have a conversation with his vendor and was subsequently sent some reports which show not only is one of the engines breathing but the oil in the other one showed high levels of copper most likely caused by bearing or clutch plate wear.

Needless to say I will not be going anywhere near the Princess after this nor looking at boats through that broker.

Cheers for all the comments, advice and suggestions. I think I will stick to my original plan and try to find a decent Corniche.
Click to expand...
As I understand the Law an owner is as much obliged to reveal known defects to any would be purchaser as is a broker, once he holds such knowledge. I do fully support your decision to walk from that boat - if a vendor or broker is caught out lying or deceiving about one thing, nothing else they say can be believed either.

In regard to the Turbo 36 the rather large '36' emblazoned down each side of the fly bridge convinced every HM everywhere I visited she was a 36' rather than a 40' boat, although I did have to pay for 40' on my home mooring.
 
Clutch plate , Hmm....

Dazzajohm said:
high levels of copper most likely caused by bearing or "clutch plate" wear.
Click to expand...

Just to add to the confusion, there is no "clutch plate", just a oscillation damper and very difficult indeed to imagine how wear on the plate, which suspect has no copper components whatsoever ,could possibly contaminate the engine lubrication oil ?
Perhaps somebody can explain ?
https://www.marinepartseurope.com/en/volvo-penta-explodedview-7745920-44-20562.aspx
 
Re: Clutch plate , Hmm....

stelican said:
Sounds like reports got mixed up might be a Rolls Royce Corniche report sent in error
Click to expand...

It’s standard text on Volvopenta oil sample result report.
We engineer then have to decipher what the problem might be .

To be fair one of my recent reports on a fairly new D6 came back with results of a 30 years old 10000 hour engine , it had done 50 from new which didn’t inspire confidence to the purchaser.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top