Phantom 43 aft cabin.

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I was asked to do as job today on one of these, so I did my homework last night and read its report in mbm way back when new, after being on it ten minutes and looking round the question is, why did they drop production?, now im a big Broom fan and fan of aft cabs but this one has a bit more, because it has a bit more style, a full planing hull so it will give the speed, excellent engineering, meaning you can reach everything around the engines, where other equivalent Fairlines and Princesses you dont stand a chance the cherry wood is good the layout perfect for two couples, the aft deck and helm great, your not isolated from the rest of the crew, excellent canopy, and you can board it from a high or low pontoon, so whos had one and who knows why they dropped it after such a short space of time.
Oh one thing this one was BA Peters sea tech training boat, its done over 3000 hours and its great, and its NOT for sale, the new owner has only just bought it recently, all in all it was a joy to work on, wish I could say the same for a lot of the other days.

paul js.
 
Apparently dropped because:-
a) too expensive so they didn't sell many. However, I've seen used ones for as cheap as £150k which is a lot of boat for the money.
b) not the prettiest boat in the world. Although IMHO they're better looking than the old Turbo 36 (sorry everyone) and the Princess 435 (sorry Byron).

As a matter of interest, fow did the internal volume compare to other 43 footers and also in comparison to a Turbo 36?

Perhaps their day is yet to come?
 
Re: Phantom 43: ugliest fairline ever?

These boats cost 300k with bits and vat, and eff ugly they were too! For the same money you cd get a shawk48 and a ferrari! They were designed on the day that Fairline forgot the fact that, really, nobody actually NEEDS a large plastic boat. Ferries are better looking.
 
The Phantom 43 was designed by Olesinski the same bod that designed the Princess 43 and it shows.

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<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.freeware.mcmail.com/435.htm>http://www.freeware.mcmail.com/435.htm</A>
 
It was certainly the price which helped stop production but also I think Fairlines need to compete with
Princess in the Med where aft cockpits are favoured over aft cabins. Remember princess dropped the
435 in 1982 and havent made an aft cabin boat since.
I saw this particular one (ex demo) for sale and was tempted, wish I had cos I agree with your
comments,about aft cabin plus performance, and the rear end, like the 435 looks less imposing
than equivalent Brooms.



"The Med is calling me"
 
Rear end LESS imposing!!! You're joking. I remember the first time I saw it at SIBS and asking myself why they had'nt parked it bows to 'coz the rear end was bigger than Dawn French's (sorry, Dawn)
 
I owned a Princess 435 at the time that I first saw the 43AC at SIBS. It was billed by Fairline as the replacement for the Turbo 36. Trouble was, very few people with a £100k T36 or a £130k P435 were going to be in a position to trade upto to a £300k 43AC, especially as it did'nt really offer more space than a T36 and, in fact, less space than a P435. Second problem was that, for £300k, you could get a 3 cabin boat like the Princess 440 with bigger engines and a lot more space. Third problem was the styling which, particularly at the back end, was massive. Fourth problem was the accomodation. They should and could have got a 3rd cabin in where that silly cubby hole is which would have justified the price more. Also the saloon seating was very uncomfortable as was the helm seat.
Personally, I'm also a fan of aft cabins and the likes of Broom and Sealine have proved there's a market. All Fairline proved with the 43AC was that they were'nt listening to their target customers
At a secondhand price of say £180k, the 43AC is certainly a worthy contender for anyone looking at, say, a Broom 41 or Sealine 410/F43. I seem to remember that MBM reported that it was a v good seaboat
BTW, many Brooms (eg 37/39/41/415) are full planing hulls even though they all have vestigial keels. Thec 415 is good for 32knots with the right engines
 
Sorry Mike never actually seen one in the flesh, just going by the clever motion shot on the Peters
ad plus the fact that I did'nt imagine anything being more imposing than say a Broom 38 cl's back end.

"The Med is calling me"
 
Paul, thankyou for the kind words you said about the fairline43 aft.
Being the crew on this little ship, I have to agree with what you said about it.
It is the best boat in the world and we love her.
As for her rear end!!!! well, each to their own, ours has a blue hull which is far superior to one with a white hull and I agree can look a bit unbalanced.
she runs like a dream.

ELSA
 
Re: Phantom 43: ugliest fairline ever?

being the crew of this little ship I have to disagree with everything you say about her
ours has a blue hull which is very pleasing to the eye unlike the white hulled ones so there!

ELSA
 
Phantom 43 = little ship?

sorry elsa. The question was - why did they drop production? The answer is that they were too expensive, and not quite lovely enough.

Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, but i wonder if one of the bees you are holding has stung you in the eyes if you call a fairline 43AC a "little ship"? ....
 
Paul,

I think they only made 13 of them - it was introduced as a replacement to the Fairline Turbo 36, and one I always aspired to. I was told production stopped because it was unacceptable for the Med market (which at the time was rapidly becoming a major market for UK manufacturers), and where stern to mooring is the norm, and is rather difficult from a boat with an aft cabin. Still thinks it looks the "dogs" now....
 
IMHO the 43AC is still one of the best looking boats around, and had I not switched to sailing would have gone for one of the few with blue hulls - and I don't think Deleted User needs to apologise to Dawn French, she surely doesn't read the sort of rubbish we put out!!
 
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