Poll for Good Used Motor-Yacht for First Start around the Mediteranian

[Skipper Felice]

After discussing many options and ideas for my project I have come to a "short list":
Please rate your opinion for buying a reliable yacht for cruising the Med. for the next years with familiy, friends and other guests.

• Azimut 50 fly
• Fairline Phantom 50
• Sealine T50 / T52
• Rodman MUSE 54
• Rodman 54 / 56 fly
• Astondoa 50 / 52 / 54 GLX
• Princess 50 (MKII)
• Princess 52

 

[red124]

I wouldn´t decide only by the model or make, condition of the individual vessel is probably the most important thing

 

[Tranona]

That is a typical short list for that size and type of boat and given that they all find buyers both new and used there can clearly be no "best". Doubt anybody has direct experience of all (or even more than one or two) of them so unlikely any of them can offer objective advice.

Your criterion seems to be "reliability" (how do you define this?) and in its commonsense meaning that has little or nothing to do with the the individual boat design or builder but is primarily influenced by how well it is maintained and used.

So suggest you choose a boat that you like for whatever reason (size, layout, styles, engines, colour of upholstery) and buy one in the best condition you can find. Then use it responsibly and keep it well maintained.

 

[Skipper Felice]

Ok - voting is over and your favorite is the well known Princess - a very nice British Yacht. Thanks for all your contributions.
For myself, I will now search around for a 50ft boat from

• Fairline Phantom 50
• Rodman MUSE 54
• Astondoa 50 GLX
• Princess 50

First check out will be the motor and whole propulsion system for good maintenance and service documentation.
For a budget around EUR 300k I hope to find a nice yacht around the coast of Spain, Italy or Croatia. I would even consider to go to my new skipper-live with a like-minded colleague and his family. I would be grateful for any other important advice and ideas.

 

[Clash]

Afaik, the Princess 50 has only two berths. Well anything I've looked at in your price range anyway. Based on your description of what you want to do, I'd have thought you'd need three berths. Of course you could probably use the saloon as a berth too.

 

[ari]

Afaik, the Princess 50 has only two berths. Well anything I've looked at in your price range anyway. Based on your description of what you want to do, I'd have thought you'd need three berths. Of course you could probably use the saloon as a berth too.

I'm guessing you mean cabins rather than berths, the Princess has three cabins (six berths).

 

[ari]

After discussing many options and ideas for my project I have come to a "short list":
Please rate your opinion for buying a reliable yacht for cruising the Med. for the next years with familiy, friends and other guests.

• Azimut 50 fly
• Fairline Phantom 50
• Sealine T50 / T52
• Rodman MUSE 54
• Rodman 54 / 56 fly
• Astondoa 50 / 52 / 54 GLX
• Princess 50 (MKII)
• Princess 52

A reliable yacht at this sort of age is going to be defined by how it has been looked after and maintained, not by who built it.

 

[Clash]

I'm guessing you mean cabins rather than berths, the Princess has three cabins (six berths).

Correct and right. Still not seeing the third cabin in any I've looked at. Problem I suppose is that there are so many variations on a Princess "50".

 

[ari]

Correct and right. Still not seeing the third cabin in any I've looked at. Problem I suppose is that there are so many variations on a Princess "50".

There were two variations of the flybridge 50, the MK1/MK2 (launched late 90s, same boat, mild cosmetic facelift for the MK2) and the MKIII (late 2000s) which was a completely new boat and had a full beam owner's cabin. Both had two double cabins (although you could spec the MK1/MK2 with two singles in the second cabin instead) plus a bunk bed third cabin.

There was an original V50 which was an open boat (that did have two cabins) and a current V50 which is a hard top sports cruiser (that has two or three cabins), and currently an F50 (which is actually the F49 IPS boat, facelifted), again two doubles and a bunk cabin 3.