Nautorius
Well-Known Member
Wow, Those Companion way steps look a death trap! I know I am used to Sailing boats but when did a land based designer who has never been to Sea be allowed to do such a mad thing! Broken legs here we go....
Paul
portofino 40
- Thread starter gjgm
- Start date
Wow, Those Companion way steps look a death trap! I know I am used to Sailing boats but when did a land based designer who has never been to Sea be allowed to do such a mad thing! Broken legs here we go....
Paul
gjgm
Well-Known Member
Had a nose about today. The steps are ok , and in fact I dont think the side decks are that bad.
The glass works very well- it is quite impressive down below.
And that is just as well, because assuming you can tolerate the unimpressive bench helm seat,and you dont argue non stop whether to both stand or sit, you come across the next howler.
Sit , and you have 1 cm between your knees and the helm.
Nipped onto the Windy Maestro-same money, and it definitely feels a much smaller boat, but the seats?Well, you do get a seat not a bench, with forward and back slide and electric height adjustment. You get the feeling someone actually thinks you might drive this boat.
Also then had a look again at the Princess v39. They really do so much right on this boat. Ok, you can tell it is @cheaper@ than the other two, but then it is.. 120k cheaper.
Whitelighter
Well-Known Member
I thought the V39 felt absolutely first class.
Plus the sunseeker bubble top looks stupid.
And it's a stupid price.
Fail (won't stop mugs buying it though)
Plus the sunseeker bubble top looks stupid.
And it's a stupid price.
Fail (won't stop mugs buying it though)
Andrew38
Well-Known Member
A word for Beneteau..........
Having only just read through this thread I feel I need to put a word in for the Beneteau Monte Carlo 42/ GT 44.
I'd no experience of Sports Cruisers before buying the SIBS displayed MC42 in 2010 as for 10 years I'd owned Brooms. Frankly we bought it because it was £100k cheaper (after heavy negotiation with all the players) than either the equiv Fairline or Princess PLUS we preferred the interior layout which has a full width midships master suite, (leaving what is the master suite on all other similar craft as the second cabin in the Beneteau) and the cockpit layout works very well with a large communal area.
It looks like, without knowing it, we missed some of the pitfalls of sportscruisers mentioned in the thread. She rides very flat without much trimming giving excellent vision from a seated position. The forward chain locker takes 6 full size fenders without trouble and there's plenty of extra rope and fender stowage area underneath the rear sunpad, which is easily accessible from the bathing platform when docking/leaving.
We went on board the Portofino at SIBS on Friday and agree the interior and finish is excellent. But for that money you only get one head, no tender garage and an access restricted second cabin. The cockpit seating is also odd as on the portside forward facing seat there's nowhere for your legs!
Probably for SWMBO the biggest issue would be going back to the small fridges on the UK boats compared to the full height unit on the Beneteau (with a second beer & wine fridge in the cockpit as standard). Three year warranty (five year on hull) too.
Having only just read through this thread I feel I need to put a word in for the Beneteau Monte Carlo 42/ GT 44.
I'd no experience of Sports Cruisers before buying the SIBS displayed MC42 in 2010 as for 10 years I'd owned Brooms. Frankly we bought it because it was £100k cheaper (after heavy negotiation with all the players) than either the equiv Fairline or Princess PLUS we preferred the interior layout which has a full width midships master suite, (leaving what is the master suite on all other similar craft as the second cabin in the Beneteau) and the cockpit layout works very well with a large communal area.
It looks like, without knowing it, we missed some of the pitfalls of sportscruisers mentioned in the thread. She rides very flat without much trimming giving excellent vision from a seated position. The forward chain locker takes 6 full size fenders without trouble and there's plenty of extra rope and fender stowage area underneath the rear sunpad, which is easily accessible from the bathing platform when docking/leaving.
We went on board the Portofino at SIBS on Friday and agree the interior and finish is excellent. But for that money you only get one head, no tender garage and an access restricted second cabin. The cockpit seating is also odd as on the portside forward facing seat there's nowhere for your legs!
Probably for SWMBO the biggest issue would be going back to the small fridges on the UK boats compared to the full height unit on the Beneteau (with a second beer & wine fridge in the cockpit as standard). Three year warranty (five year on hull) too.
benjenbav
Well-Known Member
I read the report yesterday and thought it absolutely told it like it was.
I wouldn't want anyone to use those side decks in any sort of a sea and I predict that plenty Portofino 40's will be seen lurking a few metres from their berths whilst crew sort the fenders out.
I thought the Ken Freivokh interior looked fantastic; especially liked the orange/dove-grey contrasts he had worked into everything including the ironic use of cherrywood to emphasise the point. Plus the wenge effect on the flooring looked great with the very light principal colour of the cabinetry.
I wouldn't be too worried about the vis which, as suggested, will probably be resolved with beefier tabs from hull #2 onwards - mebbe a case of a builder listening to a reviewer - who'd have thought it.
PS - the D4 330 typo paled into insignificance against the editor's comment that he saw the Olympics opening ceremony at the end of August. The rest of the world watched it at the end of July. Pip, pip
jimmy_the_builder
Well-Known Member
Completely agree with this - impossibly tight at the helm, and the helm seat was v poor.
The first two hulls are at Cannes and SIBS respectively, but apparently they are changing the rails and grab rails from hull #3 onwards to address the safety aspects, particularly at the stern quarters.
Incidentally, quite funny yesterday at Cannes where a sales guy confidently demonstrated the hilo platform - and promptly wedged it under the pontoon. Oops.
Cheers
Jimmy
petem
Well-Known Member
At 4:30 is that Jack forgetting his port / starboard!
Are 38' boats really £500k now, eek! I'd assumed they were still around £250k, shows how out of touch I am.
Anyhow, lovely boat, all the natural light makes it tardis like.
Pete
Are 38' boats really £500k now, eek! I'd assumed they were still around £250k, shows how out of touch I am.
Anyhow, lovely boat, all the natural light makes it tardis like.
Pete
ari
Well-Known Member
I believe the Princess V39 is about £280,000 but I guess there's a big spec difference.
Alwaysbyboat
Well-Known Member
There is a difference in terms of specs. The Portofino comes with a generator, chartplotter and lots of other nice stuff.
I agree with earlier comments on the helm seat - no idea why they fitted a single bench instead of 2 seats.
Below deck you get a very open feeling, not the typical cave-like impression as in other sportcruisers of this side. I've been on the V39 as well, adn although you have more headroom in the V39, the Portofino feels more spacious inside. We can discuss colours and style until kingdom comes, but I think the interior works very well on the Portofino. I think quality of finishing is similar to the V39.
What I'd like to know is where the 2 ton difference in displacement comes from. Don't think it's all additional equipement. Maybe construction, stringers etc?
I was not particularly interested in the Portofino 40, but now that I've seen her in the lfesh I can easily see the value of the proposition. Yes, the price is higher than the V39, but you get more equipment and my impression is that you can talk some sense in the sales guys from Sunseeker....
jimmy_the_builder
Well-Known Member
Apparently if you spec the boats like-for-like, the SS comes out about 7% more expensive (this from SS last weekend).
Cheers
Jimmy
gjgm
Well-Known Member
I admit I didnt check into the spec, but I did ask Princess what the final price on the water is, and they said about 330k on recent prices. I dont know whether that is before or after pencel sharpeneing, but it is hard to see how it gets up to 450, surely Jimmy? Mind you, you are more familiar with this line of questioning than me
Note you only have one engine option with Princess.
ari
Well-Known Member
The V39 is resin infusion construction which is lighter I believe?
Alwaysbyboat
Well-Known Member
I admit I didnt check into the spec, but I did ask Princess what the final price on the water is, and they said about 330k on recent prices. I dont know whether that is before or after pencel sharpeneing, but it is hard to see how it gets up to 450, surely Jimmy? Mind you, you are more familiar with this line of questioning than me
Note you only have one engine option with Princess.
SS is not £450k, but closer to £350k. SS gets to £380k area if aircon and hi-low platform is specified with 330 engines. V39 is around £350 before elbow wrestling...
Whitelighter
Well-Known Member
Whatever the difference, it's a sunseeker so give it a few years and it's resale will have dropped like a stone anyway
Alwaysbyboat
Well-Known Member
So SS is probably slightly better planted?
gjgm
Well-Known Member
I think I used the "as tested" in the magazine, and admitted that I didnt check to see if that included gold taps
It certainly wasnt anything like 380k.
Still, that is half the problem isnt it, no one likes to publicise what the boat actually costs on the water. My eyeball guess is usually up to 20pct more than the published price.
ari
Well-Known Member
SS is £390K VAT paid according to the MBM test.
Their "as tested" price is £459K.
They also show the V39 as £286K.
The copy reckons roughly £50K difference when the Princess is specced to the same level as the Sunseeker.
Their "as tested" price is £459K.
They also show the V39 as £286K.
The copy reckons roughly £50K difference when the Princess is specced to the same level as the Sunseeker.
Last edited:
ari
Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by ari
The V39 is resin infusion construction which is lighter I believe?
Well that's an interesting question. Possibly it is, but equally I've never heard anyone say "I think I'll add extra weight to my boat to make it handle better", at least not on a planing boat (maybe a yacht), so is it an advantage that it's heavier or not?
Presumably Princess could add a load of lead in the bottom of the V39 if it were...?
The V39 is resin infusion construction which is lighter I believe?
Well that's an interesting question. Possibly it is, but equally I've never heard anyone say "I think I'll add extra weight to my boat to make it handle better", at least not on a planing boat (maybe a yacht), so is it an advantage that it's heavier or not?
Presumably Princess could add a load of lead in the bottom of the V39 if it were...?
gjgm
Well-Known Member
Wonder if that is the same as MBY !
kcrane
Well-Known Member
Illusion will help me out here as we were together at the time, but while looking at the V39 the Princess saleman (in response to a comment that the SS will be significantly more) commented that the Princess would be £30k'ish less than the Portofino when both are in med spec.