Power boat 40ft - 45ft Yacht which make is recommended

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Yachtsoffun

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I see a lot of brands make a similar size Yacht 40ft to 45ft, Cranchi, Azimut, Bavaria, Fairline, Sealine and others, can anyone help with a recommendation of a tried and tested inboard hardtop Yacht ?
 
Thanks, sports boat with 2 or 3 cabins. Really want to know if there's any brands to steer clear of ? , budget 500 to 600k
 
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Brands - not really, all the ones you mentioned have been in business for a long time and everyone has a favorite. However whilst most boats are a good boat, they all float and move, there are some models of boat from most brands that are really great boats. For example in your size Fairline Targa 47 GT - however you would get a really good one for a lot less than your budget.
Which particular boat - then you will probably get better experienced based views.
I have a bias to Fairline, Princess, Azimuts and Rodman (not common in the UK). Some one else will claim Jeanneau, Beneteau etc are fantastic.

Maybe ask what boat around 40 - 45ft hard top sports boat @ £500K and see what pops up.

edit - with the biggest/best engine bay. big engine bay = reliability, they get serviced properly.
 
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I was going to look at the Cranchi M44, or Bavaria S45, what I really would like to know is, has anyone had any bad experience with the quality of these ? Any major issues with Volvo penta engine, any advice on what I should stay away from... sorry my first boat
 
There are very few "bad" boats. You can get an idea of relative "quality" by looking at where a particular brand is positioned in the market. The major production builders like Bavaria are generally priced lower and much of the lower price is due to a combination of faster production and lower cost materials particularly on interior fitout. However Volvo is the most popular power unit and essentially will be well installed from new, although as suggested earlier some installations are very poor for access for servicing. If you are buying used you can only buy what is on the market and key factors are condition and service record.

There is really no substitute for looking at as many boats as you can that might fit your requirements. You will soon get a feel both for what you like and the make that appeal to you. There is no such thing as the perfect boat and most people only really get closer after their first boat. Suggest you buy a make and type that is popular in your area of operation, that has good service back up and an active market when you come to sell.

Happy boat hunting.
 
Probably a bit small given your request, but we absolutely love our Cranchi Smeraldo 37 and have her 10 (or 11?) years now.

The only negative i've found is the 'teak' bathing platform... it's teak ply and has worn down, it needs replacing.

Also, given we're in the West of Ireland, if it was a hard-top rather than canopy, it would be a bonus but it doesn't bother us.... all depends where you'll be boating.
 
You're facing a two-sided quest:

  1. The boat
  2. The engine & driveline
A lot of different boat manufacturers fits same engines, and problems with any given make/model will occur regardless of boat it is in.

The more advanced and complex, the more to maintain and potentially fail, only to be fixed by authorised technicians. At eye watering prices.

Hence service history becomes a major point in your comparison.
 
Yachtsoffun said:
I was going to look at the Cranchi M44, or Bavaria S45, what I really would like to know is, has anyone had any bad experience with the quality of these ? Any major issues with Volvo penta engine, any advice on what I should stay away from... sorry my first boat
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Personally I would stay away from both these boats due to being to big and heavy for outdrives. Not a matter of if but when you need to overhaul or replace them
Shafts is the way to go even if they use more diesel
 
I hesitated, but here goes:

Shafts work for Maersk. They'll be ok for me too.
Outboards survive all sorts of bashing and would be my second preference.

Sterndrives try to mix inboard and outboard via joints, shafts, hinges, pivots and whatnot. Components that don't tolerate water, running in submerged bellows. Eye-watering maintenance and repair costs. Simply the manufacturer's pension plans.

And yes - I do have personal experience with all of them.
 
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Yachtsoffun said:
I was going to look at the Cranchi M44, or Bavaria S45, what I really would like to know is, has anyone had any bad experience with the quality of these ? Any major issues with Volvo penta engine, any advice on what I should stay away from... sorry my first boat
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I would also agree with the "avoid sterndrives" comments, especially with boats of this size. I'd also avoid the Bavaria, the interior fit out looks like it was fitted by Ikea. With your budget you could do a lot better, take a look at Fairline or Princess.
 
You considered a Princess V42 mk3? Lovely boat, tender garage, sun pad, outdrives and two heads for guests instead of one, meaning they’re not using yours.
 
Yachtsoffun said:
I was going to look at the Cranchi M44, or Bavaria S45, what I really would like to know is, has anyone had any bad experience with the quality of these ?
Any major issues with Volvo penta engine, any advice on what I should stay away from... sorry my first boat
Click to expand...
At that size, I would steer well clear of anything with either outdrives or IPS.
Don't be fooled by the fact that this is how most boats in this segment are built: this is simply due to the fact that builders are only interested in how much it costs to them to build boats, not to the maintenance bills down the line.
Reality is that when outdrives are mated to 350+ hp diesel engines, major issues are simply a matter of when, not if.

I can think of several boats of that size and type which were still built as God intended, i.e. with shafts.
But if you prefer to stick to "well known" brands, I'm not sure you would consider Cayman or Uniesse, for instance.
So, since your budget is good enough for the best boat in this segment, I would look for one of them and forget all the rest: Pershing 43 or 46.
 
MapisM said:
At that size, I would steer well clear of anything with either outdrives or IPS.
Don't be fooled by the fact that this is how most boats in this segment are built: this is simply due to the fact that builders are only interested in how much it costs to them to build boats, not to the maintenance bills down the line.
Reality is that when outdrives are mated to 350+ hp diesel engines, major issues are simply a matter of when, not if.

I can think of several boats of that size and type which were still built as God intended, i.e. with shafts.
But if you prefer to stick to "well known" brands, I'm not sure you would consider Cayman or Uniesse, for instance.
So, since your budget is good enough for the best boat in this segment, I would look for one of them and forget all the rest: Pershing 43 or 46.
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Tend to agree with this ^ .
I didn’t ask for advice way back in 2005 and fell into Sunseekers ( my forum namesake ) .Remember back in the day the back of the Sunday supplements Sunseeker advertising “ multiple Queens awards for industry “ and sexy looking boats etc etc .

Med based though .So the hard top requirement isn’t as important as say the U.K. with its crappy weather , it slipped down the “ must haves “ lists with us .We majored on seakeeping ( well known on here 🥱) .Had to to keep the wife on board ….no pun intended.

We ended up with a 48 ft open on shafts with a pair of 700 MAN s .Left the whole Volvo Penta thing behind .Now I just read other peoples tales of VP woe on here .

Where are you anticipating is your cruising ground ? I don‘t think it’s been mentioned? Assuming U.K. ?

Also another tip you need bigger engines revving slowly as opposed to 1/2 size having to rely on bolt on gizmos like superchargers screaming away .This rules out a lot of VP powered IPS / outdrives .


Try and find a MAN , MTU , CAT ,Yanmar powered straight shafts .Even if it means spending 1/2 your budget on an older boat .
As far as brands look at what the Italians manufacture(d) .

You did ask what to avoid = French built and Bavaria . Swerve away from Sealine as well .Talking build quality here thinking German cars over French cars as a generalisation .There’s a second tier with boats now you know .For the avoidance of doubt I would put Fairprinseeker in the notional top tier ( before anyone bites my head off ) and they are the obvious go to brands if U.K. based , which we don’t know yet .If Med based go Italian .

Try and get a test drive / ride before committing too .You will be surprised how different boats in this segment run in waves . Get this wrong and you will be disappointed .
 
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