Princess 68 - the next MAGNUM

Magnum

Magnum

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I hope there are still a few familiar faces here as I don't post much on forums these days.

Anyway, without going through my serial boat-buying past, some might know that we've had a few, starting with a Princess 42 in 2004 and moved on to bigger stuff in the following years. Went to the dark side (with lots of string to pull) but the Mrs didn't like that. Moved to Jersey a couple of years ago and then returned to our roots and bought a new Princess 43. Lovely boat but got wanderlust again!

So pulled the trigger on a new Princess 68 today, for early 2017 delivery. Plan is to head down the French/Spanish/Portuguese coast towards the med departing April'ish with our baby daughter (4 months old now) and give it a good 4 to 5 months and see where we end up. Missing the med quite a bit so it will be nice to rediscover old haunts, but really looking forward to Atlantic too. That's as much of a plan as we have and I intend to keep it that way.

Hopefully we'll get the chance to catchup with jfm and Nick_H when we get to Antibes.
 
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Congratulations
Great boat and an amazing trip to look forward to.
We are on the last leg of our four month trip - Falmouth to the Algarve. We will be in Lisbon after a 160m run tomorrow, all things being well.
Galicia and the Douro region of Portugal should not be rushed, you will love it and I recon it can give the med a run for its money any day.
Enjoy the trip :) I'll look forward to reading about it...
 
Good man, at least I'm not the only nutcase thinking of upgrading yet again. Look forward to hearing all about her.
I think most are still here, don't venture over to the lounge however, it is now scary over there.
 
Welcome back and congratulations on the new arrival, and the soon to be new boat. Look forward to reading and seeing pics as the build progresses.
 
Sounds like a great adventure and congratulations. When does the build start? Do besenzoni make stair gates? :)
 
Deja Vu

Welcome back
Actually, I didn't think you had gone.

You may remember that you gave us lots of advice when we bought our P67.
We still have her - 9 seasons later.

You might like to add Sant Carles to your visiting list en-route to the SoF.
Lots of Brits here.
But a route through the Baldricks might bring back memories.

Just for the record
Here is a link to an old thread - report on our delivery from Torquay to the Med.
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...Delivery-UK-to-Spain-Loads-of-Pics-and-Videos
I remember that your P67 was delivered to Gib so it seems that this time you will do it all the way.
Dead easy - and there is a record to break.
However, my advice is to take your time and enjoy the delivery.
IMO, it is certainly the way to deliver a big Princess to the Med.

Please post more on here as your new adventure develops.

EDIT
Have you thought about a tender yet?
Why not look at a Novurania 430DL
Several on the forum now - JFM, MYAG, Bart and us
Here are a few pics - tempted?

P8130205_Small_zpsjuvb7xkd.jpg


P8130224e_Small_zpsgfkxz5cv.jpg


DSC07272_Small_zpsfsqwb1n8.jpg
 
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A great choice. With the recent launch of the 75 it's easy to overlook the 68 when in fact it wasn't that long ago that we were being wowed by that extra set of stairs with the lovely little window at the bottom. I also liked the long windows in the forward VIP cabin.

That seating area opposite the helm position is really social on long passage legs or times when you just want to potter along. I also like the galley / dining arrangement with its option to eat in the cockpit or inside dining table? I can imagine laying out a buffet spread on the dining table then eating alfresco.

Enough space to fit all the goodies you might care to specify, Seakeeper 16 gyro stabilisation? If you do fit that go for the mains powered raw water pump rather than the 24 volt option which I've heard can fail prematurely. The Seakeeper boffins also talked about changing anodes regularly so have plenty on board !

A very lucky boy. Really pleased for you :)

Henry :)
 
Hehe well that really is an boating itch that won't go away Magnum isn't it ?

If my recollection of your boat history is correct you will have gone full circle (P42 to P67 last time?) so I'm already looking forward to meeting up in Palma for tapas!

Many congratulations to you both from Louise and me on the arrival of baby Magnum, hope all is well - it certainly sounds like it is!

Best Wishes

Martyn
 
Wow congratulations! On your daughter I mean. Say hi and congratulations to C too.

Great news on the boat. Princess 40 odd then 60 odd = Groundhog Day! All sounds fantastic. Delivery trip will be fun as you don't have any schedule. See you in SofF next year maybe.

Tell us the spec sometime. To state the obvious you should consider stabilisers- I don't doubt you have. Now that seakeepers are so compact I think on my next spec I'd do seakeeper plus fins as well. The gyro has plenty of advantages but doesn't come close to fins in a big rolling sea. And be careful of advice from boat salesmen on any of this because generally they don't do physics. Hardtop is also well worth it. On a princess I'd check which ovens they're going to install so you can dont end up living off triangle box sandwiches. Also remember to think about a Doppler radar (quantum is raymarine's name; fantom is garmin's). In fact fit two radars- a scanner then a radome as back up. Also ask them to put the VHF whips on top of the HT. It's plain daft - but cheaper - putting them where they put them.

Best of luck with the project. To re-whet appetite here is our recent August cruise to your championship cup winning grounds in your dark side days https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hTaY6iGIw5Q
 
Congratulations on both new arrivals Magnum! Good choice of new boat. We look forward to catching up with you in the Med once again
 
jfm said:
Also ask them to put the VHF whips on top of the HT. It's plain daft - but cheaper - putting them where they put them.
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I never noticed that, but looking at the previous JW pics I suppose that's where they place them as standard.
And while I wholeheartedly agree that I'd rather have them on the arch or on the hardtop, I'm puzzled by Princess choice.
If it were just for cost cutting, they must have a pretty accurate cost accounting system, because the difference while the boat is being built probably takes decimal numbers to be measured... :confused:
Maybe they are in the camp of keeping the cable as short as possible? Just a thought.

Besides, your idea of gyro+fins would be for zero speed and cruising respectively, I suppose? Interesting thought, I might well consider it...

Oh, and congrats to Magnum of course, for both the daughter and the new toy! :encouragement:
 
Thanks chaps :)

sQcn732.jpg


A bit more info. Without going into specifics, I was offered a great deal on a half-built boat for Jan '17 delivery. So whilst there may be a factory visit or 2, sadly there won't be an epic build thread (sorry sarabande). Luckily the spec is pretty much what I would have ordered anyway and includes :-

MAN V12-1400 engines
Sleipner Vector Fin stabilisers
Variable speed hydraulic bow and sternthrusters
Hardtop with electrically powered opening and lighting
3rd station controls in cockpit
2 Onan generators - 19KW and 11KW
4 x Lumishore underwater transom lights (spec says SMX95 Blue, but can't find that model anywhere online)
4 x Raymarine e165 15.4" multifunction displays
Powered sliding mechanism on both twin cabin beds to make doubles
Crew cabin fit-out ( 2 berth)
Stainless Ultra anchor

There's a whole bunch of other stuff that I won't bore you with, but suffice to say it's a pretty full spec. But it's a spec that in the most part cannot be changed, apart from all the upholstery/fabrics.

Nigelpickin - sounds like you're having fun. As we get nearer the time I'd love to find out more about your experiences.

FARSCO - yes, child-proofing is going to be a challenge! Next year shouldn't be too bad as their is ample room for a playpen on the flybridge and in the saloon. But her safety is a major concern.

Hurricane - 9 years. Wow! I remember your blast to the med well. Impressive pace! Regarding tender I've come to the conclusion based on 4 years in the med and 8 elsewhere that all I really want is safe, dry transport to the shore and back in a fairly lightweight package. Whilst the Novurania looks great it's probably overkill for our requirements. Right now a decent 3.4m RIB with a Torqueedo outboard sounds about right.

Henryf - you are bang on with your comments regarding the 68. I would add the sense of space in the saloon and flybridge is incredible. Also the engine room is pure petrol-head pornography with those gorgeous V12 MANs gleaming away.

MedDreamer & Deleted User - remember the 4 gringos? :D

jfm - great advice as always. I'm not so bothered about the aerial locations though. Fabulous Corsica video. Are you editing these yourself? Nicely done!

MapisM - there isn't really room for a gyro and stabilisers, mainly because the hydraulics pack is so large. In any case, adding a gyro would have to be a retrofit at this stage, so not really an option.

I'll post some pics when I am next at the factory.
 
Magnum said:
MapisM - there isn't really room for a gyro and stabilisers, mainly because the hydraulics pack is so large. In any case, adding a gyro would have to be a retrofit at this stage, so not really an option.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I guess so, with Sleipner (zero speed, I suppose) fin stabs already included in the list, which implies a VFD for driving the 3-phase motor and its hydraulic pump, an expansion tank, etc.
In fact, that's not what I was suggesting.

My comment in reply to jfm was based on the assumption (which of course he can confirm whether it's correct or not - and I'm curious to hear from him, in fact) that his train of thought for a potential new build is as follows:
- plain vanilla fins for under way stabilization, which means no need for VFD+electric motor, additional pump, expansion tank, and smaller fin size AOTBE (i.e. pretty much what I've already got with my 20yo Naiad system, btw! :))
- gyro for zero speed stabilization, just needing the genset running (which would be necessary also with STAR fins anyway), no moving parts when folks are potentially swimming around the boat, no hydraulic valves and pistons noise at night, and good enough stabilization for anchoring needs anyhow.

All that said, it seems that your already half-built vessel had pretty much all you will ever need. So, you can forget any somewhat academic debates about the specs of the ideal boat.
The only thing I would have probably preferred are Cat C18 instead of MANs (mostly for reliability and e/r accessibility, in spite of the couple of knots lower top speed).
But that's just me of course, and I'm green with envy anyway! :cool:

PS: forgot to mention: in your delivery trip, why don't you consider heading straight to Tunisia from Gibraltar (filling up the tanks with very cheap fuel in the process), and then head north along Sardinia and Corsica? I always have some bottles of decent bubbles (and also reds, if you prefer) ready for visitors passing in CF....!
 
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Many congrats - on both fronts!

Looked at the 68 and her bigger sister, the 75 today. Both are fantastic yachts.

RickP, late of this parish, did a similar trip a couple of years ago (well, at least as far as southern Portugal, before turning right) and highly recommended taking the time to bimble down the Western coats of France and Portugal.

Enjoy! :D
 
That sounds a pretty good spec with all the major boxes ticked.

I love the photo :)

Without getting too deep life is all about memories and I'm imagining a similar photo a few years down the line when the bumdle of joy has grown up a bit and isn't so little any more :)

Henry :)
 
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