Princess P68 flybridge review

[MAFWeiss]

I don't know what airco power is fitted and it isn't stated in the brochure but Princess will not have overspecced the airco and therefore 60 amps might run it, in which case you don't need a glendinning. (I'd warn anyone considering buying a boat with so much glass that if the airco really does work on 60 amps with all the other ship loads then it might be underspecced).

Reverse Cycle Aircondtioning/Heating : (94,000 BTU))
Suitable for ambient temperature to 40°C (e.g. Tropical)
Condensing unit 36,000BTU supplying 3 x 12,000BTU outlets in
Galley/Dinette (with SMX control)
Condensing unit 24,000BTU supplying 24,000BTU outlets in Saloon &
Helm areas (with SMX control)
Condensing unit 12,000BTU supplying 2 x 6000BTU outlets in Master
Stateroom (with SMX control)
Condensing unit 6,000BTU supplying 6,000BTU unit in Stbd cabin (with
SMX control)
Condensing unit 6,000BTU supplying 6,000BTU unit in Port cabin (with
SMX control)
Condensing unit 10,000BTU supplying 10,000BTU outlet in Forward
Cabin (with SMX control)
This also includes outlets in bathrooms

Recommended Generator : 19kW (N.B. this has sufficient capacity for
gyro or fin stabilisers as well as air-conditioning)

The above priced at, inc Gen upgrade, at £36k inv VAT

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

(I'd warn anyone considering buying a boat with so much glass that if the airco really does work on 60 amps with all the other ship loads then it might be underspecced).

Yup thats a very good point. With the current fashion for open plan saloons and massive glass areas, the aircon is going to struggle so anybody considering a new boat like this might also want to consider the tropical spec aircon rather than the Med spec. My boat is a 63A boat as jfm puts it. This year hasn't been a hot year in the Med but if we had had a hot year like we have had in the past, I've got a feeling that the saloon aircon might have been pretty useless

 

[MapisM]

Recommended Generator : 19kW (N.B. this has sufficient capacity for gyro or fin stabilisers as well as air-conditioning)

Waddumean by genset capacity "for fin stabilisers", is the P68 available with fully electric fin stabs?
Or does the genset drive either a PTO hydraulic pump, or an electric motor connected to the hydraulic pump?

 

[MAFWeiss]

Waddumean by genset capacity "for fin stabilisers",

that was copied directly from their price list. to my knowledge, the current option is solely for a seakeeper 16 gyro

 

[jfm]

Waddumean by genset capacity "for fin stabilisers", is the P68 available with fully electric fin stabs?
Or does the genset drive either a PTO hydraulic pump, or an electric motor connected to the hydraulic pump?

No, Princess are not fitting CMC electric stabs. The genset therefore drives an electric hydraulic pump for fins, or a gyro

 

[jfm]

Reverse Cycle Aircondtioning/Heating : (94,000 BTU))
Suitable for ambient temperature to 40°C (e.g. Tropical)
Condensing unit 36,000BTU supplying 3 x 12,000BTU outlets in
Galley/Dinette (with SMX control)
Condensing unit 24,000BTU supplying 24,000BTU outlets in Saloon &
Helm areas (with SMX control)
Condensing unit 12,000BTU supplying 2 x 6000BTU outlets in Master
Stateroom (with SMX control)
Condensing unit 6,000BTU supplying 6,000BTU unit in Stbd cabin (with
SMX control)
Condensing unit 6,000BTU supplying 6,000BTU unit in Port cabin (with
SMX control)
Condensing unit 10,000BTU supplying 10,000BTU outlet in Forward
Cabin (with SMX control)
This also includes outlets in bathrooms

Recommended Generator : 19kW (N.B. this has sufficient capacity for
gyro or fin stabilisers as well as air-conditioning)

The above priced at, inc Gen upgrade, at £36k inv VAT

MAFW, that £2.3m price is eye wateringly expensive, even with a guessed 300k off. Sheesh. You can have the next category upwards of boat from other builders for that

The aircon power of 94k btu/hr is good. Not brilliant, but good. My boat is bigger, but only lightly, and it has less glass, and has 136k BTU/hr from 2x 60k chillers and 1 x 16k for the crew cabin, and often I only use one 60k btu/hr chiller

The bit I don't like, if I'm reading it correctly, is that there are 6 separate chillers. Where's the sense in that? Much better to have 2 or 3 central chillers serving all areas. This gives you back up and you can run just one of them serving all areas when hot but not scorching, and when on weak shorepower. Still this isn't a very big deal, and isn't a reason not to buy the boat. It's just a bit annoying - this is what you find with Princess and it is worth checking their tech build spec very carefully before signing the order. The design and spaces are fantastic but under the skin you find a lot of engineering annoyances (eg, a 272 litre black tank will fill rather quickly with 8 people+ crew on board...). I wouldn't mind if the pricing were tight but at £2m there isn't much excuse for cutting corners on a 68 footer