Princess V40

[NickPurnell]

Hi, new to boating but looking to buy 40 foot boat within next couple of weeks. I've looked at a few new boats, i.e. Cranchi endurance 39 and Sea Ray which were okay but I've fallen for a Princess V40 which is a used boat.
The rough details are
One owner 1998 Shaft Volvo Penta Tam 63's 102 hours. All the usual eg. Climate control, auto trim tabs, full nav pack.etc. Used as day boat, unused beds, cooker, toilet etc. Boat is in excellent condition. Serviced yearly. Cost is 150000 sterling exc tax. I can't find any similar boats to see if this is reasonable or not. Would appreciate some avice.

Thanks in Advance
Nick Purnell

 

[rog]

Click on "buying a boat" above - there seems to be loads of V40s there on brokerage

 

[c_j]

Nick,

Have a look at my post in v40 vs v42 further down the list.

Why do you want Shafts?

Which layout is it Sunbed or Seated Cockpit. Careful if it is the former as they can be difficult to sell on. Also remember the performance reduction you get with Shafts. Ok I appreciate the lower maintainance (maybe) for shafts and the increased manouverablility but flat out at 30 knots when an out drive boat is cruising at 70% revs at 30 knots.

Our V40 (also a 1998 boat) has been brilliant but you could buy a similar outdrive boat for under £150k including tax.


If you are near Poole and would like to have a closer look at a V40 and a chat from a keen owners pont of view then PM me.

CJ
chris@stone.uk.com

www.stone.uk.com

 

[NickPurnell]

Chris
Thanks for the kind offer, but unfortunately or fortunately i'm living in sunny Cyprus at the moment.

The boat is a seated cockpit model.

I had assumed that the extra power of the Volvo Tam 63P which I think is 370 bhp would have outweighed the mechanical losses of shaft drive, is this correct?, and it's the only Princess I could find over here.

I had considered bringing a boat from U.K. but the added transport costs would have outweighed the savings.

Are there any trouble spots I should look out for with this model?.

Thanks in Advance

Nick Purnell

cvexports@yahoo.com

 

[MRC]

Take a trunk in the back of this months mag, from memory I think there was a 2001 V42 for sale at £175k

 

[tcm]

Re: v40 colour

Princess did some really nasty burgundy coloured versions of the v series. The blue is much more attractive. Of course, white the best for Cyprus heatwise.

I haven't had one of these boats but have heard of no particular triouble spots. Poster hereabouts "Piers" has got one, slight perfectionist tendencies, and would have had the entire thing rebuilt if it had caused a moment's trouble. er just remebered think his is burgundy er ....

Princess are my favourite UK boats engineering-wise: the workforce lives next to the sea/ocean and lots of evidence that (espec if you visit for seatrial) they "know" what will work and what won't work. This doesn't apply to others further inland eg Fairline and sealine.

Iffy v series princess things are the kitchens, obviously the seagoing types never cook so the larger v series have blimmin wooden varnished surfaces which is a bit stupid imho - especialy because the flybridge princesses are much more practical with corian/avonite surfaces rather than stupid wood.

 

[c_j]

The V40 is prooving to be a popular boat and I clicked on buying a boat above as suggested in another post recently and there were no V40's available in the right configuration which IMHO is the seated cockpit with Sterndrives. The shaft drive option has its merits these being reduced maintainance and the manuoverability issue assosiated with weight and rudder.

The major downside, and this is reiterated privately by Princess, is that the loss of performance really makes this Sports cruiser better suited to legs.

Princess no longer give the V42 a shaft option.

The figures for shafts are top speed at 30 - 32 and the stern 36 -38

Having owned a sterndrive option for a while and being fairly mechanically sensitive I prefer to cruise at around 3500 revs ( 3900 being flat out) This gives 30 knots. If I were to own a shaft driven boat and used the same formula I would expect around 24 knots.

I have to say that this is not slow but it depends what you want the boat for.

The boat is exciting at 36 knots.

The tradeoff between the two options is practically the same so therefor I would expect not to pay a premium (well not much) for a shaftdrive.

The boat you have seen does sound good though.

A survey will obviously pick up the major things but minor stuff includes
Check blinds on forward cabin hatch and saloon hatch. these tend to break.
check around windows for water.
Confirm autopilot is capable of auto steering and works without deviation (caused by too much gain on rudder)
See deviation card for compass.

Check saloon table for signs of cracking and check helm wheel for shape and any signs of split.

check all vinyl seating for splits at seams and check there is a tonnau and also check full cover for damage. If the cover is not on ask that it be put on whil you are there so as you can see how it goes and check for damage.

There are two types of full cover. the extended back is normal and best but they did offer a reduced cover.

Open all cupboard and draws and make sure they operate correctly, especially draws under foreward cabin bed, and check fridge operates on both 240v and 12v

More importantly make sure you have sight of all documents especially original bill of sale.

Price?

Well I think it is a bit dear (how much is the tax?)

I would have thought that a 1998 sterndrive boat with KAD44's would sell for around 142k and shafts probably £145k on the road so to speak.

There are though not that many about and with a new one at 225k they are I think going to stay fairly strong at the 140-150 mark.

Are you buying private or through broker?

Hope this helps

CJ
chris@stone.uk.com

www.stone.uk.com

 

[c_j]

Oy yes thanks Matt, blue or white, Blue favoured at one time in the UK but as I think all new boats are white then White good too. Avoid other colours( could'nt spell burgandy)

CJ
chris@stone.uk.com

www.stone.uk.com

 

[cfrew]

Piers has a Princess V39
but it still would be worth enquiring as the the two models are very similar.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Apparently, Princess dont reccomend the coloured hull any more 'coz, if you scratch it, the scratches can go thru the coloured gelcoat to the white grp underneath and that looks naff. In addition, when coloured gel coat fades, it goes all sort of chalky which is far less obvious on a white hull
Cant agree on the burgundy hull, though. IMHO, it looks classy because its unusual. Everybody's got white or blue hulls
A couple more points on V40's. Firstly, I understand that the early Mercruiser engined ones are difficult to sell on because the engine/drives are even more dodgy than Volvo and secondly, I once saw one V40 with bulkhead stressing showing through to the outside of the hull although, in fairness, it was an early model with charter history

 

[jfm]

Re: Princess V40 - engines

The TAMD63Ps are solid (very) and reliable. 102 hours is barely run in on them. Max rpm around 2700, cruise at 2250 ish. Heavy old engines, will go for years. Clearly there's a weight penalty, and a drag penalty, but if you do not plan big passage making maybe that's a good trade off against solid/heavy/quiet/low rpm? I would think you should get 1 nm per gall at 2250rpm, and praps 23-24 knots?

If you get it, I'd be interested to know if auto trim tabs any good, and if the autopilot can respond fast enough, or do you snake all over the place!

 

[NickPurnell]

With the engines that this boat has on shafts, which give total of 740 BHP, and the KAD 44 on Stern drive, producing total of 520 BHP is this enough extra to outweigh the mechanical losses to bring the relative cruising speeds back to equal.

It may seem a stupid question, but being new to this game I don't know how much power is lost on shafts.

P.S. thanks to everyone for your replys.

Nick Purnell

cvexports@yahoo.com

 

[tcm]

740 sounds a nice lot. we had a 11-12 tons 48foot boat with 830 total on shafts, good for 30 knots or more when clean.

So, it's not going to be in the least bit turgidly crap, imho.

In favour of shafts, there's no gearbox hanging out the back of the boat, and handling is loads easier. If you want to go really fast, prasp don't buy a boat with sinks, bogs and carpet. I wdn't buy a sterndrive boat if poss.

 

[c_j]

As previous post about 31 knots max on shafts and about 38 knots max on legs.
Yes I Know it seems crazy but the engines are probably twice as heavy for a start.
The 63's are real engines, not the cut down lightweight 4.6 litre kad44's. Ok so I have 44's but if you don't thrash the hell out of them they seem to go on.

The only downside of having shafts is the performance.

If that is not a problem buy it.

If it is look for similar on legs. You have the right boat just maybe not the right model.

I would feel much happier pushing a Volvo 63 flat out than I would the "racier" 44's and therefore you would get 30 knots albeit at some extra fuel cost.

Do you have kids?

They like the power of our boat and we dont get Targa 34's taking the p**s

The additonal cost of those 63's on shafts added £30k to the new price so value wise you have a bargain.

Give the engines a good run on trial. Lightly used boats can be more trouble than more regularly used boats.

I have considered trading up to a v42 on shafts if I could find one at the right price as the speed issue no longer bothers me.

Good luck

CJ
chris@stone.uk.com

www.stone.uk.com

 

[c_j]

With a boat of this type performance is so important. At this size sterndrives are at their limit but still preffered by most manufacturers. No one should be advised to buy the lower power option if it were available, for instance up until 99 kad 42's were also an option at 460 hp. I have never seen one. By the same token the V40 Shaftdriven is a bit stately and although the flybridge brigade dont mind trundling along at 27 knots flat out it is generraly not what is required on a sports cruiser.

I accept and agree with all of the shaft drive pros but there is some grey area between fun on a sports cruiser with bog carpets bed etc. and buying an avon jet boat.




CJ
chris@stone.uk.com

www.stone.uk.com

 

[tcm]

tsk tsk, UK boaters

I guessed you were based in the UK. In the med, all that zooming around is taken straight of your system, for three reasons.

1) It's nice everywhere, not justy at a few little anchorages
2) The juice costs three times as much
3) However fast you can go, there's also something quicker. A lot quicker.

So, since it's a zillion times cheaper, may as well have a drink and er stop here for a swim and then go to one of those nineteen restaurants on the beach for lunch, rather than all that blamming around

 

[NickPurnell]

Thanks to all

Thanks guys for sharing your thoughts with me.

You've given me enough information to make a decision.

I've posted on a few other forums, different subjects, but the qty of replys here has kinda of surprised me. Perhaps people aint so bad after all.

Thanks again.

P.S. My buisness is supplying new cars to U.K. normally quantities of 30 to 40 at a time, but if anyone is looking for a good deal on a new car I'll make an exception and supply single vehicles if required. Also if you're coming to Cyprus give us a call, I or one of my employees can probably arrange some deals on car hire, hotels etc. Cyprus is definately a place of not what you know but who. And everyone's bloody related.

 

[NickPurnell]

P.P.S.

Diesel is only 17 pence per litre in Cyprus, the sea is clear and the sun allways shines