Princess V52 - 1st Pics

Smooth Sailing said:
Will definitely post pics of the boat once the lights are fitted ! Ended up ordering 3 x-72s. I notice that Princess can at times be accommodative ie fitting the zf joystick system on my Cat 715 but at times they are very rigid and not able to fix the lumishores !

Btw have you ever seen the targa 50 / squadron 50 and how do you think they compare to the v52 / princess 50?
Click to expand...

I had a good look round the Squadron 50 at this year's Southampton Boat show.

We are looking to move up to something around that size as and when one gets taken into stock as a part exchange. Although we bought the P42 new I think we'll have to get the next one second hand or as a well used demo!

I was a bit surprised by the Squadron 50. We've owned Fairlines in the past so have no problem with them as a builder per se, but I wouldn't buy a Squadron 50. I think they are trying too hard to be different and it just doesn't work. The rear cleats for instance are hidden behind plastic covers, they are unusable. The cabin layout is the same as a sports boat with the main cabin up front, no magic of that full width owner's suite. The flybridge layout requires everyone other than the skipper to recline on a bed rather than sit properly and there seems to be no protection at all from the flybridge front screen.

Going down from the saloon area to the bedroom you are faced with a wall and have to make a 90 degree turn, you're going to curse that as you carry bags down there. The Walls will get knackered. And so the list goes on. Oh, and the crew cabin is appalling if you need one.

When the old 48 was launched I think Fairline had a ground breaking product. Now I think their boats are designed by stylists who have never once set out on a voyage. They need to shut up shop for a month and have all the designers go off and use their creations.

Incidentally we were nearly in Singapore this Christmas, but ended up in Thailand instead :)

Henry :)
 
Meant to add saw a V52 leaving Cowes this afternoon and it looked stunning. It had the extended canopies (may have been the same boat we saw in Weymouth).

You asked about the extended canopies. They come out horizontally from the radar arch to extend headroom rather than just angle down from the radar arch to the transom.

Henry :)
 
henryf said:
I had a good look round the Squadron 50 at this year's Southampton Boat show.

We are looking to move up to something around that size as and when one gets taken into stock as a part exchange. Although we bought the P42 new I think we'll have to get the next one second hand or as a well used demo!

I was a bit surprised by the Squadron 50. We've owned Fairlines in the past so have no problem with them as a builder per se, but I wouldn't buy a Squadron 50. I think they are trying too hard to be different and it just doesn't work. The rear cleats for instance are hidden behind plastic covers, they are unusable. The cabin layout is the same as a sports boat with the main cabin up front, no magic of that full width owner's suite. The flybridge layout requires everyone other than the skipper to recline on a bed rather than sit properly and there seems to be no protection at all from the flybridge front screen.

Going down from the saloon area to the bedroom you are faced with a wall and have to make a 90 degree turn, you're going to curse that as you carry bags down there. The Walls will get knackered. And so the list goes on. Oh, and the crew cabin is appalling if you need one.

When the old 48 was launched I think Fairline had a ground breaking product. Now I think their boats are designed by stylists who have never once set out on a voyage. They need to shut up shop for a month and have all the designers go off and use their creations.

Incidentally we were nearly in Singapore this Christmas, but ended up in Thailand instead :)

Henry :)
Click to expand...

I totally agree with everything you have said. I was very disappointed with the Squadron 50, a step backwards in my opinion. I also cannot understand why nearly all larger flybridge boats do not build with an internal staircase. i feel these are essential. Do designers not go boating ???
 
henryf said:
Meant to add saw a V52 leaving Cowes this afternoon and it looked stunning. It had the extended canopies (may have been the same boat we saw in Weymouth).

You asked about the extended canopies. They come out horizontally from the radar arch to extend headroom rather than just angle down from the radar arch to the transom.

Henry :)
Click to expand...

Hi Henry,

It seems that i had similar views when I initially compared between the P50 and Sq50. My previous boat was a Riviera 45 and my wife decided to go for a flybridge instead hence we decided to look at the P50, Sq50 and Azimut 47,(now the 48).

No doubt the Azimut looks amazing but the euro being so strong worked against it. Also it seemed that the Princess and FR dealer were more willing to do a "deal".

The P50 Mk3 is an amazing boat but the pricing seemed that it was about gbp60-70k more than Sq50 which was quite puzzling. If I can recollect the retail base boat price ex vat for a sq50 is about gbp 540k compared to gbp600k for a p50. My dealer then introduced me to the v52 which was priced just below the p50 and it was a brand new boat with a good deal hence we took that.Although the beam is slightly smaller I liked the v52 hi-lo bathing platform instead of the hydraulic passarelle.

I heard from the rumor mill that princess is looking at a new P 52-53 to compete against the Sunseeker 53.

Good luck in your search for a P50!

Btw my boat will be in Phuket over Xmas. Not sure if you will be in Phuket as well. You may want to re-look at your Xmas trip as Bangkok's flooding looks like it will last for awhile.

Cheers
 
djefabs said:
I totally agree with everything you have said. I was very disappointed with the Squadron 50, a step backwards in my opinion. I also cannot understand why nearly all larger flybridge boats do not build with an internal staircase. i feel these are essential. Do designers not go boating ???
Click to expand...

Btw are there any 52-53 flybridge boats with internal staircase? The convertible yachts have internal staircase starting at the 50 ft range !
 
henryf said:
Meant to add saw a V52 leaving Cowes this afternoon and it looked stunning. It had the extended canopies (may have been the same boat we saw in Weymouth).

You asked about the extended canopies. They come out horizontally from the radar arch to extend headroom rather than just angle down from the radar arch to the transom.

Henry :)
Click to expand...
I think that's the one based next door to you in Gosport.

He used to have a S/S sports and was about to go Flybridge with a M50 secondhand and ended up with a early brand new V52

Concur you have to have the radar arch extention
 
V52 in Singapore

Dear Smooth Sailing. I sent you some questions regarding your V52 and the JMS. I no longer need the answer as I have Seatrialed your vessel (ironically) before it was to be shipped. I decided to take the trip from W Coast of Canada to UK. As a previous Princess owner, Sunseeker owner and captain, I can tell you you will be incredibly happy with the boat. Very Very nice. Rides like our ski boat, visibility is fantastic and the heavy water is shredded nicely by the deep V. I toured the factory and they are definitely one of the highest quality, vertically integrated boat builders on the planet. You will not see much of the quality that is built into the boat as it is through design and their processes. You will be happy with the JMS system but do not compare it to the Twin Disc transmission that will be mated with the CATs shortly. There is still the definite ZF "clunk" as the clutch drops in...even with the trolling valves installed. It works well though (we tested in 20-30 knots and it worked). This is a step up from your Riv.! Needless to say I wrote a check too.

Cheers and Smooth Sailing
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top