PrinFairSeeker... do they have a long-term viable business model

[PowerYachtBlog]

I think the make this argument make sense one has to look at two big boat economics scenarios; Europe and USA and how different they are.

Europe is at the moment (since a decade or more) a very expensive environment, expensive marinas, super taxed fuel, and everything is double in price to what is in USA. That is why in EU 50 footers (esp in the Med) sell nearly the same as a thirty in number of units.

USA is on the other hand very different, there is a cheap to use and run boating mentality especially sub thirty feet, and people indeed buy a boat instead of buying the latest SUV. Unfortunatly we do not have much of this in EU (minus may be I heard Scandinavia, where this seems to exist a lot)
OTOH this mentality has backfired to some of the builders where they make boats up to a certain length usually about 50ft, because the lower sizes keeps them busy a lot and the client that comes from the bow-rider usually has its limit up to that size.
It is very interesting how some US builders rarely venture over this size (50 feet), and leave most of it to the European builders, or the sportfisherman market.

 

[MapisM]

Is it people are getting 'more interested' in stabilisers or is it that there are more stabiliser options available for smaller boats at lower costs

Much more the first than the latter, imho.
Sticking big fins at the bottom of a 30+ knots hulls is not something anyone in his right mind would do just because there's a box which they can tick on the options list, unless they plan to use the boat at slow speed for a significant amount of time.
True, the zero speed option is attractive also for those who are not interested at all in pootling, but for those who want to cruise always at P speed and are interested also in stabilization at anchor, gyros are a better compromise.
That aside, I mentioned stabs just as an example.
In fact, we have read about pootling also from folks whose P boat have no stabs at all, like Deleted User and Hurricane...

All that said, I don't disagree with your conclusion...

if I were Princess, I don't think I'd be looking to get into a completely different concept of boat just yet, nor see a need for loss leader 30 footers.

...but for radically different reasons than yours. In fact, if I were Mr.Princess, I would simply look for an exit strategy, rather sooner than later.
See, there are more radical reasons why even Princess, which is arguably the most successful UK builder, will struggle to survive in the long run:
1) they are too small;
2) they build in the UK, which means that they can't be competitive on costs.
And you can think what you wish about yesterday or the day before, but the reality of today (and more than likely also of tomorrow, though as usually I can predict anything but the future) is that Benetti, Lürssen, CRN and so forth, they are all much more careful on costs control than in the past.
So, for anyone who think to survive in this industry just because "they have already seen it happening", I can only think of two words: good luck.

 

[henryf]

Henry - we would nave guess you are a Princess owner!

I am but I look with very open and unbiased eyes at the shows. If someone else produced a better boat and offered a better package in terms of support I would have no qualms in buying it. I am also fortunate in being able to sell things and have my feet on the ground when it comes to prices so I can avoid the trap of having to go back to Princess because they are the only people who will take my boat in p/x. The current boat was purchased having first sold my previous boat outright.

I agree with you that the Sunseekers seem cramped inside relative to their size, having said that the 40 metre Sunseeker I am currently moored next to is of sufficient size and volume that it will be plenty big enough and that's the sort of size where Sunseeker make their money. Incidentally if that market is about to dry up there's no sign of that here in Poole this morning. Two 40 metre Sunseekers and a rather splendid 45 metre yacht that pulled in last night having called up an hour before hand

We recently attended (as I suspect you did) the British boat builders show at Swanwick which offered a superb opportunity to compared all 3 products back to back. I was there for 2 days and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. The Squadron 60 was a master class in creating steps, some of them almost impossible to negotiate. The step from the toilet off the stairs to the passage leading to the front cabin could be an Olympic sport

Compare that to the Princess 60 which is very flat throughout the accommodation and seems bigger as you walk around through doors etc.

JFM's Squadron 78 last year showed just what Fairline can achieve with a suitably skilled owner, a superb machine which fits the owners needs like a glove. To me that seems their sweet spot but as you say they can't go bigger and exploit the 30-40 metre market as Princess have done and Sunseeker have been doing for some time.

The styling differences between Princess and Sunseeker are quite significant. I have my preferences but they are just that, personal preferences so not worth commenting on.

Finally I would agree Fairline are seemingly more generous in negotiations but for me at the size we will buy next that probably wouldn't make any difference. You have to want something to buy it. As for key rings we have done well and have several floating blue crowns kicking around. I guess we've just been lucky. There is also a risk that über deals are only masking an inflated RRP and that may come back to bite at some point in the upgrade cycle. Of course the truth is no one really knows how much boats are actually worth but don't get me started.....

Buying is all about people and relationships, sometimes it just doesn't click. I genuinely wish you well with your purchase and really look forward to seeing progress shots of the build as well as the finished article. Just for the record we have owned 2 Fairlines as well as the last 2 Princess boats.

I post this not to point score between brands but to hopefully qualify my earlier post. Sorry for the delay in posting. A busy weekend.

Henry

 

[bumpy_the_dog]

With a tiny tiny number of boats.

There are nearly twice as many people in British prisons as there are berth holders in British coastal marinas...but of course the two groups may overlap.