henryf
Well-Known Member
Boat show 2015
A bit of a ramble so I thought I'd start a new thread rather than sink the current SIB one.
The weather was superb which helped and we had a superb run from Haslar to Ocean Village on Friday to get us in the mood for a smorgasbord of all things boating. The staff at Ocean Village couldn't do enough to help as usual.
On Friday night we had the annual Sealine dinner which has morphed into a general motor boat evening. A few friends from the forum, Richard Shead - Motor Boat & Yachting royalty and all the usual suspects were in attendance. A couple of small beers, a bite to eat and thanks to a master class in blagging freebies from suppliers and the amazing generosity of those in attendance young Libby is getting a much needed lift installed in her house. Top banana
So to the show it's self. I have long been a champion of Princess and right across the range I think they are on fire at the moment. Their use of internal space is superb. In a couple of areas our priorities might be at odds, mainly kitchen storage and engine room access to service parts but their flat floors, high ceilings and acres of windows are amazing. On the engine access point there is a glimmer of hope. The new S65 had excellent access around the engines thanks to air conditioning compressors and other ancillary items being installed in a port side lazaret. In fact the whole boat appealed greatly. I suspect it will sell extremely well. A possible contender for the future.....
So what of the opposition? Fairline launched their new 53 foot range with the Targa 53GT. I had been looking forward to this since my meeting with senior Fairline staff at the British boat builders show in Swanwick. As a 50 foot owner and with the Princess 52 a weak link in the chain for us we are a prime target. It's such a shame but the Fairline designers have, in my humble opinion failed spectacularly. Big steps everywhere to combat height change, a wasted area behind the helm position and a master cabin that requires you to get down on all fours to squash yourself onto the bed. The roofline is at chin height right across the cabin well forward of the bed. They need to fundamentally sort out interior space before worrying about styling. Sadly these mistakes are endemic throughout much of the range.
The irony of the "Fairline launches the Targa 53GT for boat owners who refuse to compromise" strap line wasn't lost on me. Something drastic needs to happen at Fairline and fast. I get the feeling the designers have never stepped foot on a boat let alone spent the week on one.
Looking ahead a few years when work commitments reduce Nordhavn and Fleming had a boat apiece for serious passage makers. Nordhavn are legendary when it comes to crossing oceans. Visually they aren't everyone's cup of tea but I quite like their workman like rugged looks. What I struggle with however is the feeling of being in a rabbit warren inside. The cabins were a myriad of different shapes and sizes at various levels to fit into the available space. Engineered rather than designed the interior lacked any aesthetic finesse. Next to the Targa 53 the Nordhavn was the disappointment of the show for me and killed a dream.
Fleming on the other hand exuded class and style. Everywhere you turned there were delicious materials with practical features almost hidden within a slightly Asian feeling oasis of calm. I couldn't access the mechanical spaces and crew quarters but can't imagine there was much to complain about in there. If I was being picky the split level flybridge wasn't entirely to my liking as you looked through a small gap onto the lower level roof but a first world problem on a first class boat.
I had a pleasant 45 minutes on the Sunseeker stand Sunday morning before the crowds arrived. The 75 Yacht left a lasting impression at the British show, Swanwick. I thought the engine room was well laid out compared to Princess with easy access to everything although the helm position left me wondering how you would use things like the chart plotter on the go. I'm also not a fan of he spiral staircase. I'd like to see the designers carrying all our 14 year olds clobber up and down there without destroying the walls. The Manhattan 65 definitely keeps the Princess 68 on her toes but that Princess S65..... Thanks to Sunseeker Torquay for chewing the fat.
As a former champion of the Princess open boat policy it hurts me to type that they failed most spectacularly this year. Having been invited to the show by Princess, shown well polished hospitality - come on, who wouldn't be impressed with the Princess logo on top of their coffee and even driven back to our boat in Ocean Village by them being refused entry onto an empty P68 rather defeated the object of my being there.
I have no problem at all in waiting for a crowded boat to empty but to routinely ask, "do you have an appointment! could you come back in 50 minutes when there was no one on board seems a little silly. Senior members of the sales team were embarrassed when it happened again later on in the day, possibly a solution can be found for future shows.
The weather was superb so it was ironic that everyone we spoke to seemed to be talking about moving their boats away from the UK. Time will tell if it happens and we all know who the various champions are on here for their respective countries if advice is needed. I've always had my eye on the Far East and a long conversation on the Princess stand did little to dissuade me. Realistically I think we are a couple of years off but one of the key decisions is what type of boat to use.
I had always assumed we would move away from planing to semi / displacement but after that chat I'm not sure. In Thailand / Malaysia / Singapore there is a very strong argument for planing hulls. What's that? Princess have just launched a new S65 that would fit in like a glove....
All in all a very upbeat feel to the show this year. I spent a lot of time on boats and didn't really scratch the surface never venturing over the bridge from the pontoon area. In fact we never even went inside any of the tents. I had a coupe of specific people to talk to in relation to equipment - incidentally the Seabob F5 which JFM was championing recently seemed to be selling in steady numbers as were the Gocycles which I love but am too mean to buy the 3 we need.
Thanks to Princess for Saturdays tickets and Dean & Reddyhoff for Sundays.
Henry
A bit of a ramble so I thought I'd start a new thread rather than sink the current SIB one.
The weather was superb which helped and we had a superb run from Haslar to Ocean Village on Friday to get us in the mood for a smorgasbord of all things boating. The staff at Ocean Village couldn't do enough to help as usual.
On Friday night we had the annual Sealine dinner which has morphed into a general motor boat evening. A few friends from the forum, Richard Shead - Motor Boat & Yachting royalty and all the usual suspects were in attendance. A couple of small beers, a bite to eat and thanks to a master class in blagging freebies from suppliers and the amazing generosity of those in attendance young Libby is getting a much needed lift installed in her house. Top banana
So to the show it's self. I have long been a champion of Princess and right across the range I think they are on fire at the moment. Their use of internal space is superb. In a couple of areas our priorities might be at odds, mainly kitchen storage and engine room access to service parts but their flat floors, high ceilings and acres of windows are amazing. On the engine access point there is a glimmer of hope. The new S65 had excellent access around the engines thanks to air conditioning compressors and other ancillary items being installed in a port side lazaret. In fact the whole boat appealed greatly. I suspect it will sell extremely well. A possible contender for the future.....
So what of the opposition? Fairline launched their new 53 foot range with the Targa 53GT. I had been looking forward to this since my meeting with senior Fairline staff at the British boat builders show in Swanwick. As a 50 foot owner and with the Princess 52 a weak link in the chain for us we are a prime target. It's such a shame but the Fairline designers have, in my humble opinion failed spectacularly. Big steps everywhere to combat height change, a wasted area behind the helm position and a master cabin that requires you to get down on all fours to squash yourself onto the bed. The roofline is at chin height right across the cabin well forward of the bed. They need to fundamentally sort out interior space before worrying about styling. Sadly these mistakes are endemic throughout much of the range.
The irony of the "Fairline launches the Targa 53GT for boat owners who refuse to compromise" strap line wasn't lost on me. Something drastic needs to happen at Fairline and fast. I get the feeling the designers have never stepped foot on a boat let alone spent the week on one.
Looking ahead a few years when work commitments reduce Nordhavn and Fleming had a boat apiece for serious passage makers. Nordhavn are legendary when it comes to crossing oceans. Visually they aren't everyone's cup of tea but I quite like their workman like rugged looks. What I struggle with however is the feeling of being in a rabbit warren inside. The cabins were a myriad of different shapes and sizes at various levels to fit into the available space. Engineered rather than designed the interior lacked any aesthetic finesse. Next to the Targa 53 the Nordhavn was the disappointment of the show for me and killed a dream.
Fleming on the other hand exuded class and style. Everywhere you turned there were delicious materials with practical features almost hidden within a slightly Asian feeling oasis of calm. I couldn't access the mechanical spaces and crew quarters but can't imagine there was much to complain about in there. If I was being picky the split level flybridge wasn't entirely to my liking as you looked through a small gap onto the lower level roof but a first world problem on a first class boat.
I had a pleasant 45 minutes on the Sunseeker stand Sunday morning before the crowds arrived. The 75 Yacht left a lasting impression at the British show, Swanwick. I thought the engine room was well laid out compared to Princess with easy access to everything although the helm position left me wondering how you would use things like the chart plotter on the go. I'm also not a fan of he spiral staircase. I'd like to see the designers carrying all our 14 year olds clobber up and down there without destroying the walls. The Manhattan 65 definitely keeps the Princess 68 on her toes but that Princess S65..... Thanks to Sunseeker Torquay for chewing the fat.
As a former champion of the Princess open boat policy it hurts me to type that they failed most spectacularly this year. Having been invited to the show by Princess, shown well polished hospitality - come on, who wouldn't be impressed with the Princess logo on top of their coffee and even driven back to our boat in Ocean Village by them being refused entry onto an empty P68 rather defeated the object of my being there.
I have no problem at all in waiting for a crowded boat to empty but to routinely ask, "do you have an appointment! could you come back in 50 minutes when there was no one on board seems a little silly. Senior members of the sales team were embarrassed when it happened again later on in the day, possibly a solution can be found for future shows.
The weather was superb so it was ironic that everyone we spoke to seemed to be talking about moving their boats away from the UK. Time will tell if it happens and we all know who the various champions are on here for their respective countries if advice is needed. I've always had my eye on the Far East and a long conversation on the Princess stand did little to dissuade me. Realistically I think we are a couple of years off but one of the key decisions is what type of boat to use.
I had always assumed we would move away from planing to semi / displacement but after that chat I'm not sure. In Thailand / Malaysia / Singapore there is a very strong argument for planing hulls. What's that? Princess have just launched a new S65 that would fit in like a glove....
All in all a very upbeat feel to the show this year. I spent a lot of time on boats and didn't really scratch the surface never venturing over the bridge from the pontoon area. In fact we never even went inside any of the tents. I had a coupe of specific people to talk to in relation to equipment - incidentally the Seabob F5 which JFM was championing recently seemed to be selling in steady numbers as were the Gocycles which I love but am too mean to buy the 3 we need.
Thanks to Princess for Saturdays tickets and Dean & Reddyhoff for Sundays.
Henry
Last edited:
