SIBS.A few observations.

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oldgit

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 Nov 2001
Messages
29,186
Location
Medway
Visit site
Park at leisure centre.5.00 per day.
Long wait to view new Fairline 48.Fairline claim 2 year wait and that some italian design input has improved interior.
Nice lunch at Italian up by Red Funnel dock.
No headroom and no internal helm on Broom.Are all Broom owners 5ft tall and only boat in summer.
Nimbus.Cramped below decks,esp access to forecabin ,would suit Hobbit.Similar sized Sealine shows how it should be done.
Best suprise,amount of boat you get for money.The Succes 38*.
*and you can stand up in it
 
First thing we did was to go and stand for a few mins at the very decorative board outside the try-a-boat tent and look down the list of stuff you could go on.
As a clue even the old tosh at the bottom of the list that even a desperate 10 year old would turn his nose up at ie.teeth clenching ribs and stuff was all booked up 30secs after the show opened.
Mind you did see a boat plastered with YBM decals flying up and down the water but curiously never seemed to come anywhere close enough to pontoons to pick up any passengers.
 
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Mind you did see a boat plastered with YBM decals flying up and down the water but curiously never seemed to come anywhere close enough to pontoons to pick up any passengers.

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Oh but it did Fred. It was the Benateau Flyer12 with IPS drives. It was doing 6 runs a day - in fact did 8. Was part of the Try A Boat. Each run was fully booked. Calm Voyager was also operating from the same berth down by the Lifeboat
 
The Fairline P48 was a huge disapointment - the stateroom doors too narrow, MFI look to the accomodation. Master suite too small and basic!

Flybridge was fab - best I've seen for size.


But, Fairline stand utterly crap as per usual - 3 boat onwners of 40-45fts left waiting for 1/2hr to visit.....utter nonsense - and we had a VIP invite.......

I'm not impressed esp. after the 'Squadi Boat Show' at Puerto Solento last w/e. This was brand management done well IMHO.

S68 - wonderful.
 
You did better than me. I gave up and didnt get to see the 48. I do have some sympathy for the exhibitors... but... the Fairline sales team knew I was a serious punter and was looking to go up from the Princess 42. If it was my sales team missing the chance to nick a customer from the opposition then I wouldnt be happy at all. I would never have let me leave the pontoon!

I know Im biased, but the Princess crew couldnt do enough and made sure I got to see what I wanted.

Is the order book for the 48 full already? Perhaps they dont have to try too hard.
 
While loitering on the Fairline pontoon,carrying out my appointed task of looking after the coats and handbags of my companions and waiting for them to finish looking over the 48.Wife said that it was very squeezy down below.It was very obvious that Fairline were constantly turning away a fair number of would be viewers of the boat because apparently were far to many people on the boat already.Several folks brazenly brandishing their VIP tags fared no better than ordinary plebs. Popping on to other boats during our visit at lunch time proved easy and staff were helpful and chatty.Was going to stay a lot longer but lunch lasted a bit longer than expected.
 
All stuff booked very quickly.Fine if you live local and are able to get to the SIBS front door at crack of dawn.Cannot remember ever arriving at try- ride and seeing anything available.Did get on to Rodman once /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif but only cos friend of a friend etc.
Maybe bookings only taken up to lunch time and then start booking again at 1PM for afternoon arrivals coming from the rest of the universe.?
 
P48

Well we got on the P48 straightaway. You've either got it or you have'nt /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Agree with you on the doors. Narrow doors seem to be a Fairline thing, it was the same on our Targa 48. Maybe they dont pay their designers enough to eat properly. Otherwise, we thought it was a bit of a quart into a pint pot type boat and some of the finish looked a bit penny pinching. Still, I expect they'll sell loads but based on this evidence, we think the midships owners cabin design only works on 50ft+ boats, the Sunseeker Manhattan 50 being a good example
 
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Best suprise,amount of boat you get for money.The Succes 38*

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Come on then tell us more. 'Don't know this one /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif - Pictures? and what did it for you? The value and surprise bits, that is.
 
The Succes 38 is a sort of grown up dutch steel Pedro.It has a proper workman like practical interior that does not involve acres of white carpet, and "instant scratch" shiney trim cappings and door veneer.It has decks that you can walk around without out the need to cling on the handrails for dear life or having the skills of a mountain goat.It has a single economical engine that will get you to your destination without single handedly bringing global warming forward by 10 years*.
It will still be looking up to date and not out of fashion in a whole six months time. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
The Sealine was a 34 and the nimbus was about 35 feet long.
*Fairline recommend 1300HP for the F48.
 
Although most here seem to have found no problems getting onto most boats we had no hit list and there were one or two which we passed on the pontoons which had no viewers as the helicopter demos were underway, which we might have looked over but the salesmen showed no signs of wanting people on their boats.

Saw the Fairline something or other rolling like a pig from the wash of the lifeboat and the salesman desperately acting as a human stabiliser. Bad business to suffer an alongside capsize.

Best part of the day - talking to a real engineer on the Mermaid Marine stand. No hard sell and plenty of practical observations on engines. Worst part - superheated coffee.

We discovered the best boat for us after visiting SIBS - and thankfully we already own her. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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