The new Fairline Squadron 58

[henryf]

I’m surprised there hasn’t been a sea of traffic covering the new Squadron 58, we saw it over the weekend so here goes…

My first decent sized boat was a Fairline and our first flybridge was also a Fairline so I’ve got a soft spot for the brand. In the mid 50 foot category though they simply couldn’t compete with Princess or Sunseeker when it came to internal volume. The Princess F55 and Manhattan 55 left the Fairline Squadron 53 standing so it was never on our radar. However all that could be about to change because there’s a new kid in town who goes by the name of Fairline Squadron 58, and I got my first skin on skin contact at the Southampton boat show.



We ordered a new Princess F55 at Southampton in 2021 and took delivery at the start of this year. I woke up on the boat, had a shower on the boat, made toast on the boat and set off to the show from the boat so in terms of mid 50 foot boating I was in the zone.

 

[henryf]

Images

 

[henryf]

We’d seen plans for the Squadron 58 at Düsseldorf earlier in the year so were moist to experience it. My first thoughts were that the fold down cockpit sides were going to be too fussy so I was primed to dislike them. The reality is they give a cockpit almost the same size as a Princess Y85 as I was reminded by no less than 5 people wearing Fairline apparel. There is no denying the Squaddie 58 gives good cockpit. If you want a class winning cockpit stop reading now and get that deposit down, just make sure you tick the £150,000 folding sides box though because they aren’t a standard fit. The boat we were looking at was a staggering £2.4 plus Vat, a million pounds dearer than the Princess F55 I woke up on earlier in the day.



Going off script and ignoring the cockpit which is almost the same size as a Princess Y85 I’m going to look at some of the other aspects of the boat. It was soaking wet so whilst we had our shoes on we ventured down the side decks to the front end. With the sides up it might be a tight squeeze initially and further forwards I felt very exposed. Unlike the F55 there were no hand rails and the stanchion / pulpit rails only just covered my shins. One of the joys of the new Princess is the comfort and safety derived from higher rails that extend further aft. The modern must have bow seating needs good safe access particularly when carrying drinks or food.

 

[henryf]

I felt similarly exposed on the flybridge, the helm position was way above the screen dodge and the flybridge steps were very steep and demanded concentration. We went inside.

There’s a good sized aft galley, I’m now a convert of the aft galley providing you get a full height fridge freezer and the 58 delivers in this must have regard. The saloon however feels cramped which is odd because the 58 is 4 inches wider than our F55 and get the saloon felt cramped whilst the side decks were also narrower. The Fairline feels 18 inches or more narrower and yet its 4 inches wider. Very strange.

The lower helm position is high, very high. Mrs Henry F could barely see over the steering wheel standing up and at 6 foot 2 I would need to reach backwards and hitch myself up onto the helm seat.

The stairs down to the lower accommodation felt steep and narrow. Master cabin is good enough although all the showers feel very tight. The master ensuite also has a normal opening door which clashes with the door into the bedroom. That high gloss cherry is going to get damaged pretty quickly.

The third cabin is also very narrow, once again I find myself scratching my head wondering where the 4 inches of extra beam has gone.

 

[henryf]

The crew cabin is better than our F55 mostly on account it having an entrance via the bathing platform and when optioned the hydraulic platform slides your tender out initially allowing easy access to the crew cabin or the BBQ so you can splatter the teak with grease without having to deploy the tender.

Ultimately for me though the boat just felt too small compared to the Princess F55 and there were too many compromises when it came to feeling safe moving around outside. Would I do a straight swap? No, not even taking into account a theoretical £1 million financial gain.

 

[henryf]

The crew cabin is better than our F55 mostly on account it having an entrance via the bathing platform and when optioned the hydraulic platform slides your tender out initially allowing easy access to the crew cabin or the BBQ so you can splatter the teak with grease without having to deploy the tender.

Ultimately for me though the boat just felt too small compared to the Princess F55 and there were too many compromises when it came to feeling safe moving around outside. Would I do a straight swap? No, not even taking into account a theoretical £1 million financial gain. It’s an improvement on Fairline’s previous offering but other than the cockpit I don’t think its class leading I’m afraid. I also felt the high gloss dark cherry looked dated. I appreciate that’s just personal taste but everyone else seems to be making a move towards more forgiving satin wood finishes.

Part of me was glad that I hadn’t made a mistake pulling the trigger on an F55 before waiting to see the Squadron 58 but another part of me was sad that there wasn’t another contender on the market when we look to change. Die hard stalwarts of the Fairline brand will see beyond any design shortcomings and buy the boat but in the open market I’d rather be wearing a Princess sales jacket rather than a Fairline one if I needed the commission to eat.

 

[jrudge]

Not seen it. The lower helm seats do seem high ! The price frankly is insane in my view. The base boat at 1.5m is ok ( but a chunk of change ) but if comes with a very expensive options list. I have the original 58.

 

[sharpness]

Nice review Henry, and a very fair assessment in my view.
Unfortunately I'm not going to the show this year, but I've watched a few youtube reviews (boats.co.uk and the Marine Channel) of this boat and your views mirror my thoughts of this boat, with the only differences being I personally love the look of the interior wood, but I struggle to see the point of the fold out deck sides, seems an expensive gimmick to me. I wonder if Galeon will accuse Fairline of being a copycat
From the videos it appears the quality of fit out seems really good, but as you say, with all the options ticked it's one hell of a price tag.
I know this post maybe comes across as negative, but that's not the intention, and I certainly hope Fairline have good success with this boat, as it's great to have them strongly back in the industry, when you think to how they have risen from the tough times those few years back.

 

[jfm]

@ Henry, I haven't seen this boat (yet) and I'm neutral about it but we gotta get the facts a bit straighter. Your £2.4m vs £1.4m comparison is partly explained by the much higher spec of this Sq58 compared with your F55. I'm not saying £2.4m is cheap - far from it - but your comparison is a bit apples/grapes.

You say the Squadron side decks are narrower. This simply not correct: count the side deck teak planks on this boat compared with a teaked F55 and there is a meaningful difference, like +60 or 70 mm each side extra on the Sq58. Princess have chosen narrower side decks and wider saloon, which is fine of course.

Pulpit only just covered your shins?- check your own photos! The wood is obviously walnut not cherry.

Not really wishing to get into a debate and I havent studied either boat nor am I in the market for one or a target customer - I'm just making a few factual observations.

 

[MapisM]

I’d rather be wearing a Princess sales jacket rather than a Fairline one

Considering your efforts to post a report for which a title "Why Princess is better than Fairline" would have been much more appropriate, I wonder if you aren't already wearing it...!

Not that I would rush to buy a Sq58, mind.
Then again, neither I would for a P55, which even at one million quid less couldn't be more far from what I would call decent VFM - let alone a bargain!

 

[benjenbav]

Interesting report and pix. One thing I’d say is that the boat would look times more attractive in the med with sunshine and clear water where you’d really want to open up the clever cockpit rather than in the pouring rain in a grimy dock in Southampton with all the covers closed.

 

[henryf]

As always, interesting points raised.

As I made the post I was very conscious that it would appear massively biassed and ultimately as the owner of a Princess there will always be some subconscious favouritism but I genuinely wanted to love this boat. Having choices and the ability to play one builder off against another can only be good but stepping off the F55 in the morning onto the 58 at the show the difference was stark. Hopefully you’ll be able to do the same at the British Motor boat show Swanwick next year To make your own minds up.

The side decks - Princess use a very protective and high stainless stanchion / pulpit rail in combination with full length hand rails on the boat. At 6 foot 2 I didn’t feel any such protection on the 58. Fairline are not alone, the Manhattan 55 suffers an equal fate but possibly has higher rails. We didn’t see the side decks in the raised position but Sharon kept bleating on that she felt it would be tight and she spends a lot of time running up and down side decks !

I purposely made sure the beds in the third cabin were fully apart before I took the picture. We use our third cabin a lot for storage when chartering and its noticeably bigger. Similarly the saloon on the 58 feels tighter, you might call it snug but I was amazed when I came home and compared quoted beams, I couldn‘t believe the Fairline was 4 inches wider.

Spec wise there are 3 main areas where I’ve whimped out on the box ticking, well 2 because the third wasn’t an option:

Hard top. £70 - 100k ?

Crew cabin fit out. £25 - 30k ?

Folding sides. £150k according to the Fairline chap on the boat. I think that also includes the extending bathing platform.

There is £15 - £20k of power bimini roof on our boat to offset a little of the hard top cost

I’m sure there are other areas where stuff has been optioned in excess of ours but they aren’t things we deemed essential, both boats have gyro and tropical A/C.

Theres still time to visit the show and plenty else to see so have a look for yourselves…..

 

[henryf]

Interesting report and pix. One thing I’d say is that the boat would look times more attractive in the med with sunshine and clear water where you’d really want to open up the clever cockpit rather than in the pouring rain in a grimy dock in Southampton with all the covers closed.

It was a particularly horrible day, as bad as I can remember and yes, with the covers off theres no denying the cockpit would be a stand out area to enjoy.

 

[Portofino]

Tend to agree with Ben ^ , but I had a row about debut show location all ready on the Marex 440 thread .
May be gotten two ready , this one Cannes and Genoa ( yes seen FL @ Genoa) and done a simple more base In fact dead base for the U.K.show .Trying to bring out the low sticker price to drum up a talking point .

Yes like high end cars prospects can go silly on options , but @ boat shows it’s the bottom line on the acetate board that determines initially ( time poor punter with aching feet ) wether you walk on by or make eye contact with the person wearing the shiny sales jacket ...in this case U.K. rain
Remember after a hr you are dazzled by a sea of white plastic , carefully staged and not a fender sock in sight .

Nice to see FL offer up a second Hp option this time ( from the website) ok it’s a chipped version of the identical physical engine .Thinking if you were to tick most of the add weight boxes .Nice to see they have dodged the increasing IPS bullet creeping into this size as well .Phew !

Personally new ok ( come to the price later ) but as a used prospect all that electrotwackery will with sea water fail and become a night mare maintenance wise , the sliding stuff .One tap on that fold out bit docking etc , some oik putting too much weight on the stern barbi when it’s out , stepping / climbing on it etc etc .

Docking Med style with a partially open side flap etc etc .

Those loose seats in the cockpit, wasting your life configuring them , much prefer fixed seating sun pads as the configuration is taken care , one less thing to do and be annoyed about when somebody else moves them after you have set them up in your ideal position.

The FB rear sun pads look short to fully lie down at full stretch .

Not in the mkt for a sub 60 ft fb / floating caravan , as Med based and it’s more imho an outside life .
The HT s look out of proportion hight wise but realise these are now industry std at this size .

Theres a lot of glass sides , rear of cockpit and FB .Believe me I know first hand all about keeping glazing clean free from water marks .

Price ( I am out of touch with new ) just seems a awful lot . I am mentally investing it in either U.K. bare land of buy to let northern housing . keeping a bit back for a used boat whereby the profit on the investment properties covers the boaty running costs .Any depreciation of the used boat is massively underwritten by the capitol,appreciations on the properties .If that makes sense .

@ say £700 to £800,K then why not ? I can see the indulgence of brand new and forgoing the other ” investments “ But at £1.5 M or over £2 M + depending on enhanced options then I can’t cross that mental barrier .

A perfectly good used ( winterised in a hanger ) Itama 75 can be had for under £1.5 M for Med use .Far bigger spaces .
A Itama 55 same size as this FL with V12 MAN s good for 40 knots for circa £500K ish
Or a SL 62 ( classic FB ) for £600 ish again huge volumes and significant greater presence all round .
Plus many others VFM boats eg Managusta 72 etc etc .= invest the rest .

I can’t be the only one mentally playing the “ what else can I do with the money “
£2.4 M or nearer £2 M seems a lot for what it is .

 

[Hooligan]

I also think its important to note where one does one’s boating. I boat in the med. In 10 years I have never ever once used the lower helm. I have eaten inside only a handful of times and we hardly ever use the inside living room. Thus given everything is a compromise these days, for me it is the outside space that matters first and foremost and especially the Flybridge. Haven’t seen the new S58 and at 2.4mm won’t ever be owning one, but the outside space looks great in the pics. If I was in the UK my priorities might be a little different I suspect. So again important to take these into account. I have not seen the new Princesses but overall I would say that Fairline has generally had a far better flybridge. My old S58 was excellent, my current S65 is fantastic.

 

[henryf]

And we currently boat in the UK so my thoughts and comments should be taken accordingly.

Interestingly our foreign boating would probably be Asia where sometimes the temperatures mean you use air conditioned internal spaces more than the Med by the sound of things.

 

[DAW]

In the Med you see all sorts of different ways to use boats, so it's difficult to generalise about what works and what doesn't. Some live an outdoor life, constantly in and out of the water, with the roof, doors and windows open all the time and the A/C off. Others keep everything closed, run the A/C flat out, and move between indoor and outdoor areas when it suits them. The larger the boat, the more likely it is to see the indoor spaces stay closed and air conditioned.

I do think something has gone wrong with the design and pricing of boats in the sub-70 foot range over the last few years, particularly those from the UK builders. The pricing of the Squadron 58 is just another example ... although the offerings from their competitors are the same.

The complexity of everything has increased exponentially and must be a major contributor to the increase in production costs used to justify the higher prices. It's difficult to understand how the high cost associated with many of these novelty items contributes to a substantially improved ownership experience on something that is still intended to be used as a boat. Maybe you need freestanding furniture, folding bulwarks, glass transom, stainless steel inlays on everything, expensive designer finishes and fabrics, multi-coloured, dimmable, concealed LED lighting, etc. on a fully crewed 25-30m boat that serves as a floating apartment for long-distance cruising, but I'm not sure it really makes a lot of difference to your enjoyment of a boat of this size. All IMHO of course

 

[roa312]

If you want a class winning cockpit stop reading now and get that deposit down, just make sure you tick the £150,000 folding sides box though because they aren’t a standard fit. The boat we were looking at was a staggering £2.4 plus Vat, a million pounds dearer than the Princess F55 I woke up on earlier in the day.

@henryf I noticed in James Barke's video, he mentions that the base price is GBP 1.5m ex VAT (with approximately GBP 0.8m in extras on this boat), which, according to him, is quite favorable compared to competitors (see timestamp in the video below). Based on your comment, it seems like that would put it close to your boat (including some specs, I guess?). Do you know if this is also close to the Sunseeker Manhattan 55, and if there are significant differences in the base specification?

 

[henryf]

I don’t have a current price list for the Princess F55. Ours was just over £1.6 ex vat including all the extras.

 

[MapisM]

It's difficult to understand how the high cost associated with many of these novelty items contributes to a substantially improved ownership experience on something that is still intended to be used as a boat.
Maybe you need freestanding furniture, folding bulwarks, glass transom, stainless steel inlays on everything, expensive designer finishes and fabrics, multi-coloured, dimmable, concealed LED lighting, etc. on a fully crewed 25-30m boat that serves as a floating apartment for long-distance cruising, but I'm not sure it really makes a lot of difference to your enjoyment of a boat of this size.

Agreed wholeheartedly.

My (very personal, of course!) interpretation is that over the years the number of persons who jumped into a 50 or even 60 footer as their first boat, often at a young-ish age and with not much previous experience if any, increased to the point of becoming the majority of the market.
And these folks are not interested in boats as a way of living the sea, but rather see them as another toy, for brief periods, and with as many bells and whistles as possible.
Nothing wrong with that, of course. If it's what these buyers want and are prepared to pay for, it's on ly logical that the offer follows the demand.

In sharp contrast, for me - as well as all other liveaborders I came across (and I mean ALL, bar none!) - all the stuff you mention add absolutely nothing to the boating pleasure, and are only additional headaches when (not if!) they go wrong. But of course, none of us are an interesting target for boatbuilders.

I think this is particularly true in the 50 to 60 feet segment, which is as large as most people reasonably would go as owner operators and with no crew.
Above 80 feet or so, it's a wholly different game, on one hand because crew becomes necessary, and OTOH costs are in yet another order of magnitude.
So, I think the rationale for wanting all the bells and whistles also in a 30m boat is a bit different, on two levels.
First, those who can afford a new boat of that size don't really care about ticking a few option boxes even when it takes 6 figures to price each of them.
And second, they have someone else in charge of taking care to keep everything working, clean, and ready to be enjoyed.