The Princess F55 rises easily onto the plane, keeping its nose below the horizon with just a small amount of attitude adjustment using the Bennett trim tabs fitted to our test vessel. Pushing the throttle lever right forward, the F55 touched almost 30.0 knots at 2350rpm and used around 300 litres an hour.Īt cruising speed, the 2750-litre fuel capacity will give a range of about 250 nautical miles with a 10 per cent reserve. While we didn’t experience any offshore conditions on our test run along the Gold Coast Broadwater, we did get to measure the depth of the twin 900hp Vovo Pentas powering the F55.Īt a comfortable 80 per cent engine load the D13s are spinning at around 2000rpm, pushing the Princess F55 along at around 22.0 knots of speed while using around 220 litres of diesel an hour. The Princess F55 looks all the world like a traditional cruiser, but beneath the classic exterior is a motor yacht made for bluewater running. The seats are equally comfortable as those below, but captain’s chairs with folding armrests may be a better option as there is a little more lateral movement while underway. The bridge helm feels like a proper helm rather than an outpost, featuring the same array of electronics as the one below – the only difference is the hard wipe-down surfaces that form the console replacing the soft-touch finish of the lower station. There’s also an alcove to stow a liferaft. A large teak table with fold-out leaves that double its size sits in the middle of the space. It makes the port side two-seat flybridge helm station a far more sociable setting than the deck-level one, especially for the skipper who sits inboard while the first mate sits outboard.Ī low wind-breaker that wraps around the leading edge of the flybridge deck offers protection while passage-making.Īft of the forward lounge is another large C-shaped lounge space that wraps around the trailing edge of the flybridge deck, fully enclosing it. Linked 1375-litre fuel tanks that help to distribute weight evenly across the hull can be filled from either side of the motor yacht.īeside the helm station is a large inward-facing U-shaped lounge that’s an ideal space for guests to join the skipper on a passage. Princess operates its own stainless steel metal shop, loom shop for making all the fabric components, and furniture shop, giving it the ability to control the quality and also customise mid-build.Ī cockpit hatch to the engine room reveals what the average boat owner should be looking for plenty of servicing room and the ability to spot leaks, good bilge access, room to change the generator impeller, ready access to the engine dipsticks and coolant overflow bottles, and accessible fuel filters and sea strainers.īacking up Princess’s time-proven engineering is a national network of dealers and service technicians. Up to 80 per cent of a Princess Yachts boat is made in-house at Princess’s Plymouth-based manufacturing facilities. The hull’s inherent strength reduces the need for intrusive stiffening beams, yielding more internal volume than more traditional hull layouts. The hull’s shape is fair featuring a sharp entry and aggressive downturned strakes and chines, the latter helping with lift once the high-speed hull is up on the plane, and with deflecting spray. Its resin-infused hull is laid using a computer-controlled vacuum to ensure exact fibre-to-resin ratios for greater consistency, stiffness and strength. Thank you again for making such a great product.The Princess F55 is built on Princess’s proven Bernard Olesinski running surface but features an interior fit-out courtesy of its in-house design studio. Being out on the bow while retrieving the anchor has proven to safer and more efficient as well. Having the ability to be outside on deck where we can control the boat while keeping the mooring ball in sight at all times is great. From the position in our pilot house or flybridge, we lose sight of the mooring ball when close to it. We especially like the system when anchoring or catching a mooring. Our Dockmate has made this so much easier, by allowing the person controlling the boat to also be outside on deck assisting with lines as well. In these cases, one of us has to stay at the helm while the other is left to untie the boat and re-board it safely. Quite often when we’re traveling, we leave marinas early in the morning before the staff arrives for work. Can we handle the boat without these accessories? Sure we can, but having them makes it so much easier and safer. We think of it as similar to our bow and stern thrusters, or possibly our autopilot.
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