PRINCESS 41
BUILT 1981 PRICE £49,950
A 41ft flybridge Princess for the price of a top-end Volkswagen Golf? There has to be a catch.
Well, you do have to be prepared to take on an older boat. In this case, one that is over 40 years old. But the good news is, they built them simple and they built them strong in those days. Take the throttle and shift controls for example; no fancy fly-by-wire here, just good old cables. You move one end of it and it moves the other. Inevitably older boats require a little more love, but if you’re reasonably practically minded, this is a huge amount of boat for the money.
INTERIOR
It’s an aft cabin layout, meaning you’ve got circa 40ft of accommodation here. Right at the back, the aft cabin has a pair of single berths either side of a vanity unit plus an ensuite. Head forward and you’ll step up to a spacious saloon with a very period helm station, complete with huge vertical wheel. And on the lower deck forward you’ll find the galley, another heads and two more cabins – a double forward and cross-over beds in cabin three. A refurbishment has brightened up the interior of this example.
EXTERIOR
At over 40 years old (this model actually launched in 1978) I think we can term this boat a classic and find joy in its bolt-on bathing platform and stainless steel radar arch. Canvas dodgers around the aft deck provide a little shelter and twin bimini tops have been added to create shade from the global warming that hadn’t been invented when this boat first launched.
PERFORMANCE
Volvo Penta TAMD60 diesel engines should give about 250hp depending on which version – modest by modern standards but boats are far more voluminous these days, so you’re probably looking at a mid 20-knot top end and high teens cruising speeds.
SEAKEEPING
John Bennet designed these and most other early Princesses so its seakeeping was pretty well regarded by the standards of the day.
LOA 41ft 2in (14.7m) Beam 13ft 0in (4.0m) Draught 3ft 0in (0.9m) Displacement 9 tonnes Fuel capacity 1,182 litres Engines Twin Volvo Penta TAMD 60 circa 250hp diesels
FOR SALE Southampton Waters Yacht Sales www.southamptonwaters.co.uk