Buying & Owning a £1.6 million Princess F55 | Owner's Review

What is it like buying and owning a £1.6 million Princess F55? In this new YachtBuyer series, we aim to demystify the subject by touring and sea trialing a boat with the owner to find out why the bought their, which options they did and didn’t choose and how they cruise with it.

In this episode, Jack Haines meets Princess 55 owner, Henry Firman, a serial boat owner who took delivery of his new boat in early 2023. He discusses the boats he’s owned previously, what else he considered before he bought his F55 and why it works so well for him and his partner as a commercial charter vessel.

#yacht #yachts #princessf55 #YachtTour #yacht #yachting #BoatTour #boating #boattest #seatrial #superyacht

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Performance & Specification: 
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LOA: 17.7m - 58ft 1in
Beam: 4.9m - 16ft 1in
Displacement: 30.9 tonnes - 68,176lbs
Capacity: Category B for 15 people
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Performance
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Engines: Twin Volvo Penta D13 900
Top Speed: 31 knots
Cruising Speed: 25 knots
Range: 250nm

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Timestamps
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00:00 Intro
00:55 Previously Owned Yachts
03:25 Alternatives to the F55?
04:50 Hydraulic Bathing Platform
05:40 Will you have a Tender?
06:40 3rd Cabin for Chartering?
07:51 Cockpit
08:27 Perks of the Flybridge
09:35 Advantages of a Bimini
10:25 Sunbathing on the Bow
10:49 Is a Seakeeper worth it?
13:05 Why do you like the F55 Saloon?
14:51 No Washer/Dryer?
15:12 Inital Conerns with Living Area
16:40 Under-Rated Features
17:05 Accommodation
17:18 Owner's Cabin
17:35 Suprisingly Comfortable Beds
18:35 Why they opted for a Coffee Table
19:20 How's the storage?
19:35 VIP Cabin
20:14 Engine Room
20:45 Ideal Layout?
21:30 Pre-departure Routine?
21:50 Performance & Range
22:22 Driving from the Flybridge
22:53 Prefered Cruising Speed?
24:00 Testing her at 20 knots
25:18 Hand Steer or AutoPilot?
25:50 Screen Setup
26:20 Helm Position
26:40 Slow Speed Manoeuvrability

[davidweston]

That was one of the best owner orientated videos I have seen, do like the princess, got to agree about the layout and useage, very knowledgeable owner and comes across as interested and interesting, very well done, hope you can do a few more

[StanislavShkrebko]

It's great to know first hand experience of actual owners. Thank you.

[onefrazzer]

That was massively informative and that's a man who nows exactly what he wants in a boat and looking forward to many more of these

[MrArchie]

Excellent! Very interesting and would definitely like to see more of these owner-orientated vids, I love Princess boats of this size (but can't afford one yet) but I'm seriously thinking about a short charter for our next big anniversary so am going to save this page as the charter prices look doable (relatively speaking). Cheers!!

[JohnSmith-zoir]

Well done. Definitely need to do more of these. Its always good to get an owners perspective as a user. You tend to get the practical feedback.

As a prospective Princess buyer I backed off from the V55 which I really liked, because the factory would not put a TV in the saloon for me opposite the internal dining area behing the galley counter.

They have a TV on a swivel which services indoor and outdoor, but the problem when it faces into the saloon is that only one person can face the TV. One seat is lost because your back would be facing the TV and another two seats are lost because they are side on to the TV and you would end up with a sore neck.

Also, I spoke to a number of Princess owners who say they never use the BBQ on the V55, because it is too close to the saloon and the smoke goes inside the boat. I asked for the BBQ to be moved further down the ourdoor gallet and I was even prepared to lose the aft docking station to accommodate the move of the BBQ, because I could replace that with a remote.

A boat always faces into the wind so the smoke from a BBQ would blow back off the aft of the boat and not into the boat.

Two easy solutions that are logical and practical, but Princess would not make those changes. Pity. They should listen to their customer feedback.

[BryanQA]

Always good to hear how the boat behaves and runs day to day, more of the same please 👍

[heldersimoes]

such an amazing owner who really loves his boats, we wish to see more videos on this format. Great work

[Liesthroughisteeth]

Great idea, getting the owners perspective and a nicely paced tour of the boat at the same time. Brilliant. :)

[davidallen]

Well done. It is truly valuable to hear from an owner operator's perspective. Especially one who is quite a bit more than a weekend warrior. He was forthcoming in each piont of view. Presenting both a personal opinion as well as all of the facts that were required to suport his conclusions. I enjoyed the video very much.
If you ask me, and I believe you did, you certainly have my vote to include more such videos.
Thanks Jack and crew for having us along!

[ericduany]

I liked that video. I like that he talked about some more practical or impractical aspects of yachts, especially the washer dryer. Whenever I see one tucked away, my mind always thinks of worst case scenario regarding repair or worse replacement.

To expand on that in regards to the video I’d suggest asking what options the owner wished they had, or things they got they don’t need, or changes they’d make if they could.

[IvanJrgensen-isxe]

Nice to see you back in front of the cameras👍👍 I absolutely love this kind of content, would love to view more of it!! Princess F55 is a real dream boat for sure. Thanks a lot!

[DAWT]

Great video Jack and congratulations Henry. Having just purchased a 2022 F55 (with a little help from Jack) I thought is was a very informative and useful review and great explanation of the decision making process. 👏🏻 See you in the Solent.

[colbr]

A really excellent interview, lots of useful info, particularly useful too hear about the gyro stabilizer as it's a huge item to spec.

[stever]

More of these please. Great video. Interesting to learn why some people prefer somethings and really don’t get on with others.

[ashleyhodgman]

Thank you Jack. Very much enjoyed the owners views on how the boat works in normal use.

[stu]

Jack, a really great video, its always good to hear from people who use the boat and how they make use of it. Really dolike the Princess range of boats. Look forward to more of these videos

[bisa]

Thank you Jack, the video really outline the linkages between owner aspirations and yacht features 👍

[sohovulture]

Hey Jack, that was very interesting indeed, particularly hearing Henry's very detailed and nuanced take on everything re boat buying and chartering (underpants and all lol). Excellent stuff and another arrow in both yours and the team's quivers. Top notch and I very much look forward to you guys developing this pathway further. See you next time

[AlVlogs]

Jack another great vid.Been with you since the early days and the channel just gets better with editing, production etc.Great stuff hearing from an actual owner and gives a better insight

[LudiCrust.]

I’d actually buy one of these. I love how everything is functional & nothing screams form over function like you see in most boats this size. It’s the perfect size to have for you & your family to enjoy & you wouldn’t need any outside help which is cost prohibitive. Great video!