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Princess 32 m or Sunseeker

Discussion in 'Sunseeker Yacht' started by Jaydaniel55, Apr 22, 2018.

  1. Jaydaniel55

    Jaydaniel55 New Member

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    Manchester/ monaco
    I would like to buy a 32-35 meter yacht but I’m torn between princess and sun seeker, can anyone give me any advice on which is the better?
  2. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Both brands have their issues. However, Sunseeker has definitely better overall quality and certainly better performance and seakeeping ability from what I've seen. I run both brands, however, mostly in the 60-80' range.
  3. Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

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    I would take a Princess over a Sunseeker in a heartbeat just on build quality. Aftermarket backup confirms this too.
  4. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I'm dealing with a brand new 2018 Princess right now. The quality is a DEFINATE step below Sunseeker. Some things just never change with them. Ceiling panels simply glued on the underneath of the fiberglass hardtop with blobs of cheap silicone, no fasteners at all. One by one they keep falling down. Cheap exterior light fixtures. Wiring for crew shower sump bundled up on a shelf in the bilge with push together- non heat shrink/waterproof connecters that evertime you clean the a/c strainer water pours directly all over the wiring connections. When running in very moderate seas various cabin doors unlatch depending on sea direction because the entire hull and interior walls are flexing so much, they flex away from the door and unlatch and on and on. The engine room exterior vent is shimmed with visible popsicle sticks that you can see while it's tied to a floating dock. Windshield venture on flybridge is paper thin plexiglass without enough support and it flexes, flops back and forth 1-2" while you're running. Crappy cheap mattresses compared to Sunseeker. Some of the stuff is beyond belief. The ONLY place I see a better quality is the gelcoat and this is not by much.
  5. MBevins

    MBevins Senior Member

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    Do you think this is a result of the divorce from Viking?
  6. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    No, they've always been this way. From the late 90's to now.
  7. Silver Lining

    Silver Lining Member

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    This is just not true. I can't comment on the new models as I haven't spent much time on recent builds. But my late 90s 50 ft Viking princess has nicely done salon interior panels held on by fasteners that never come loose. My flybridge windshield is thick, does not move or flex in any seas and is original and still in nice shape The wiring is in fact very nicely done and reliable

    Most importantly my boat handles rough seas very well. There is no flexing as stated above. The doors never open unexpectedly and there are no noises associated with flexing. In fact I have had the boat in 4-6 ft seas countless times and have hit bad weather a few times with steeper 8 to 10 ft seas that bury the bow. The deep vee performs well in rough seas. In fact when we bought ours ten years ago the sunseekers of that age had similar deadrise. The thing that makes the Viking princesses handle rough seas and not flex are the substantial stringers and numerous bulk heads Again these comments are wrt late 90s Viking sport cruiser princesses
  8. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Well they are not the same now and haven't been for a while. I dealt with a late 90's 61' Princess and the electrical components weren't great. Owner kept burning/melting the shorepower breaker on the main row of breakers because the breakers they used never tripped at the right amps. Engine room access was near impossible and you had to tear out the entire salon carpet and floor panels to do anything on them. Other than that the boat was ok .
  9. Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

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    One of our customers was an ex-commercial ship's engineer. When Princess were building his 72, he redesigned the complete engineroom to his own spec.

    Full standing headroom, all quality kit and everything serviceable. One of the best small boat enginerooms I've every seen. Why they can't make 'em all this way, I'll never know.