Fairline 40 Phantom, a Used Flybridge Buyer's Guide

Which Fairline 40 Phantom are you looking at?

Search for a Fairline 40 Phantom and you will find two quite different boats. The one most listings refer to is the second-generation Phantom 40, launched in the early 2000s (MBY dates its arrival to 2002 in one report and 2003 in another) and built until Fairline retired the Phantom name around 2010. That is the boat this guide is about: a 41 foot 2 inch shaft-drive flybridge cruiser on a Bernard Olesinski hull.

The first Phantom 40 was built from 1994 to 1999, ending with a stretched derivative called the Phantom 42, of which Fairline built 116 between 1997 and 1999. It is a heavier, rounder 1990s design. If a listing shows a build year before 2000, it is the older boat, and our section on telling them apart below explains what changes.

Built in what owners call Fairline's golden era

Motor Boat & Yachting describes the early 2000s as a golden era for Fairline, when the build quality that went into the Squadron 78 flagship trickled all the way down the range. On the Phantom 40 that shows in high-gloss cherry joinery finished to a near-superyacht standard, a sturdy handrail recessed into the saloon headliner, teak on the cockpit and bathing platform as standard, and strong high rails along 10 inch side decks.

It also came at a turbulent time for the company. Fairline was owned by investment bank 3i when the 2009 recession hit, was sold to Better Capital and the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2011, entered administration in December 2015 and was reborn as Fairline Yachts in 2016. The Phantom 40 belongs firmly to the pre-recession era, which is part of why well-kept examples still look and feel expensive.

An Olesinski bottom with tunnelled props

Bernard Olesinski drew the hull, as he did for most Fairlines of the period. MBY notes that the running surface extends beneath the bathing platform to maximize planing area aft, and the propellers sit in semi-tunnels so the shafts run at a flatter, more efficient angle with the engines mounted lower. The result is predictable, well-balanced handling rather than anything exotic: the shafts push weight forward for a level ride and keep the props under the hull where they give good leverage in tight marinas.

Fairline experimented with Volvo Penta IPS pods on a Phantom 40 after the system appeared in 2005, but production Phantom 40s stayed on conventional shafts. Fairline did not put IPS into a production model until the Targa 44 in 2007.

TAMD63, Caterpillar or D6: engines and what they deliver

At launch Fairline offered twin Volvo Penta TAMD63 diesels in L (316 hp) or P (370 hp) tune, with Caterpillar 3126 engines of 355 or 385 hp as a rarer alternative; MBY says these gave top speeds in the high 20s. From 2005 Volvo's common-rail D-series replaced the TAMDs, with electronic controls and lower emissions. The D6-370 gives close to 30 knots and the D6-435 lifts top speed beyond 30 knots.

MBY's data for a 2007 boat with twin D6-370s quotes a 30 knot top speed, a 25 knot cruise and a range of about 300 nautical miles from roughly 990 liters (262 US gallons) of fuel. That range is the main practical limit: comfortable for coastal hops or a Bahamas crossing, but planning long legs at fast cruise needs care.

• LOA 41 ft 2 in (12.53 m), beam 13 ft 0 in (4.0 m), draft 3 ft 3 in (1.0 m)
• Dry displacement 11,599 kg (25,571 lb)
• Fuel about 990 L (262 US gal)
• D6-370: about 30 knots top, 25 knots cruise, 300 nm range per MBY

A galley-down layout that still works

Inside, the Phantom 40 follows the 40 foot flybridge formula that Princess, Sealine and Fairline all used through the 1990s and 2000s. The main deck holds the saloon and a double-seat lower helm. Down a few steps are the galley, an owner's cabin forward with a double berth and its own bathroom, and a twin-berth guest cabin to starboard that shares the second bathroom, which doubles as the day head. A sofa bed hidden under the saloon settee takes the occasional count to six.

Up top, chunky molded steps lead to a flybridge with a triple helm seat and a big dinette aft. Many boats were optioned with a wet bar, barbecue and fridge, which is unusual at this size and well worth having. The tender usually rides on the bathing platform.

The 1994 to 1999 Phantom 40 and Phantom 42

The first Phantom 40 was a product of the early 1990s Phantom range, which MBY traces back half a century to the original Phantom 32. When MBY tested a 1994 Phantom 40 on a delivery to Jersey, it had twin 355 hp Caterpillar 3116 TA diesels and reached 30.6 knots, but the reviewer complained about restricted visibility from the lower helm. Owners also found boarding from an alongside berth awkward; one fitted brackets for a boarding ladder.

The Phantom 42 that ended the series added an extended bathing platform that fixed the boarding issue and offered Volvo TAMD63L (318 hp) or TAMD63P (370 hp) engines. To tell the generations apart in listings, look at the build year, the engine type, and the profile: the 1990s boats have softer, rounder superstructure lines and no extended platform on the original 40.

Phantom 40 for sale: pricing and what to expect

The Fairline 40 Phantom for sale is mostly a European boat. MBY has featured a 2007 example in Torquay at 190,000 pounds, another 2007 boat with D6-370s and stern thruster at 184,950 pounds, and a 2009 boat with D6-435s at 229,000 pounds. Translated, a good second-generation boat costs roughly $235,000 to $295,000 before any import costs, and early TAMD63 boats can dip below $200,000.

Annual running costs for a twin-diesel 41 footer are moderate: allow $20,000 to $38,000 a year for a slip, insurance, a haul and antifouling, and engine and generator service. Because Fairline was replaced by the Squadron range, parts for hull fittings and trim are less easy to source than engine parts, which Volvo and Caterpillar dealers stock worldwide.