Fairline Phantom 50 Specs, Sea Trial and Used Market

Fairline Phantom 50: the global best seller of its size

Yachting magazine called the Fairline Phantom 50 a global citizen, and the numbers back that up: 126 hulls sold between 2000 and 2008, from France to Florida. It was Fairline's mid-size flybridge in the years before the builder folded the Phantom name into its Squadron range, a 51 foot 10 inch shaft-drive boat with the galley up on the main deck and three cabins below.

Its development ran for about 18 months and included full-size mockups, which Fairline's technical manager Adam Greenwood credited for the detailing: a pull-out chart holder hidden at the helm, a heat-proof landing area on the galley counter, and drawers sized for the boat's own tableware. Hulls came out of Fairline's Weldon production plant in England.

Hand-laid and brush-gelcoated at Weldon

Yachting's tester went into the construction in detail. The hull and superstructure laminates combine hand-laid chopped strand mat, stitched multidirectional fabrics and woven roving in polyester resin, and Fairline applied gelcoat by brush rather than spraying it. A closely spaced grid of fiberglass hat-section frames supports the solid fiberglass hull, so the structure relies less on interior bulkheads for stiffness, while the superstructure and decks are cored with closed-cell foam.

The machinery is split into zones. The engine room is reached from the afterdeck and is compact by American standards, though daily checks are easy. The generator lives in a separate space aft and the air conditioning in a forward machinery space with stowage for spares. Fairline expected professionals to handle big jobs and designed in machinery removal hatches.

Sea trial in 4 to 6 foot seas

Yachting tested the boat off Florida in 15 to 20 knots of northeast wind and 4 to 6 foot seas, conditions typical of a winter Bahamas crossing. With twin 675 hp Volvos on electronic controls and power steering, it made 32.5 knots at 2,350 rpm running in a beam sea and cruised at 29 knots at 2,100 rpm. Fairline's own figure was 34 knots, which the tester thought possible in kinder water.

More telling was the ride. The Olesinski hull, with 18 degrees of deadrise at the transom and a form the tester likened to high-performance American convertibles, delivered what he called a surprisingly soft, dry ride with notably low sound levels. Later boats received an uprated D12 and should be at least as quick; Caterpillar 3196 engines of 669 hp were a rare alternative, and MBY reports that none of the 126 boats left with the Cummins engines that appeared on the options list.

• LOA 51 ft 10 in (15.8 m), beam 14 ft 9 in (4.5 m), draft 4 ft 1 in (1.2 m)
• Displacement about 20 tonnes
• Fuel 1,980 L (about 523 US gal)
• 32.5 knots top and 29 knots cruise with twin D12-675 on test

A main deck built around the galley

Step through the stainless-framed sliding door and you find the saloon aft and the galley and inside helm forward, all on one level. A U-shaped settee surrounds a table that converts from cocktail to dining height, the curved starboard settee includes two movable ottomans, and the test boat had a bar with ice maker and a built-in television, features Yachting attributed to American market influence. The galley had a three-burner range, a microwave-convection oven and dual-voltage refrigeration.

Early boats had a bar area directly behind the lower helm. MBY notes that it was dropped on what it calls the Mk2 version, which gained more seating and a galley that opens aft rather than to the side. That is the easiest way to date a boat from photos.

Three cabins below, and the crew cabin question

With the galley upstairs, the lower deck holds three cabins and two heads. The owner's cabin is in the bow with a step-up island berth and a private bathroom. Two guest cabins sit partly under the main deck; the standard layout had twin singles in one of them, though MBY found a boat with doubles in all three. A second head with shower is shared by the passageway and the starboard cabin.

Options included a small air-conditioned crew cabin in the lazarette under the cockpit seating, priced at $16,339 when Yachting tested the boat, and a $17,343 passerelle that doubles as the tender lift on the bathing platform. Most American owners used the crew space as a utility room, and Yachting's tester agreed that was the smarter choice.

An express-style flybridge reaching far aft

Fairline extended the flybridge well aft, creating what Yachting described as an express-cruiser layout on top of the deckhouse. There is a full helm station on the centerline flanked by two seats, and aft of it a lounge with sink, refrigerator and grill around a big table. Access is from the afterdeck.

This is still the Phantom 50's best selling point against newer boats. The flybridge feels generous for a 50 footer of its era, and with a bimini or hardtop it becomes the main living space in warm climates.

What Phantom 50s sell for today

Yachting found 18 Phantom 50s for sale in 2017, priced from $291,732 to $595,000. Recent UK listings tracked by MBY and YachtBuyer include a 2002 boat at 279,950 pounds, a 2006 boat at 264,950 pounds, another 2006 boat at 294,950 pounds and a 2008 boat at 299,950 pounds. In dollars that is roughly $335,000 to $380,000, and we expect most good boats to trade between about $280,000 and $420,000.

Running a 52 foot twin-diesel flybridge is not cheap. Budget $32,000 to $60,000 a year for slip, insurance, haul-out, D12 and generator service, and the inevitable canvas and upholstery refresh. When new, Fairline Boats of North America shipped US boats with 60-cycle power and largely American components, so a US-delivered boat is preferable to a European import.