Euro Interiors

[Sababa]

This weekend at the Boats Afloat show in Seattle my wife and I toured several boats with “Euro” interiors. Lots of light colored wood and fabrics, large expanses of glass, no teak, brass, portholes, or other salty bits. She likes the bright, airy, open feel of these boats. I’m less enamored but could probably live with it for her sake if it meant getting buy-in on spending more time on a bigger boat. But aesthetics aside, I’m concerned about how these interiors will wear over time, and also about the build quality of the boats that have them.

The brands we saw in this line were all French: a Prestige, a Beneteau, and a Fontaine Pajot power cat, all brand new and shiny. Does anyone have first-hand experience with how these wear and hold their value over time? Are they representative of the build quality to expect from French or Euro builders in general? We are intrigued, for example, with the Leen 56 power trimaran, but the interior pictures look a lot like the Fontaine Pajot, which seemed particularly shoddy.

 

[DavidM]

Put a Beneteau Swift Trawler next to a Grand Banks (even the newer, faster ones) and I will take the Grand Banks every time. It is mostly aesthetics and traditionalism but yes, I agree that the Grand Banks style and construction will hold up better long term.

David

 

[mvweebles]

The Beneteau Swift Trawlers have some really clever space utilization ideas so warrant consideration. I too find the styling attractive. However, when I went aboard Carvers, SeaRays, Silvertons in the 1990s, they looked pretty sleek then. Now? Dated appearance. Just depends on your style.

If desire is for a lighter interior (vs purely modern look), many of the Canadian built trawlers use ash, cherry, and maple and are quite a bit lighter than teak. Not a lot of builders to chose from, but they're out there.

Regardless, if this is your biggest hurdle in getting your wife onboard, you're ahead of the game.

Good luck

Peter

 

[Sababa]

A Grand Banks is exactly the kind of boat I can’t sell my wife on. Too dark and gloomy inside she would say looking, for example, at this very nice 53 Aleutian that is currently for sale:

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2011-grand-banks-53-aleutian-rp-8445290/

For my part, I’ve shied away from them on account of all the exterior teak that I don’t want to have to maintain. Plus they tend to have more power than I want or need.

What I need to find to please both me and her is a bright, modern interior that’s not going to wear like an IKEA kitchen, top-quality systems and fittings with no brightwork on the outside, and a bomb-proof power plant sized to drive it all efficiently at displacement speeds.

We liked the Aspen power cats on most of these fronts by the way. If they made a fifty footer with a real engine room and decent fuel tankage they might have a sale.

 

[ScottC]

Have a look at a Greenline 40, which is available with diesel-only. Lots of light interior work & lots of glass. But a bit of a retro-modern look. Or even a GL33.

 

[Sababa]

The Greenline 48 fly looks nice for our purposes (we want three sleeping cabins) and is certainly well priced, but the range of ~600 nm is pretty pathetic.

 

[garbler]

Years ago I spoke at length with a Beneteau factory rep regarding some of their vessel’s interior joinerwork. I had handled a couple of collision losses that required quite a bit of interference removals but nobody could find or match the veneers they used. The were using pear wood veneers and nothing was close and because it was light toned it had to be right. Six week delay shipping us replacement. My discussion with the rep was to suggest they include a roll of their veneer with the boat when shipped.

Rick

 

[Mako]

A Grand Banks is exactly the kind of boat I can’t sell my wife on. Too dark and gloomy inside she would say...

For my part, I’ve shied away from them on account of all the exterior teak that I don’t want to have to maintain. Plus they tend to have more power than I want or need.

I took my family to see a very well kept Grand Banks 49 and we disliked it for the same 3 reasons. It is not a displacement boat, which is more of what I'm looking for, but to adapt to my use would have required pulling those big boys out and replaced them with a couple of little Kubotas. Anway, the interior was depressing and we passed.

 

[ScottC]

The Greenline 48 fly looks nice for our purposes (we want three sleeping cabins) and is certainly well priced, but the range of ~600 nm is pretty pathetic.

Agreed on the range. If you like the boat, it might be worth considering to ask the factory if they would fit an addional fuel tank. I know they fit grey water tanks for countries that require this, so there probably is room.

 

[Sababa]

Agreed on the range. If you like the boat, it might be worth considering to ask the factory if they would fit an addional fuel tank. I know they fit grey water tanks for countries that require this, so there probably is room.

I’ll ask just that and report back to this thread. Seattle to Ketchikan at eight knots with fuel in reserve is my absolute deal breaker. (My current NT 37 did it with 1/4 capacity left in the tanks.)

 

[twistedtree]

I think there are two considerations; styling and build quality. We all have our own taste, and I increasingly like euro modern. But not enough to own anything. I also don’t care for the very traditional dark wood interiors for reasons already cited. It feel to me like an old Victorian Parlor. We ended up with traditional wood, but a more modern shape to things.

As for quality, unfortunately a lot of the Euro Modern interiors are also of very poor quality. I’ve been in some that feel like the inside of a cheap camper trailer. I find the poor quality more depressing that dark traditional wood, but that’s just me. And of course there are other modern interiors that are high quality.

 

[mvweebles]

A Grand Banks is exactly the kind of boat I can’t sell my wife on. Too dark and gloomy inside she would say looking, for example, at this very nice 53 Aleutian that is currently for sale:

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2011-grand-banks-53-aleutian-rp-8445290/

Maybe a change of terminology would help. The Aleution looks nice. Instead of a "traditional" interior, maybe call it "Danish Modern?"

On the plus side, great you two are working through it together. Best success.

Peter

 

[Sababa]

Maybe a change of terminology would help. The Aleution looks nice. Instead of a "traditional" interior, maybe call it "Danish Modern?"

On the plus side, great you two are working through it together. Best success.

Peter

Looking back at the Aleutian, the salon and pilot house seem bright and airy enough all the teak notwithstanding, but where I would lose the missus is the sleeping cabins. Now my view is that dark is good down below since the sun comes up early in the summer here and they are made for sleeping. She likes the big glass panels that are popular on fast boats these days but still uncommon on displacement trawlers. There is a North Pacific that has been on the market for a while that has these, but it’s only got two cabins, which is kind of surprising for such a big boat.

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2022-northern-marine-57-expedition-6-7678168/

 

[keith c]

The decor in the carvers circa 1995- 2005 was trendy. Euro styling which is the rage is trendy. The 8in. wide lepals and ties were trendy in 1975. O dear, I forgot my point.

 

[Fletcher500]

Euro styling is big in most of the express cruisers, and many other newer boats. We had a Beneteau and it was not a good purchase on a lot of levels, for us at least. The new Nordhavn 41 is another example of the newer Euro materials being used in the interior. Many people like it, so that is what builders are providing. Personally, I prefer the more traditional interiors.

 

[FWT]

Its obviously a matter of taste, and we all will differ.

I do agree with this: "As for quality, unfortunately a lot of the Euro Modern interiors are also of very poor quality. I’ve been in some that feel like the inside of a cheap camper trailer. I find the poor quality more depressing that dark traditional wood, but that’s just me."

I don't often spend the time to step aboard Euro style boats when at shows, but the ones I have seen fit the quote above.

But that can happen in name brand trawlers too. The N41 struck me the same way, and it didn't appear any costs were cut. Wasn't cheap, it just looked cheap. A turnoff.