We put the new Privateer Flybridge 49 to the test out on a very cold IJsselmeer in the Netherlands
Europe’s best boat magazine was out in the home of steel boatbuilding, the Netherlands, this month, testing the new Privateer Flybridge 49.
The Flybridge 49 is the first in a brand new model line-up for the Dutch yard, and will be followed by a 52 and 56 if orders come in.
This is the second Privateer ever tested by MBY, and follows the Privateer Trawler 60, which we featured in our April 2012 issue.
See the video boat report on the Trawler 60 below…
Like its bigger trawler cousin, the Flybridge 49 is an extremely sturdy product, built to RCD Cat A standards, and with a transatlantic range.
Powered by a single 236hp John Deere diesel, the boat is capable of 9 knots flat out, and cruises very economically at 7 knots, sipping just 16lph.
Given its very functional nature, safety was a key concern for the yard, producing the boat with wide, covered side decks and really sturdy stainless steel grabrails.
Storage is epic, with a never-ending lazarette and hidey-holes under all the seats in the cockpit and flybridge.
The saloon is a very calming, traditional space with light leather and cherry wood, but with a few modern twists like the air filter above the hob and pop-up TV.
Down below, the owner gets a floating master cabin berth with plenty of floor space ahead of the bed, and a good-sized heads with huge separate shower stall.
Guests, meanwhile, have to head down a few steps to their twin-berth cabin, but there’s decent headroom and the beds slide together to create a double.
For a big, 34-tonne boat the Flybridge 49 is a surprisingly nimble performer, turning almost in its own boat length and comfortable in the swell thanks to its standard-fit hydraulic stabilisers.
MBY will be running a full boat report on the Privateer Flybridge 49 in the May issue of the magazine, out April 3.
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