WTB: 2018 Ferretti 450 / 2019 Tiara 44 Fly

The Tiara has a few down sides that I am not a fan of. Volvo power and I assume IPS complicates things and increases ownership costs. Overall the design is hard on the eyes in my opinion.
The 45 Ferretti (Ya Ya) has Cummins power, V drive prop shafts comfortable layout... I am a fan.
Ferretti would be my choice.

I have found 993’s comments to be well informed so consider his opinions. IPS is (atleast on this forum) somewhat controversial. Some of the old school people don’t appreciate the need for the joystick docking and don’t want the electronic complications that electronic joysticks typically bring in the marine environment. Also I think it is fair to say that IPS has had teething problems that apparently have improved some. The forward facing pods in my opinion don’t seem to tolerate groundings as well as shaft boats. Also if you can store the boat out of the water I think that helps with their reliability. IPS seals are a weak spot as well introducing water into the pod and its oil leading to failure. The pro’s are (if the boat was designed around the pods) are better fuel economy, docking made easier for those stepping up to larger boats, and more interior cabin space. At this point in time I would not buy a boat with pods but if they continue to refine the product I would possibly consider them in the future. Another consideration is where you will use the boat. If the Bahamas are in your future I would think hard against pods. If you will be mostly running around S Florida then maybe do IPS as service should be readily available. Good luck and search the rest of the forum for this topic.

Personal opinion based on my own experience.
I could never cruise long distance in a pod boat with confidence. I have really tried to embrace pod drives. Just what I need 3 more items to service on the boat. I practiced maneuvering in tight quarters with a Volvo pod boat and found it complicated and less intuitive than a shaft boat. Pod boats seem to slide.
You get lots of interior space and better fuel economy but the maintenance cost and down time waiting for parts and service have moved many owners into a Prevost.

Lets talk about cars now! Ha!

By the way I am a fan of the Ferretti late model product including the 45 F/B for the record.

Ok, I back up to the OP's first post where he says he's not familiar with the Ferretti line. Well, Ferretti is one of the top five builders in the world, their exact place in line depending on how you measure. The top ones are Ferretti, Azimut Benetti, Sanlorenzo, and Sunseeker. That by itself doesn't indicate quality but far bigger builder than Tiara. Ferretti also builds Riva, Pershing, Itama, Mochi Craft, CRN, Wally, and Custom Line. 45' is very much on their small side. You don't see a lot of their smaller boats but today they build a 50' and a 55'. The 50 is really a 45' in that LOA is 50 but deck is only 45'.

I am a bit of a fan of Tiara, but I'd put Ferretti in a different league as a step up. I'm not as negative on pods as many here are, but I'd personally prefer shafts if I had a choice and Tiara doesn't give you a choice. Tiara is a leader in pods and does an excellent job of it. The Ferretti 45 is just a lot more boat, in my opinion. Just look at the size of the fly bridge. The Tiara is more what many call a sportfly. The Ferretti is designed like their larger boats. That also is a bit of a clue that 45' is mid to upper size in boats for Tiara, but the 45 is a small boat built by a builder of larger boats. I think they've done it well, much like Sunseeker building a 52' Manhattan where they kept so much of the character of a 66'. Well, I think the smaller Ferretti's keep a lot of the character of their larger boats and, in turn, they feel bigger than they are.

As to 99 not finding pods intuitive, that's after a lifetime of shafts. They're different, but we use joysticks even on our shafts. While pods might be slightly easier to maneuver for newcomers, they really hold no real advantage in that regard for experienced boaters and hopefully newcomers soon become experienced.

I do agree with 99 on the Ferretti over the Tiara however.

Consider I was slower with sequential gear box over manual gearbox at Watkins Glen. :-(
Lets arrange a docking contest at the St Augustine town fuel dock when the current is ripping. Pods vs traditional shafts. Count me in! no beer

No. Let's select two people who have never operated a boat before but are great gamers online and have a contest between them. If we're going to stack the competition, we can do it either way.

It makes sense you were faster with manual at Watkins Glen. Most would be until they one time missed a shift.

Most would be until they one time missed a shift.

So thats why the valve went through the piston...

+1 to both these comments.

I owned a Princess 3 boats ago. Other than the bottom falling out of the aluminum holding tank she was a good boat. Don’t start me on the fuel filters ... easily swapped out. Ferretti probably have those Separs too.
I like the Ferretti Ya Ya and plan on looking at her after our Eastbay closes end of the month.

Why would he be faster with a manual transmission? Assuming both are dog ring racing gear boxes, the sequential box will always be faster!

Here’s proof your readers are paying attention OB.

I'm not an auto racer so have no personal experience, but many had other experience and their own techniques and had a lot to learn about sequential. Also, the types of clutches used and the limitations the synchronized systems had built in play a role. Race car drivers do things synchronized systems don't allow like skipping gears up or down.

Now, I suspect a lot of it is drivers being set in their ways and slow to learn and adjust to change. We'll let 99 explain his problems with it.

Yes, and people love to pick up on throw away lines.

OB, while I often find your boating related posts entertaining, the above is silly. I have many years of formula car racing experience and 100s of laps at Watkins Glen - as well as lots of racecar engineering. In all of my years of racing I have never skipped a gear up or down on purpose.

Dog ring gearboxes are far superior to synchronized gearboxes on a racetrack - you dont need to use a clutch to shift up or down, only to get going. A sequential gearbox is absolutely superior to an H pattern manual, period. A sequential racing gearbox uses dog rings just like a manual racing gearbox. The difference is shift forks versus shift selector shaft.

Back to boats..... I vote for the Ferretti, but I just dont like the V-drives they put in the smaller Ferrettis. You cant easily check the shafts or spin them, and I cant imagine getting under an engine to do a shaft alignment. While Ferretti are on our short list for our next boat, it will need to be a larger boat with straight shafts, which I think means around 70+. And for me, pods are a deal breaker.

But in the 50' range you need to use V Drives with the positives and the negatives. 70'+ wasn't part of the consideration we were asked about and isn't for a lot of boat buyers.

I guess without being explicit, my implication was that he should expand his search - while the Ferretti is a very nice boat, there are other nice options he should at least consider. Sounds like he is in the early stages. So I would suggest he both looks at boats up to 5 years old and add maybe Princess and Sunseeker to start.