A boat that came to the market quite a few years ago, quite good looking, well appointed interior and some practical touches, but is beauty only skin deep?
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| Absolute 39, port side and bow |
Italian built 12 metre (39 feet, hence the name), twin diesel sterndrive, twin cabin sports cruiser. Absolute came out of what was once the Gobbi company, another Italian boatbuilder, they hit the ground running, the 39 was available at a time when there was also a 41, 45, 52, 56 and then in about 2008 a quad engine 70 was launched. A quick look at the Absolute webpage shows they are still very much alive and navigating with some lovely looking Navetta style trawler yachts and a flybridge range up to 70 feet.
The sub 12 metre sports cruiser class is packed with some real heavy hitters from Sunseeker, Fairline and Princess from the UK, there is home grown competition from Cranchi, one of the oldest boatbuilders. Read on to find out how the Absolute stacks up.
Exterior design
Starting at the stern, the bathing platform is only average size, there is a decent bathing ladder to starboard hidden inside a floor locker, if you need to open it from the water it might be a bit difficult. Also located here is the optional hydraulic passerelle which is neatly hidden away in a drawer type assembly when not in use, keeping the stern clean.
The stern has a garage with electric opening hatch, removal of the two floor panels gives the main access to the engine room, this is typical of smaller boats with garages, I am not really a fan as even basic daily checks like oil levels, coolant checks and checking the sea water baskets involves removing everything in the garage, this is a sweaty chore in August. The garage has to be opened and closed from a switch on the dashboard, a useful addition would be to have an additional switch on the stern.
The top of the garage provides a large sunbathing pad and there are very useful storage lockers underneath and the very clever touches of incorporating a designated storage area for a life ring and boathook.
As you enter the cockpit from the platform immediately to starboard is a purpose made well for a liferaft, this is a very nice touch and one other boatbuilders should look at, liferafts can and are a pain to move around, in this respect, I think sailboats have thought about it more, given that they are more likely to be further offshore. This well is located right near the transom and platform so makes launching the raft much easier.
Continuing with the theme of practical points, the engine room does have an auxiliary hatch in front of the liferaft storage well, you cant really access anything on the motors from here, especially if the optional generator is fitted, but it does allow you to visually inspect machinery space, also and probably more importantly, you can reach the thru hulls for black water and the generator raw water inlet. This boat uses remote operated battery switches, you can manually close them if necessary, this hatch allows you to get to them with little effort, nice thinking. The step down into the hatch itself is quite deep, you may not want to drop in there without a helper on hand.
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| Cockpit, top teak table to port, bottom: cockpit & wet bar with grill |
On the port side opposite the helm there is a nice teak table with comfortable wraparound seating, very sociable, you will see there is step up to sit around the table, this allows the aft cabin to have very good headroom.
Teak
All of the 39s I have seen have teak on the platform and the cockpit. The installation is as good as any other, if maybe a bit thin. The teak steps from the cockpit to the side decks have a slight flaw, the pieces that immediately face aft seem to be too long and suffer in the long run, also, as ever, the platform will suffer in the sun, that would be the first area that will require replacement, fortunately as said earlier the platform is not too big, unfortunately the price of teak has gone up so much.
Blue gelcoat
The original blue gelcoat had a lot of problems, it went white in the sun especially around the rear quarters, the only sure way to solve the issue is to paint those parts, the garage door was original blue too and suffered a similar fate. Some hulls have been wrapped in vinyl with varying degrees of success, vinyl is not going to give the same flawless finish as paint that has been well done, but it is a lot cheaper. Quite a few of these 39s are used in the charter business, so downtime for painting is not going to happen and no boat with faded gelcoat is going to be rented, so vinyl provides a sort of "make up".
From the gunwales upwards is white gelcoat and generally is very good, its not a stark "daz" white, more an off white and this is far more preferable in the Mediterranean, Italian yards have been using the "white but not quite" gelcoat palette for a long time.
Arch
There is a forward facing arch, the antennas and lights are installed here, some good thought has gone into the lighting gantry on the arch, if you have radar installed, often the antenna position causes a dissymmetry of the lights, it will not impede colregs or night navigation but it is definitely aesthetically displeasing, especially to those of us with a touch of OCD, the gantry is aluminum and even when the paint or powder coat finish needs redoing, it is a simple job.
Bimini
The bimini sunshade is in two parts, extending forward towards the bow from the arch and then extending backwards, originally would have been in a smart dark blue to match the hull, these might have been changed to white Stamoid type material, either looks nice, the blue is more classy though. The biminis use extendable tensioners fitted on rails, the tensioners can seize if not moved from time to time, replacements are available but might have to be specially ordered from italy.
Side decks and bow
The side decks and bow have some very aggressive anti slips pattern in them, its good that it offers a lot of grip, a bit harsh on the knees though. The teak steps from the platform to the side decks are very steep, going up is fine, coming back down, make sure you have a good handhold. The bow is quite large and usually has sunbathing cushions, as with all cushions, the fabric does suffer in the sun, and, they deteriorate more rapidly when not lifted up to dry properly when washing the boat.
My top tip for cushions is that when you have to have them reupholstered, get them made in 4 pieces instead of the usual two, maybe detachable headrests too, it makes storage when not in use so much easier, I have almost been blown overboard when trying to remove them and store them in high winds.
There is a very easy to access anchor locker up front and the guardrails are of a decent height. You may see fender baskets having been added, I am not a huge fan of them on the bows anyway, they block too much view.
Helm and dash layout
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| Helm position, neatly arranged but the metal dashboard covers are not a good choice |
There is a second nuisance too, the dash panels are covered with a metal plate with cutouts for switches and screens, its a strange design that adds an extra layer for no useful reason, cleaning any dirt that falls in the gaps is difficult and any repairs or interventions are also hindered.
Interior design
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| Interior, top: galley to port, bottom left: companionway steps, bottom right: galley and entertainment centre |
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| Absolute 39 interior, starboard side salon |
They have chosen a light mix of woods and soft furnishings, the sofa is a pale beige colour Alcantara and has a beautiful touch feely quality, light carpets help make the most of the natural light available. The woodwork and upholstery is all of an excellent standard, no blemishes or faults usually. Its not surprising the interior is well done, Italian yards are generally head and shoulders above the rest in design, material selection and that way of making it all hang together so aesthetically pleasing.
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| Cabins and heads, left, master, right guest |
One of the things that I have noticed on these is the twin heads, this is brilliant, especially when both cabins are in use, the toilet system itself is salt water, meaning it sucks up sea water to flush the toilet, fine, its common, even though much of the competition use fresh water flush heads, the fwd cabin heads unless regularly used develops the awful "heads" odours caused by the dead organics found in sea water, its far more noticeable on this boat that others, I cannot quite work out why as it does not really happen nearly so much in the aft cabin, my only though is the thru hull is located under the galley floor, the ose run to the head has a long straight under the floor and sea water sits in there.
Engineering
The engine room has already been mentioned, the need to open the garage and remove the panels to gain proper access, the room you have available is reduced but not drastically so by the optional generator, some highlights and low points of the general engineering installation;
Sound proofing, its not good, I don´t mean the boat is loud, its not, the sound proofing installed is of the old fashioned sponge pyramids, over time it crumbles, makes a mess and can clog up bilge pumps and air filters, so many boats I have seen with this stuff installed, sooner or later the same things happens.
Electric bilge pump, I do remember taking not of the one bilge pump in the engine room, fortunately the centre part of the bilge here is flat, the pump for me is too small and the pumping capacity should be increased, I would also be happier if a second pump was installed, there is a high water bilge alarm and thankfully, the pump is installed in the forward part of the engine room and not in-between the motors making it very easy to get to and test (do you hear that other boat builders, NOT in between in the motors where you can´t reach it!).
Manual bilge pumps, so many times these are installed as an apparent afterthought, in difficult to reach places or are not plumbed in and need you to start running hoses to where water needs to be pumped from, not in this case however, someone was thinking, there are two fixed manual bilge pumps, one goes to the engine room and the other further amidships, they are operated from the bathing platform, one per side, built into the side moldings, very well done.
Fire extinguishers, there is an automatic fire extinguishing system installed in the engine room, manual override exterior mounted, the original systems are dry powder, with copper piping and sprinkler heads installed. What is more impressive is from the factory there are handheld fire extinguishers already supplied and fitted with neat stickers attesting to their locations, one per cabin, the salon and the galley, that is seriously good on the part of Absolute and I cannot think of any other manufacturer who does this.
Electrical installation
Batteries, unlike some others who install the batteries in the engine room or under the beds in the aft cabin, Absolute installed them in a purpose build locker in the garage, I like this, the batteries are heavy and I loathe carrying them up steps or worse heaving them from the bowels of the engine room to the deck.
Remote battery switches are used for service and engines, a manual switch for the optional generator, all switches are located under the wet bar on the starboard side of the cockpit, a nice touch is if your batteries run so flat that the battery solenoids will not close or perhaps a fault, you can drop down into the engine room via a hatch and close them manually, this is something I wish a few more boatbuilders would think about, although they are getting better.
I do seem to recall that instead of using black and red conventionally coloured battery cables, a clear insulated type was used, the terminals were then colour coded, not a fan, would have preferred normal cables.
Wiring, The mains electrical wiring and main panel is generally okay, the panel is very easy to use and read, dual language Italian and English, if a generator is fitted the remote start panel and crossover switch are on the bottom part of the panel.
Where the wiring comes apart for me is on the battery powered systems, principally behind the dash and a lot of lighting fixtures, instead of using crimp terminals for example, those awful wiring nuts and terminal strips cut into pieces are used, these are a terrible thing to use on a boat and do nothing to mitigate corrosion, the problem is further exacerbated by the metal panels on the dash that must be removed to get behind the dashboard, all of these terminals should be replaced. If you have some skills and patience, this problem is not difficult to fix, just quite time consuming. I find it odd that some beautiful lights are installed, which Italy is well known for and then using the cheapest hardware store connections.
Navigation
There is nothing bad nor nothing special about the Absolute 39, with the large Volvo D6 motors flat out is in the mid to high thirties, it wont cut through the chop and carry on going without slamming in the same way a Sunseeker or Windy would, but its not uncomfortable either, it really is middle ground. One thing I do remember and is typical of larger sports cruisers on outdrives, they are very sensitive to trim angle, for a really comfortable ride I remember having to trim very high, this keeps the nose higher out the water.
Visibility from the helm is generally good, helm ergonomics are fine, nice steering wheel, everything falls to hand, no noticeable blind sports unless fender baskets have been fitted on the rails, the bow thruster is useful, the boat is quite high in the bow.
Its all a bit sort of uneventful and easy to forget, it neither excels nor is poor, that's not a criticism, far better the middle ground than going on my "don't touch with a boathook" list.
Summary
There is quite a lot to like about this boat, some nice touches from a technical point of view but, also some things to improve on. I think that's the reason I have seen quite a few used for charter, the 41 and 45 models too, they are practically the same just a bit longer, they do everything to a good standard but are not outstanding in any particular area, except possibly the interior furnishings and finishes, which are above par for the class.
It could be by luck but all the particular examples I have seen have been amazingly well equipped, largest engine options, generator, hydraulic passerelle, air conditioning, these are big ticket items, retrofitting them is expensive.
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