What’s your boating history before the Princess 35M?
I started out on sail boats as a child and then would crew for friends’ parent’s boats at the weekends in the Solent. Then I got married and started a family fairly young so there was a significant break but once the children had grown-up we started yachting again, and switched from sail to motor in their teenage years (5 girls enough said!).
We purchased our first motor yacht in 2015, a Fairline Squadron 58, a perfect first boat to get started on. We then moved to a 72’ Princess for more room in 2018 and started to engage full time crew with our still Captain Jolan Pedersen. We were having so much fun we decided to step up again to the Princess 88 in 2019 and then took a big leap to the Princess 35M in 2021.
Why did you choose Princess?
A dear friend of mine called Neville, who is a mad keen boater and already owned a Princess V Class in Chichester, kindly invited us on his boat and we’d regularly visit the boat show and compare different brands and models. I simply didn’t see any other manufacturer apart from older Fairlines and one or two Italian builders matching the build quality of Princess. They are just a higher-grade product, intelligently built to a high standard.
Why did you select the Princess 35M?
In truth we were more focused on something in the 30m range moving up from an 88-footer (23m) and proving that Princess’ sales people are as good as their boats, Joe Hill persuaded Di and I to visit the boat in Italy to at least ‘have a look’. Well, it was all over from the moment we stepped foot on her, this gave us so much more room including an extra berth and a proper ‘garage’ and the boat was in superb condition. It was a stretch for us, but we negotiated during another lockdown and ended up with an agreement in May 2021.
How has it performed?
It’s been the most wonderful experience, so far, no major technical issues and Princess have been very solid in supporting all warranty work on the inevitable issues that arise in the first few years. We now have a full-time engineer who often remarks on the high-quality build and thought put into the engineering and ability to easily maintain the boat.
What have been some of your recent yachting highlights?
There are so many it’s going to be difficult to pinpoint. We spent our first few years in the Balearics on all of our boats. There is something for everyone in the islands from absolute peace and serenity of Cabrera to the night life of Ibiza and the beauty and calm of Majorca’s west coast. However, in truth it’s always been about the journey so having explored these islands we have started our exploration up through the Spanish and French coast, Sardinia and Corsica and now back down the Italian coast to Amalfi in 2023.
What are your cruising plans for the future?
Our plan has always been to travel the Mediterranean, but slowly and really explore different areas, so after a planned birthday moored in Venice, we will over the next few years be travelling down through the Croatian archipelago, doodle around Corfu and Lefkada, through the Gulf of Corinth and into the Aegean Sea on board our Princess 35M. We are starting to think of a couple of seasons in the Caribbean as well to make the most of the year.
Discover our range of larger yachts online including the Princess X Class and Y Class.
