Princess 50

Onboard the Princess 50

The Princess 50 reads as a sportscruiser rather than a floating villa, and that is exactly its appeal. At 15.5 metres she carries her lines low and fast, with a cockpit and aft deck sized for ten guests to sit, eat and move around without feeling stacked on top of each other. Below deck, two cabins give couples or a small family a place to change, stow bags or shelter from wind on a breezier afternoon — practical rather than palatial, and all the better for it.

She suits the run south to Sitges more naturally than a long coastal push: out from Port Olímpic, thirty-five kilometres down the coast, an anchor off the bay for swimming while the water is calm, then a walk ashore for lunch at one of the seafront restaurants before heading back. It is a five-to-seven-hour day that plays to the boat's cruising speed and her guests' patience in roughly equal measure, and it avoids the open swell that can make Barcelona's own bay less restful for a slower lunch stop.

Booked most often by couples celebrating something specific, or by a small family group who want the boat to themselves rather than sharing space with strangers, the Princess 50 runs with a skipper and does not pretend to be a multi-day cruiser — she is a day boat, and a good one. Because she sits at the compact end of the fleet, she is also one of the easier vessels to place at short notice when a date firms up later than planned; worth asking about directly rather than assuming she is already taken.