Fairline Squadron 58 sea trial review: Is this the world’s most exciting 60ft flybridge?

Is Fairline’s lavishly featured new 58-footer really as good as it looks? Alex Smith heads for Southampton to find out on a full test drive of the Fairline Squadron 58…

When you first set eyes on the new Fairline Squadron 58, it feels impressively restrained.

While competitor models from Sunseeker, Galeon and Absolute adopt all kinds of dramatic angles, curves and cutaways, there’s a simple purity to the Squadron 58 that feels perfect for a brand whose success has been built more squarely on demonstrable seagoing substance than on tricks of the eye.

Huge unbroken glazing sections dominate the superstructure and hull sides. The raked aft struts of the optional flybridge T-Top mirror the angle of the hull windows, and there’s a stark, fuss-free contrast between the black and white that feels very forthright and confident.

That’s not to say that the new Fairline Squadron 58 is without its own share of stylistic spice though, because however you feel about the relative absence of fanfare, there’s plenty of fun to be had in the LED detailing.

It’s sandwiched between the flybridge steps, it floods the deck spaces from low level and it picks out the contours at the aft end of the three decorative steel fins that have been a trademark of the Squadron line since the 90s.

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£1510000

But what really excited the show visitors at this boat’s Southampton Boat Show debut was not so much the aesthetic as the leisure potential of the deck arrangements and that all starts with the 58’s stupendous back end.

Boat Number 1 uses a range of very effective options to put alfresco fun firmly at the heart of the Squadron experience. The aft cockpit, for instance, features a glazed transom and modular furniture, which is light enough to lift and shift, should you want to change the view.

Further aft, the new ‘Slide & Hide’ submersible bathing platform enables you to extend the lower deck at the push of a button, virtually doubling its size, without the additional mooring fees that a lengthier boat would incur.

There’s also an ice bucket, a bin and some storage lockers back here, plus an optional slide-out barbecue that enables you to cook down at water level.

And to help make the very most of this section of the boat, the optional transverse crew cabin, accessed beneath the steps at the port side of the swim platform, can also be specced as a day heads, which enables your expandable beach club to function as an all-day social hub, virtually independent of the rest of the boat.

Read Alex’s full review of the Fairline Squadron 58 in the December 2023 issue of MBY, which is out now.

Fairline Squadron 58 specifications

LOA: 58ft 4in (17.80m)
Beam: 16ft 4in (4.99m)
Draft: 5ft 0in (1.52m)
Displacement (dry): 27,000 kg
Fuel capacity: 2,774 L
Engines: Twin 900-1,000hp Volvo Penta D13 12.8L inline 6-cylinder diesels on shaft drives
Top speed on test: 31.2 knots
Fuel consumption: 211 lph @ 20 knots / 88.4 lph @ 9.9 knots
Cruising range: 210nm @ 20 knots / 249nm @ 9.9 knots
Noise: 66.5 d(B)A @ 20 knots
RCD category: B for 16 people
Starting price: £1,550,000 (ex. VAT)
Price as tested: £2,380,000 (ex. VAT)