Absolute 47 FLY

The Absolute 47 FLY opens the Flybridge line at 48' 0" length overall on a 14' 10" beam, and it is laid out for an owner who runs the boat himself. The main helm has its own side door onto the walkway, which is the detail that decides whether you can step out and take a line without calling anyone forward.

The flybridge is a full deck rather than an overflow. There is a barbecue station, a generous relaxation area and a large sunpad alongside the helm, so whoever is driving stays in the conversation. Forward, the bow opens into a sundeck reached along protected side walkways with high, ergonomic handrails.

On the main deck the well-equipped galley joins the aft cockpit directly, turning the two into one open space, and the pillar-free windows carry the view the length of the salon. Air conditioning is fitted throughout, and the salon carries a double sofa with a table and a multi-media area.

Absolute's published figures for the 47 FLY: 423 gallons of fuel, 140 gallons of fresh water, twin Volvo Penta D6-IPS650 pod drives, 14 people aboard and CE Category B.

Absolute specifies twin Volvo Penta D6-IPS650 pod drives for the 47 FLY, and that choice shapes the whole boat. Pods put a joystick at the helm and turn a windy slip from a two-person job into a one-person job, which is the point of the side door beside the main helm.

Fuel is 423 gallons and fresh water 140 gallons. Those two numbers set the shape of a weekend more than anything else on the sheet, and with three cabins occupied it is usually the water that runs out first.

Speed and consumption on a pod installation move with load, propellers and how the boat is optioned. Ask for observed speed and fuel burn at your intended cruise rpm, in writing, on the exact hull and engine package you are ordering, and work your own weekend range off 423 gallons.

CE Category B and a maximum of 14 people aboard are the design limits to check against how you actually use a boat. If you are sizing a lift, a berth or a transport quote, ask the yard to confirm the draft and rigged weight of your build in writing.

Below deck the 47 FLY carries three cabins and two heads, and the third is a twin rather than a pair of bunks - a real difference if the people sleeping in it are teenagers rather than small children.

The master is forward and raised from the floor level without a step, so you walk into it rather than climb down. It has a spacious closet, a vanity desk and an en-suite head with a porthole in the shower. The VIP carries a double berth accessible from three sides and a walk-in closet, and panoramic windows in two of the cabins bring daylight below.

Absolute puts high ceilings through all three guest cabins, and those harmonious lines are what stop a 48-footer's lower deck reading as a corridor with doors off it.

The main deck reads as one room. The galley is positioned to serve the cockpit as well as the salon, so nobody carries plates up a step, and the pillar-free glazing means the person cooking is still part of the room. Fresh water is 140 gallons, which is the figure to plan showers and a pump-out schedule around.

The 47 FLY is the entry point to Absolute's Flybridge line, which then runs 52, 56, 60 and 70. Buying the 47 rather than the 52 costs you seven feet of length, the flybridge galley and bar the larger boat carries, and the crew cabin - the 47 puts all three of its cabins in the guest count instead.

What it keeps is the family resemblance: pod drives, an aft galley that serves the cockpit, a helm with its own side door, a flybridge laid out to be lived on, and a bow sundeck reached along protected walkways.

Against the wider market, a 48-foot flybridge with three cabins and two heads puts a buyer in the same conversation as the Galeon 480 FLY, the Princess F45 and the Ferretti 500. The 47 argues on layout rather than length: two doubles plus a twin at 48 feet, and a master you walk into at floor level.

Worth knowing before you settle on a flybridge at all - the 48 Coupe shares the 47's 14' 10" beam, its 423-gallon fuel and 140-gallon water capacities and the same D6-IPS650 package, and spends the difference on a sportier deck plan. The two are worth walking back to back.

The 47 FLY fits the owner-operator who wants a flybridge and does not want a captain. Twin pods with joystick control, a side door beside the main helm, and protected side walkways with high handrails are the three details that make this a boat you take out on a Friday evening on your own.

It fits a family that needs three separate sleeping cabins under fifty feet. Two doubles and a twin, two heads, high ceilings throughout, and a master you walk into at floor level rather than step down into - that combination is the reason to look at the 47 rather than at a larger two-cabin boat.

It fits the way a flybridge actually gets used in warm water. The barbecue station, the relaxation area and the sunpad beside the helm mean the top deck is where the day happens, and the aft galley opening into the cockpit means the main deck works the same way at anchor.

Before you commit, get the draft, the rigged weight and observed consumption at your cruise rpm confirmed in writing for your own build. It is the wrong boat if you need crew accommodation or a galley on the flybridge - both arrive with the 52 FLY.