I am amazed at the difference in quality and durability of some of the materials in my 1991
Privilege 482 compared to other boats.
The seacocks are a type of plastic, they have never leaked, siezed or given any problems at all, are extremely easy to operate, (the thru hulls however were also plastic and snapped like a twig if overtightened, these were replaced with marlon in '95 and are still good.) The window curtains, after almost 20 years in the
Caribbean are still like new, have not rotted out, ( I get ribbed about the out of date pattern, but I like it better than any others I have seen ) while other
Privilege owners i know of have replaced them with a more fashionable design and have to replace them again every few years due to UV exposure.
The vinyl seat covers are still like new, as are the mattress covers and the mattress foam, the covers have been washed in bleach several times without it affecting the color or material, the varnished woodwork is still stunning, the laminated plastic sole seems indestructable.
While hauled out recently the shipyard guys mentioned that they had seen her in the yard so many times, they were curios about her age, when told almost 20 they were very surprised and remarked that most 4 year old cats looked twice as old as the Privilege.
Considering she has been in
charter all her life that's impressive.
Regards the design, I think she is much better looking and has far more style than most later cats, this opinion is shared by the many who stop and ask about her, as she is an oddity among all the many cats here.
For a 48 footer with 5 doubles, 5 heads and showers, 4 refrigerators, an unusually large
galley, two air conditioners, a big
generator and all the stuff needed for
charter including a 15 foot
rib with a big
4 stroke outboard and a couple of Kayaks she is not slow, she is also very stiff and strong.
I see a lot of discussion about speed, on a cruising
boat its not that important, we are all overloaded by the time we start to use the
boat much, but the Privilege easily does 10kts in the stiff breezes we get here, and we have seen speeds in the low teens on the speed log and
gps when we were trying.
I would be interested to hear from other 482 owners about their experience with what I think is one of the better designed and built cats.