Boat test for the 2007 Fairline Phantom 48 with boat pictures, boat specifications, and boat test results. Includes pricing, videos, engine test reviews, and ratings for the 2007 Fairline Phantom 48.

My introduction to serious wheel time at PMY was onboard a Fairline Phantom 43 back in 2000. She was our company boat that year, and I was running numbers with senior editor Capt. Ken Kreisler. Up to this point my boating background had been primarily focused on sportfishermen, and I remember being awed by the 43's high-gloss wood, the volume of her interior, and just how different to me she was.

I also remember what an adventure it was. I had a great time throttling up her Volvo Penta diesels and piloting her up the Hudson River through a summer thunderstorm, dodging seemingly beach ball-size raindrops. She was a nimble vessel and an impressive welcome to the world of boat testing.

Seven years later—and with a few more boats in my wake—I found myself back where it all started, at the helm of a Fairline Phantom. This one, a 48-footer, is the latest from the English builder's line of sleekly styled, family-friendly, flying-bridge cruisers. And unlike my earlier rain-soaked experience, my day onboard the 48 was filled with high skies, a warm South Florida summer sun (at least 150-percent humidity), and checkerboard-flat seas.

Remembering the 43's fine joinerwork and exquisite cabinetry, I was curious to see what had changed and what had remained the same on the newest Phantom. I stepped through the 48's easy-sliding, stainless steel and glass cockpit door, and my eyes filled with the richness of gleaming, deeply stained American cherrywood. (White oak is also available and popular on the European versions of this boat.) Precisely grain-matched wood contrasted with the optional ivory leather settee to port and U-shape seating with hi-lo table to starboard. Fairline's top-level craftsmanship was obviously still there, and perhaps even better.

One noticeable change was the overall feel of the interior. It seemed that the radiuses and curves I remember from the 43 have given way to linearity. Straight lines and 90-degree angles now dominate in the aforementioned settees and the cabinets, both here and in the galley down. The lack of curves also provides more usable floor space and, in turn, a more capacious feel, enhanced by that large sliding-glass door, cabin-length side windows, and dramatically raked front window. The resulting 360-degree view will come in handy should you need or desire to operate the 48 from her lower helm.

As for that galley, I've been on several vessels recently that have had the galley up, enabling the cook to interact with guests. The 48 defies that trend; Fairline opted for the traditional galley down (the Phantom 50 offers the galley up), and it works. Just a few steps from the bridge deck, the fully equipped space is bathed in light by both the overhanging front window and those massive side windows, yet it's within conversational distance of the saloon and helm. Such conversation is made easier by the fact that the 48 is quiet. My decibel readings at the upper helm topped out at 77 dB-A (65 is the level of normal conversation).

Part of the reason for that is acoustical insulation, but part is also her solid build. Fairline starts with a hand-laid solid-fiberglass bottom, then adds a grid-type backbone of full-length foam-cored stringers and transversals spaced about every two and a half feet. The hull and deck are joined both chemically and mechanically and fiberglassed with a three-inch-wide overlap of cloth and resin. The result is a structure Fairline calls a monocoque and I call rock solid.

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