Amel 50 vs. Garcia 52 vs. Discovery 48

[real_goat]

Imho the Cockpit is one of the biggest strengths of the Exploration. Way more space and variability than on a boreal or besteaver and the space is also usable in colder regions.

https://imgur.com/a/YsLExnv

[ol1970]

Originally Posted by joelhemington

Just curious, how did you arrive at those three? People in that market would usually be looking at Swans, Hallberg Rasseys and Oysters as well. Have never heard anything negative about the Amels.

Well truth be told the entire short list for new boats also includes:

Oyster 565, HR 50, Amel 60, and on the multi side Balance 526 or 482, Privilege 510, Outremer 51/55/5x(used)...and don't shoot me but also Nordhavn

My heart tells me monohull, my wife tells me multihull. Once travel opens up again we'll start to do some visiting of factories and hopefully some sea trials. My wife is from Sweden and we love sailing the archipelago and plan to take whichever craft fairly far north, like maybe Svalbard type north.

[Emouchet]

A 52' boat is a huge boat. If you look at sailing a lot, the size of all the gear needed to handle the sails is going to drain you.

If you observe large >=45' sail boat on your sailing area you will find out that those guys do not sail for a 2-3 hours sails. They will motor because this is too much work! Especially with small crew, like husband and wife...

The Amel for that includes more electric equipment for helping on boat handling. But lots of gear means lots of time for maintaining the boat gear, and less time enjoying the trips.

[Telesail]

My two cents... You have a good list and a lot of good advice. If you are really going to do high latitude sailing (north or south) then there is a reason that many are suggesting Aluminium boats - Bestevaer, Garcia, Boreal. To those, I would add Alubat (Ovni 450 is the biggest lifting keel version they currently make) and Allure.

I wanted to love the Amel 50 that anchored next to us but it was a bit anaemic and neither one thing nor t’other. If you are the kind of person that might go camping in a Winnebago then the Amel 50 is for you. However, if you feel drawn to a ‘monohull Catamaran’, then you mIght prefer a two hulled Cat even more.

[kmacdonald]

I think much over 50' is too big for a husband and wife that are getting up in years. How much experience do you have with sailing?

I'd give the edge to a HR vs the Amel. You really couldn't go wrong with either though.
The Nordhaven is a good idea if you are getting old and plan on it being your last boat.

[barnakiel]

Amel KETCHES are know for being very easy to handle.


But Amel 50 is a sloop and this implies bigger main, bigger genoa, and this implies more difficult handling. Probably by going sloop rig Amel has lost its 'easy peasy' advantage.


e.g.


Amel 50 mainsail - 62 sq m
Amel 55 mainsail - 47 sq m


So, in a boat that is 5 ft shorter we are now dealing with a sail that is 25% larger.


I, personally, do not like this shift. I would opt for a boat with smaller sails.


Also, Amel does not offer lifting keel, which OP seems to want.


b.

[kmacdonald]

Amel has electric winches. They don't care what size the sail is.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Amel KETCHES are know for being very easy to handle.


But Amel 50 is a sloop and this implies bigger main, bigger genoa, and this implies more difficult handling. Probably by going sloop rig Amel has lost its 'easy peasy' advantage.


e.g.


Amel 50 mainsail - 62 sq m
Amel 55 mainsail - 47 sq m


So, in a boat that is 5 ft shorter we are now dealing with a sail that is 25% larger.


I, personally, do not like this shift. I would opt for a boat with smaller sails.


Also, Amel does not offer lifting keel, which OP seems to want.


b.

I’ve never seriously considered buying one so I may be wrong, but I’ve been under the impression that all the sails on Amels were on powered furlers, or maybe it’s just a popular option, I don’t know for sure. But if so, what’s difficult about having to hold down the mainsail furling button 25% longer? And with powered winches even tacking a big Genoa can be tamed. If all the sails were hanked on and without a powered furler on the jib, I could understand your POV on this, but with all powered winches and furlers I don’t see it as a big problem. Even if the powered furler breaks, there’s a way to turn a crank to manually furl it.

[nwdiver]

Two other would be the Bestewind 50 by KM yachts it’s their glass 50 and the Discovery 55 a boat designed for long distance 2 handed sailing.......

[Scotty Kiwi]

Originally Posted by Emouchet

A 52' boat is a huge boat. If you look at sailing a lot, the size of all the gear needed to handle the sails is going to drain you.

If you observe large >=45' sail boat on your sailing area you will find out that those guys do not sail for a 2-3 hours sails. They will motor because this is too much work! Especially with small crew, like husband and wife...

Not true. Have done 40,000nm mainly solo on 68ft, and 10,000nm on 50 footer. Am far from unique in this. Have never felt limited to 2-3 hrs, and certainly never due to the possibly harder work of handing bigger sails.

I firmly believe bigger is easier, and faster, better motion etc, but actually have not crossed oceans on anything less than 48ft - so I can't be absolutely sure about what is least work/effort.

[David B]

Originally Posted by Emouchet

A 52' boat is a huge boat. If you look at sailing a lot, the size of all the gear needed to handle the sails is going to drain you.

If you observe large >=45' sail boat on your sailing area you will find out that those guys do not sail for a 2-3 hours sails. They will motor because this is too much work! Especially with small crew, like husband and wife...

The Amel for that includes more electric equipment for helping on boat handling. But lots of gear means lots of time for maintaining the boat gear, and less time enjoying the trips.

Hmmm - we have a 50' and find it about right size wise. Easily single handed, and that includes docking. And we don't have the luxury of the electric furling something like an Amel does (and the two of us are in our late sixties ...).

[B23iL23]

Blasphemy!

Originally Posted by Telesail

My two cents ...
I wanted to love the Amel 50 that anchored next to us but it was a bit anaemic and neither one thing nor t’other. If you are the kind of person that might go camping in a Winnebago then the Amel 50 is for you. However, if you feel drawn to a ‘monohull Catamaran’, then you mIght prefer a two hulled Cat even more....

[Tillsbury]

I'm a bit surprised by your list of three (although they're all good boats). It would depend on the type of sailing you're planning. More on the high latitudes and the garcia would win for me, but then you should be looking at boreal and bestevaer as comparisons.

The Discovery has the advantage of the pilot saloon, and that would be my choice for mid-latitude sailing (as opposed to tradewind or extreme arctic conditions). And you might be looking at an oyster to compare, perhaps an HR.

The Amel would depend on whether you love or hate the helm position.

[B23iL23]

The steering position on the Amel is the one thing that made me think twice (or 10 times) before committing. I'm a traditional racer and have been since the age of 10 so helming is (or was important to me).

But with cruising it's different - you don't go out for an afternoon sail around the bay where you grab the boat by the scruff of the neck and scream around smiling all day. When you are cruising you are at anchor or on passage. At anchor the wheel is useless so on the Amel it's tucked out of the way and not taking up valuable space in your cockpit. On passage, apart from maybe the first hour, the chances are you will be on autopilot for the next 30 hours or 30 days. You're not ever at the helm for long. That's the same for any boat whether a center or aft cockpit.

Now when the weather gets snotty and you need to manage the boat then that's where the Amel scores big time with the enclosure. It's different, it's not the prettiest , it goes against the thinking of purist sailors but it actually makes a lot of sense.

Originally Posted by Tillsbury

I'm a bit surprised by your list of three (although they're all good boats). It would depend on the type of sailing you're planning. More on the high latitudes and the garcia would win for me, but then you should be looking at boreal and bestevaer as comparisons.

The Discovery has the advantage of the pilot saloon, and that would be my choice for mid-latitude sailing (as opposed to tradewind or extreme arctic conditions). And you might be looking at an oyster to compare, perhaps an HR.

The Amel would depend on whether you love or hate the helm position.

[georgy.goshin]

Have no experience with these boats, but by the reviews Garcia seems the best - weight distribution over the hull made close to the middle, technical rooms, every system in the boat can be serviced, steering system are redundant, deck saloon with reverse slope, insulated hull, great doors, etc...