Neel 52 Trimaran - the Space Yacht that SHIFTS! Walkaround and thoughts from La Grande Motte

A walkaround the Neel 52. This trimaran, designed by Marc Lombard Yachr Design, has an impressive amount of living space. You almost get lost down below.
She comes in two main versions: the Sky Deck View with Owner's Cabin up top off the saloon (4 or 5 cabins + 2 crew cabins aft) or the Sea Deck View with Owner's Cabin down below (from 4-6 cabins)
Priced from just over €1m plus your options. So you are looking in the region of €1.3m for a well kitted-out boat. 2024 prices.

[@neel-trimaransgroup9077]

Great video, thank you!

[@katamaranscom]

Impressed with the living space on this boat, that galley is something else!

[@meadmaker4525]

I'm a fan of the Neel 51, with some exceptions, not so much the 52. The raised helm position and rooftop lounge are mistakes both suffer from. Delete those and you'd be able to lower the mainsail boom 7-8 feet, lowering the center of effort under sail and improving performance and stability. You'd also be able to use the remaining solid roof for more solar. The main helm should be where the inside helm position is, with all lines led there. The cheap dodger perched oddly on one side ruins the boat's lines and would make for a pretty uncomfortable helm at sea. For the 52, they essentially flipped the interior design of the 51 and said, "Look, it's new!" Not so much. They galley was plenty big enough on the 51. On the 52, they took space from the main deck cabin to make more counter space for the galley, which they didn't need. Now the main deck cabin looks pretty cramped. Unfortunately, they ruined one of the 51's best features on the 52, the engine room. On the 51, you could literally walk all the way around the engine. The access was amazing. On the 52, they've stuffed the engine further to the rear, with frankly pretty poor access (like most monohulls), and stuffed another double cabin where the engine should have been. Just doesn't make sense. The bunks in the forward center hull cabin are more benches than bunks. Even kids would find those too small. And with too many tiny doors between there and the Jack-and-Jill tiny head that's shared with the center hull double cabin. The 51's design in this area was better. Finally, both suffer from really poor dinghy recovery. Have you ever seen someone try to use the boom to lift the dinghy onto one of these boats? The boom isn't long enough, so when recovering from the water it drags the dinghy into the stern, and you have to somehow muscle it away from the boat to clear the stern and actuate the winch to lift it at the same time, with the launch process being just as bad. There's no reason not to mount a set of proper davits, or even rotating davits, which would allow for better launch and recovery of the dinghy. I want to like Neel trimarans. I think there's so much potential there over a catamaran, and I love the look of them. I just can't get past some of the obvious design flaws.

[@katamaranscom]

You make some interesting points there. Do you mean a forward helm with access forward? You would lose quite a bit of saloon space there but it would be interesting to see a tri with that helm set up. I have to say I was impressed with the overall living space on this new model. If you went for owner´s cabin down, the space would be huge, it´s big already. For me personally, I prioritise the living space over cabin space (most of the time you are asleep or reading anyway). That forward central cabin is the smallest, but the others seemed fine to me, I can see this would work really well for younger families especially with access to the floats from the main saloon. You make an interesting point about the boom crane. The boom is higher, but it's not crazy flybridge height, I could live with that especially as the lines all come into the helm and everything is easy to get to in a seaway.

[@meadmaker4525]

@@katamaranscom - Yes, definitely a forward helm with some access forward. Something more akin to Chris White's design, though, not like the Windelo cat that has an unnecessarily large portion of the interior carved out for dual helm stations. I would happily sacrifice that forward center-hull berth on the Neel 52 to make room for that kind of design. Minimal impact on the interior salon space, about as much as there is now with that interior helm station, but with the ability to get out of the nasty weather when under way. It's a safer helm position overall, and access to all the lines and winches is literally 2-3 steps away. I'm definitely with you on prioritizing the living space over other things, which is why I disliked what they did with the galley on the 52 vs the 51. Seems like they sacrificed a fair bit of that master cabin room. Having said that, I haven't been on one, so maybe it's different in person. Personally, I think the slightly narrower cabin space in the floats is a pretty good trade-off for trimaran performance and stability. They looked plenty comfortable enough. What do you recon...they're maybe 2 feet narrower than on a similar-length cat? Relocating the engine and losing the fantastic access that was there on the 51 might be the thing I find most offensive, but I had that discussion with another yacht reviewer (Toby) who made the point that they did this for better balance. Putting the weight further aft led to less porpoising, as the bows were lifted out of the water, making for a smoother ride overall. I can definitely appreciate that sound reasoning, but it's still a shame to lose such amazing access once you've had it. As a production yacht company, I'm sure it's nigh-on impossible to meet everyone's wants and desires, so they provide what they think most people will want and hope they buy it. My perfect Neel would take some re-engineering, to be sure, but she'd be a beast when she launched!! Good talking with you!

[@katamaranscom]

@@meadmaker4525 One thing I would say about the Windelo forward cockpit, that it's such a great place to stand a night watch tucked in on those benches with the view forward and it ends up as quite a social space on the hook, hanging out, chatting to people lazing on the nets. The other thing I hadn't factored in with a forward cockpit (I guess I hadn´t been thinking about it) is anchoring. So easy to spot your chain, it´s easy as a one person job if you need it to be. Thanks for the interesting comments!

[@Maloy7800]

The mystery that haunts me. WHY do you need a double sink? I've seen and heart this a few times already. "Double sink is the deal breaker". WHAT do you do with the second sink?

[@katamaranscom]

Not a deal breaker but personal preference again. If you are smashing into a sea going upwind, and don't fancy doing the dishes just yet, you have a safe space for your dirty plates and glasses with one free for making drinks, pouring away liquids. More flexible in my opinion, I think you could easily fit a "sink and a half" here which would do the job

[@sonnysalvador]

The build quality has to be the worst out there just look at 5:55, I dont know what they were thinking there.

[@katamaranscom]

I thought it was pretty good. Looks like the owner just went for a utility area in the stbd forepeak and kept it functional. I should think there's an option to add decor if you want

[@GoodkatNW]

Neel has had build quality issues since their inception. It's too bad, because the creativity in their builds is top notch

[@Maloy7800]

This is, believe it or not, the first time I see the inside of a trimaran. And quite honestly, I'm very not impressed. In a cat you usually get larger cabins and a lot less steps. Here, there are three very narrow cabins and a "master" suit squeezed between the cockpit and the saloon with the bathroom downstairs. What's the point in all these complications? Why not just buy a catamaran? What does the trimaran has that a cat doesn't?

[@katamaranscom]

Typically you can run a more powerful sail plan with a trimaran as 3 Hulls give you more stability (this boat has a bigger mainsail than an Outremer 52 for example). The risk of capsize is lower with a trimaran. They also perform well upwind. Against that, as you say, there is less width in the floats so it depends on your preference. I was pretty impressed with the space on this boat, and I am not a natural Tri customer. I haven't seen a comparable galley on a 50 footer. If you want a big owners cabin, you configure it up top. It's big alright! If it was me, I would probably max out the living space up top and go for the cabins down below. There are pros and Cons, like any boat, this one moved the dial for me on tris

[@bradynixon8900]

If you compare the total sqm of a Neel 52 versus any cat you’ll find quickly the Neel is much more roomy. I’ve seriously looked at every cat in this size and compared their deck layouts with my architectural programmes. Cats are compromised. If there is only two people onboard then go the cat, the do look great but if you need to pack n stack kids like I do then the tri is better. Everything has a compromise.

[@Maloy7800]

@@bradynixon8900 I'm sorry but you are talking complete rubbish. MAYBE (and I'm not sure it's true) trimarans have some miniscule sqm advantage on the deck level, but calling cats "compromized" and saying they are only good "if there is only two people", is utter nonsense. Lagoon 51 is 15.35x8.10 meters. This Neel 52 is 15.90x8.80. With MUCH narrower floats than the catamaran's hulls I seriously doubt it's any bigger. Lagoon 51 has EIGHT cabins for 12 people to sleep in queen size beds PLUS two crew, this thing has five cabins which I can only describe as cramped. So either post your exact findings, which models you compared, or throw away your "architecural programmes" and stop talking nonsense.

[@The_guy_on_the_internet]

I also doubt very much that a Lagoon 51 sails as well as a Neel52

[@Maloy7800]

@@The_guy_on_the_internet And why is that? Same height mast. Sail area 160 vs 190 adv Neel BUT three floats might make more wetted area. Any substantiation for your "doubt"? General question to the whole "audience". Do you guys do ANY research on the subject or are you just fanboys?