Amel 50 - Build Thread

[boom23]

Originally Posted by chrisandgail

boom23, love your boat. Do you have any YouTube videos of your boat sailing. Thank you,Chris

Thank you.

I have some videos but never got around to editing them and posting them. Maybe, I'll get more ambitious when the virus problem is behind us.

There are few Amel 50 videos in YouTube though.

[BigNurse]

Amel its a great boat, out of question, but I personally prefer much more the Moody DS 54.
The Deck Saloon concept its amazing, manufacturing quality its top, luxurious, and the control of all sails from cockpit its amazing.
Anyway, I wish you all the best with your new ship, and may God bless you with health and good winds

[Mag3]

@bignurse -

I've sailed on and crawled all over both as this was one of the finalists i was considering (which means i agree - it's a pretty cool boat!). The DS54 is, in some ways a very similar concept, but the execution is very different..

- number of water tight bulkheads
- approach to the "porch" created by the hard dodger
- approach to engine room
- bed layouts (2 island beds vs. 1 etc.)
- sheltered single offset helm vs. double exposed
- ... etc. etc.

ultimately these design choices (and price) will ultimately speak to some more than others. to each their own. I ultimately chose the Amel for a bunch of specific design choices and the boss's (read: wife) feedback

What i can say unequivocally is that the overall build quality of the Amel is higher... which also results in a substantially more expensive boat.


Cheers,
-Justin

Originally Posted by BigNurse

Amel its a great boat, out of question, but I personally prefer much more the Moody DS 54.
The Deck Saloon concept its amazing, manufacturing quality its top, luxurious, and the control of all sails from cockpit its amazing.
Anyway, I wish you all the best with your new ship, and may God bless you with health and good winds

[BigNurse]

Originally Posted by Mag3

@bignurse -

I've sailed on and crawled all over both as this was one of the finalists i was considering (which means i agree - it's a pretty cool boat!). The DS54 is, in some ways a very similar concept, but the execution is very different..

- number of water tight bulkheads
- approach to the "porch" created by the hard dodger
- approach to engine room
- bed layouts (2 island beds vs. 1 etc.)
- sheltered single offset helm vs. double exposed
- ... etc. etc.

ultimately these design choices (and price) will ultimately speak to some more than others. to each their own. I ultimately chose the Amel for a bunch of specific design choices and the boss's (read: wife) feedback

What i can say unequivocally is that the overall build quality of the Amel is higher... which also results in a substantially more expensive boat.


Cheers,
-Justin

Thank you very much indeed for your kind answer Justin:
I’m now in the time to buy a boat, and the 3 I was considering were the Amel 50 (or the new Amel 60), the Garcia Exploration 52, and the Moody DS 54
The Garcia was rejected last week as I feel that its a “too rude” boat, sorry to say, but I’m not going to Antartica with it.
The main reason why I’m looking for this kind of “deck saloon” boats (considered also the Sirius 40, but its too small), it because we have frecuently guest, which are not used to sea, and became bad with seasick if they need to go down for lunch, etc., while we found that living in a place where you can be sitdown and see the water makes people less prone to seasick. And we know that if a friends couple became sick the whole weekend, they will never return.
This reason makes me also considering a catamaran, as you live over water, looking the sea, and moves less on anchorage, but I dont like how they sail.
Considering that I will be most of the times the only crew onboard, the managing of all sails with buttons from the helm in the Moody its easier than any other I could compare. Even in the Amels, to catch some roñes from the helm you need to go back, leaving the position.
Amel its very nicely done, out of question, but Moody allows also to be inside the cockpit in bad weather.
I really don’t know what to do !!!
I have up to 2M € of budget, so difference of prices shouldn’t be the problem.
The last quotation I have for the Moody (totally fully loaded with all extras from the yard available) were 1,4M, while I had read that the Amel 60 could be around 1,6 M, so it will fit also in the budget.
Long weekends with wifey, almost during all year, and some 2 to 3 months living onboard in summer its the plan, we live in the northwest coast of Spain
This thread really helps me a lot to appreciate the high quality of Amel, I really want to thank you very much to Boom for the fine job done

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by BigNurse

I’m now in the time to buy a boat, and the 3 I was considering were the Amel 50 (or the new Amel 60), the Garcia Exploration 52, and the Moody DS 54

Moody? Aren’t they owned and built by Bavaria these days? Nothing wrong with that, just not in the same category as Amels. With your budget, look at Oysters.

[BigNurse]

Originally Posted by Lost Horizons

Moody? Aren’t they owned and built by Bavaria these days? Nothing wrong with that, just not in the same category as Amels. With your budget, look at Oysters.

Moody its owned few years ago by Hanse, one of the biggest boat manufacturers worldwide. Moody its their luxury brand, where they show their best quality finishes, etc.
I was looking for many other brands (HR, Oyster, Najad, Swan, etc., etc), bur all of them have this “down life” design, you should go steps down for to cook, eat, etc, and then you get seasick in 3 minutes. Also, the design its important for me, I like modern design interiors: HR its too classy, by example.
Prlivilege catamarans have everything I like: quality, design, etc, but they are by far out of my budget also

[Mag3]

BigNurse -

I seriously looked at the 60 as well... got to go on hull number one last year when she was in the bath when i visited the factory. it's stunning and there are definitely some details that they wisely retained only for the 60 that I ache to have on the 50... (the finish / materials of the helm and helm station, the carbon mast, the white deck lines, etc.), but also honestly I felt that - for a much more complicated boat - you didn't get much more than more space... like... the additional space wasn't used nearly as smartly as on the 50.

in addition the 60 was a LOT more money both in initial cost and longitudinal cost... and as both the naval architect and Boom23 said to me - "get the smallest boat that fits your needs".

YMMV...

btw.. I agree. the sirius is super nice - extremely thoughtful design, but just too small.. if they made a 50 as smart as their 40 I'd have siriously (ha!) considered it.

have you actually been on an amel 50? if not - find a way to get on one both to feel and to sail.

Cheers,
-Mag3

Originally Posted by BigNurse

Thank you very much indeed for your kind answer Justin:
I’m now in the time to buy a boat, and the 3 I was considering were the Amel 50 (or the new Amel 60), the Garcia Exploration 52, and the Moody DS 54
The Garcia was rejected last week as I feel that its a “too rude” boat, sorry to say, but I’m not going to Antartica with it.
The main reason why I’m looking for this kind of “deck saloon” boats (considered also the Sirius 40, but its too small), it because we have frecuently guest, which are not used to sea, and became bad with seasick if they need to go down for lunch, etc., while we found that living in a place where you can be sitdown and see the water makes people less prone to seasick. And we know that if a friends couple became sick the whole weekend, they will never return.
This reason makes me also considering a catamaran, as you live over water, looking the sea, and moves less on anchorage, but I dont like how they sail.
Considering that I will be most of the times the only crew onboard, the managing of all sails with buttons from the helm in the Moody its easier than any other I could compare. Even in the Amels, to catch some roñes from the helm you need to go back, leaving the position.
Amel its very nicely done, out of question, but Moody allows also to be inside the cockpit in bad weather.
I really don’t know what to do !!!
I have up to 2M € of budget, so difference of prices shouldn’t be the problem.
The last quotation I have for the Moody (totally fully loaded with all extras from the yard available) were 1,4M, while I had read that the Amel 60 could be around 1,6 M, so it will fit also in the budget.
Long weekends with wifey, almost during all year, and some 2 to 3 months living onboard in summer its the plan, we live in the northwest coast of Spain
This thread really helps me a lot to appreciate the high quality of Amel, I really want to thank you very much to Boom for the fine job done

[Freshman]

What are your thoughts about Discovery 48/54? Rised salmon inside with navigation table on the level of windows makes sens. And life area is not so down.
Amel's helmsman place is very reasonable as not always sun is shining - if the weather goes down than it is much much better to seat under spray hood than further to aft.

[boom23]

Originally Posted by Freshman

What are your thoughts about Discovery 48/54? Rised salmon inside with navigation table on the level of windows makes sens. And life area is not so down.
Amel's helmsman place is very reasonable as not always sun is shining - if the weather goes down than it is much much better to seat under spray hood than further to aft.

Discovery boats look nice and are supposed to be well built. I've never been on one, but here are my thoughts based on what I've read/seen, and what I've been told...

They have teak decks, which I don't want to maintain.
They have way too many levels inside with many steps. This allows for good views, but I can see myself tripping frequently. The steps can make the interior feel smaller. Discovery is now building models with less interior levels.
They don't have the Amel engine room or watertight compartments.
They don't seem to retain their value very well. I don't know why.

It all depends on what's important to you. You should start with a list of "must have features", "would like to have features", etc. and start visiting factories and doing sea trials. That's the only way to find the right boat for you.

Good luck.

[boom23]

Originally Posted by BigNurse

Moody its owned few years ago by Hanse, one of the biggest boat manufacturers worldwide. Moody its their luxury brand, where they show their best quality finishes, etc.

It's not only the finishes that you should look at. You should also investigate the way the boats are built.

I know I sound like a broken record, but you should visit the factories and look behind the nice cabinets, or coverings. How much thought did they put into designing the boat and its systems? Are things easy to access and maintain?

Regarding boat size, almost everyone can sail in the open ocean in good weather. It's in tight quarters, or in rough weather, where things get complicated. I would get a boat that I, or my partner, can handle in these tough conditions. Of course, if you have a permanent experienced crew and large budget, you can go bigger.

[Mag3]

+1 on this: "you should visit the factories"...

I went to four different factories... it was eye opening. My father designed boat interiors for over 15 superyachts and some for ted hood's little harbor line of boats in the 90's, and I've been crawling around boat yards and manufacturing sites most of my life and, I can only say that in my personal experience the Amel site sat as a high water mark there... deep pride in craftsmanship, clean, motivated and proud workforce (they're all owners in the company per Mr. Amel's will), a willingness to provide transparency to every aspect of their build process (this obviously builds trust that there's nothing to hide)...

your mileage may vary.

if you can't make the build sites, again, I'd recommend one of the major boat shows, bring a flashlight, and look into every corner.

• how was it constructed?
• was care given to how to ever actually get access to a thing to repair it or inspect it?
• was care given to the invisible details?
• what was the quality of materials used - how will this look after 5 years of real world use?

Cheers,
-Justin

Originally Posted by boom23

It's not only the finishes that you should look at. You should also investigate the way the boats are built.

I know I sound like a broken record, but you should visit the factories and look behind the nice cabinets, or coverings. How much thought did they put into designing the boat and its systems? Are things easy to access and maintain?

Regarding boat size, almost everyone can sail in the open ocean in good weather. It's in tight quarters, or in rough weather, where things get complicated. I would get a boat that I, or my partner, can handle in these tough conditions. Of course, if you have a permanent experienced crew and large budget, you can go bigger.

[Adrian Chen]

Originally Posted by boom23

Discovery boats look nice and are supposed to be well built. I've never been on one, but here are my thoughts based on what I've read/seen, and what I've been told...

They have teak decks, which I don't want to maintain.
They have way too many levels inside with many steps. This allows for good views, but I can see myself tripping frequently. The steps can make the interior feel smaller. Discovery is now building models with less interior levels.
They don't have the Amel engine room or watertight compartments.
They don't seem to retain their value very well. I don't know why.

It all depends on what's important to you. You should start with a list of "must have features", "would like to have features", etc. and start visiting factories and doing sea trials. That's the only way to find the right boat for you.

Good luck.

Just a quick note about the list.

All Discovery's have teak as standard, however many are now built with synthetic or in one case cork decking. Its up to the client.

Engine rooms are fitted to the 50ft and over models and the centre cockpit 435, the aft cockpit 420/480 the engine is under the floor/companionway

The 48 and 54 upwards have watertight compartments forwards and aft, and kevlar incorporated in the forward section of the hull.

I'm not sure if any of the newer models have sold on the open market, however my experience selling my Southerly 47 was very pleasing, so I'm not sure that depreciation is anything to do with the marque, and perhaps to do with the heavy use and age of the boats that is typical?

Cheers
Adrian

[BigNurse]

Originally Posted by boom23

It's not only the finishes that you should look at. You should also investigate the way the boats are built.

I know I sound like a broken record, but you should visit the factories and look behind the nice cabinets, or coverings. How much thought did they put into designing the boat and its systems? Are things easy to access and maintain?

Regarding boat size, almost everyone can sail in the open ocean in good weather. It's in tight quarters, or in rough weather, where things get complicated. I would get a boat that I, or my partner, can handle in these tough conditions. Of course, if you have a permanent experienced crew and large budget, you can go bigger.

Quality on Moody its very fine, they are truly “made in Germany” boats, over engineered and strong, I like how germans works (just look on how they do cars, by example) and how they design things.
Regarding the size of the ship, its just slightly bigger than the Amel 50, but with central rudder, and both bow and stern thrusters I don’t see too much problems into moving it on the marina.
Probably all owners buying a 50’ or + new yacht have enough budget to keep it correctly maintenance. Spending (like you or me) far over 1M€ on a new toy shouldn’t make a nightmare to pay the expenses associated with it.

[boom23]

Originally Posted by BigNurse

Quality on Moody its very fine, they are truly “made in Germany” boats, over engineered and strong, I like how germans works (just look on how they do cars, by example) and how they design things.
Regarding the size of the ship, its just slightly bigger than the Amel 50, but with central rudder, and both bow and stern thrusters I don’t see too much problems into moving it on the marina.
Probably all owners buying a 50’ or + new yacht have enough budget to keep it correctly maintenance. Spending (like you or me) far over 1M€ on a new toy shouldn’t make a nightmare to pay the expenses associated with it.

It seems like you have found your perfect boat! Enjoy!

[BigNurse]

Originally Posted by boom23

It seems like you have found your perfect boat! Enjoy!

Thank you very much.

One of the things that finally make us to decide for the Moody (apart of the Deck Saloon and floor plan) are the high walk-around bulwark sides, very similar to a motorboat.
Having a small pet, which we carry with us always, no other similar sailboat we’ve found in the market more safe for him than the Moody to move onboard.

Best regards from Vigo, and good winds


Pedro