Neel 45 Trimaran

[Spindoctor]

What I meant to say (and inartfully articulated) was that the "Sport" version that "won" the ARC line honors and is for sale on Yachtworld appears to have a centerboard. Has anyone sailed a Neel 45 enough to speak meaningfully about its upwind abilities and any leeway concerns for the version without a centerboard? Can it go upwind or does it have leeway issues?

See pics 23, 24 for centerboard on Sport version.

2015 NEEL TRIMARANS Racing 45 Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

[Cedalise]

Having sailed twice on both Neel 45 N°1 and N°10 ( 2012 and 2015 if i recall ) from Martinique, I can tell you that there are not so many visible finishing issues on theses yachts. N°1 have a bit of humidity on port float. N°10 is looking better inside and i haven't spot any noticable flaw during my charters.

They are relatively fast in small wind and you reach 8,5 knots with 10 - 11 km/h wind speed from 90°. With 20 knots crosswind they sail at around 10 knots.

I find it very surprising that a brand new Neel had so much flaws than the one in the youtube videos.

[admiralslater]

When we where looking for a new boat 3 years ago in FT lauderdale we went aboard a neel45 . the lay out was interesting and the room under the floor in the main hull made the systems easy to lay out . It was the build quality and the lack of thought in the deck layout that put me off . they were asking over 5 and got less than 3 .That said I did see a couple in the Caribbean this winter

[Tri]

There are a good number of Neel 45 in charter. Would be interesting to get feedback from an owner. I know one and will text him. Last time in contact he was about to cross the Atlantic. Again, what strikes me most is not the fact that there are issues but the service mentality of the shipyard on how to deal with them.

[Stumble]

Originally Posted by Tri

There are a good number of Neel 45 in charter. Would be interesting to get feedback from an owner. I know one and will text him. Last time in contact he was about to cross the Atlantic. Again, what strikes me most is not the fact that there are issues but the service mentality of the shipyard on how to deal with them.

Agreed. Any builder can have a problem, it's the responce to that problem that is concerning here.

[nelia]

I am the owner of a neel 45 (n18)

So far we have been happy with the boat. No structural faults, no quality Problems (but then again she is still young).
We are sailing the boat at the Moment the the Southhampton boat Show. There she will be exposed. We live with 2 Young children aboard. So if the quality is bad, it will show by then.

I have checked the boat by an indipendent professionel. We have not found significant problems (some small problems that you will probably find in any new boat - that we easily resolved or improved).

The boat sails fast and is easily managed by one person alone at sea.

The rig is simplisitc. I personally like this as I admire simple, easy and funcitonal design. So far I have been sailing very fast, and this even without using a complex running rig. I like easy and fast sailing.

The hull n13 (neelexperience) is a tragic event and I feel sorry for all the involved persons. But in my understanding it proved the neel security concept. Even if you have a hull failure - it does NOT SINK.

Every new neel hull evolved a lot comparing to its previous model . Some problems that existed in earlier models have been completly eliminated. That sad n1 is still beeing used in charter buiseness. The owner seems to be happy with the boat, as he bought a second one (n10).

Of course I am very much interested in your knowledge about possible problems on neel Trimarans. I am still searching for possible problems. But just could not find them on my boat. Where can I find a problem?

thanks for your input m

[ranchero76]

neeltrimaranexperience in his videos on YouTube showed all problem areas, wrongly done hose routing and other things, with explanation from proffessionals what and why done wrong. It would be great if you would make video of EXACT same areas of the boat, to see what's improved. Here's one of the videos with very detailed description of defects and improperly done things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6fbhARgFXI

[nelia]

Dear Ranchero,

I appreciate your interest. I would very much like to go through all these points. First of all my boat is still under warranty. So whenever you find something that is wrong on my boat - I will sail her back to the Neel guys to have it fixed. For this reason I also had it checked by a professional. I stongly beliefe in the wisdom of crowds. The more eyes look at it - the more I will learn about the boat.

Feel free to wish any section of the boat photographied.

I the video you posted a lot of the comments are about the hull failure of n13. In my understanding what happened is that water entered through the ladder box compartement. In our boat this section is about 20cm above the water line. (Picture taken with full diesel, full water ). On n13 it seems that the ladder box got immeresed under water level (I would need to add about another 2tons to get this part submeresed. The ladder box has not been sufficiently glued. Water entered. Neel assured me that these boxes now get an extra strength layer. Here I have to trust. I can not Picture these extra layers (and I do not want to drill a hole to measure it . But what happened then: Water entered in the main hull (Horror). The boat started to sink. But because the Trimaran has the floaters/amas as an additional buoncy aid it stopped sinking after the water reached a hight of 60cm inside the central hull. This means that the batteries and all the wiring stayed above and fuctional (abouth 70cm) - even n13 sailed with all the water in the central hull for another 200nm. In n13 water entered also the front compartement (though the Omegas). The Omegas are closed (water tight seals) in my boats. Again I have to trust the Neel guys as I can not Picture these sealings).
Why did I still buy a neel after the n13 problem. I think the very sad n13 story proved the conept about neels unsinkability in real time conditions.

What is your opinion about my interpretations?

attached Pictures
1. waterline ladder box (our boat)

[nelia]

LPG System

On our boat the wiring goes like this. Gas bottle (a big 13kg bottle, is securely strapped in an outside compartement. The compartement is ventilated to the outside. The entire compartement is so big you could install an additional berth in it. It gets strapped to the wall. The gas botteled gets additionally secured by a clip on fibreglass Thing protector (so if I store additional stuff in the compartement I do not have to worry that something dislocates the tube wiring). You can easily Access the gas bottle. But there is also an additional easy Access to turn off the main seal of the bottle). From there on it is one straight tube to the kitchen. One valve for the oven. One valve for the stove.

I thinks this is a neat Installation.

Any comments?

Picture attached
1. view inside outside compartement were LPG bottle is located
2. PVC clip on
3. strapped in bottle
4. additional fast Access to main valve

[nelia]

electrical wiring

The main fuse are in the main hull. The are very easily accessed. The reviewer critizieses this as he wants them up. I rather have them down and very Close to the batteries (less wiring). it takes me about 10 secs to access the fuses. Easy Access.


It is very hard to photographe the entire wiring (again feel free to wish any special picture). My Impression is that the wiring for the crucial things (water maker, Autopilot, charging devices, batteries, is very easily accessible. The access to the wiring of the lighting can be tricky. I have not checked them all out yet (but I will do this during the next weeks). But they are all LED lights and I hope I do not have to Change them regularly.)

[SM6WET]

Originally Posted by nelia

I am the owner of a neel 45 (n18)

The boat sails fast and is easily managed by one person alone at sea.

Thank you for your input, I am also interested in the 45 or even the 65.
Just about how fast did you sail? And at what wind speed?

Cheers
Magnus

[nelia]

Dear Magnus,


always 2o knots.... You know how sailor and fisherman always brag. Do not beliefe our stories. Measure it yourself. We have AIS. my username is the boat name. As always I am happy for feedback if you think we are too slow or if we are doing alright.


m

[SM6WET]

Originally Posted by nelia

Dear Magnus,
always 2o knots.... You know how sailor and fisherman always brag. Do not beliefe our stories. Measure it yourself. We have AIS. my username is the boat name. As always I am happy for feedback if you think we are too slow or if we are doing alright.
m

Well I only found 2 Nelia. One was a Finnish motorboat but the other a Swiss flagged sailing vessel without to much info.

AIS records:
Speed recorded (Max / Average) 11 / 7.8 knots

Now, I just assumed your boat was named Nelia. Correct?

[nelia]

...yeah that is us. The AIS data seems to be from our trip from la Rochelle to the bay of Quiberon. About 120nm. We averaged about almost 8knots. Initially headwind and tidal current of about 1 knot against us. Motor for 2 hours at 6 knot SOG. After full main and full genoa with wind between 13 and 20 knots in an apparent wind angel of around 90°. I am not a can do all sailor (novice, **** scared of a lot). Sail with my family 2 young Kids and my wife. Boat is fully equipped.

we continue sailing in about 4 days.

m

[nelia]

Dear Ranchero
here another update. You wished that I make a video with the exact same locations. I try to go through stepwise by topic.


port side float, cleat bolt Installation (Video starting 05:10).

the way the fixation is done is changed. I hope you can appreciate the changes from the Pictures (attached Installation in our boat, I even added a pointing finger)