Neel 51

[sailnow2011]

Originally Posted by neel tri exp

. The surveyor said it was installed incorrectly and didn't comply with EU standards/regulation.

There is your, and so many others, problem.
Always get a survey of a new boat before you accept delivery.
Why don't people do this? Because they assume boats are correctly made.
It costs money for a survey, but its worth its weight.

[beauris]

1 the one i was on bviously had no problem as it was the personal boat of eric bruneel ( from what i understood

2 when you have a problem of the magnitude they had on the boat thta had a leak obviously if you're not stupid you take steps for it not to happen again

3 what they told me then is that the picture were taken during the actual boat building , that the owner almost camped all teh time on the construction site and all in all that wasn't a very good experience for them. note that the said boat is now hapily sailing in the usa

4 their lawyer told them not to communicate about the problem publicly i told them that i believe they were inthe wrong and that they should explain their views of the problem and show that they've taken the necesssery steps

5 i was told by one of their reseller ( not by people from neel) that the problem came from a shock with the pier by the owner...don't know the truth of it and really don ´t care. i'm pretty confident steps were taken and that the boats are reasonnably well made

[tatomaceda]

Thank you again Beauris. Good luck with your boat hunting.

[jzk]

Some Neel 51 Sailing video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKd-1E3Z_BQ

[Heath68]

Neel Tri exp I saw your Neel in La Rochelle about 18 months ago and thought how nice it looked. It's such a shame you had such a bad experience. I have just returned from Cannes having looked around the Neel 51. I thought it was a great boat but as a new sailor your comments have given me cause for concern. What a shame because the advantages in the design are clear.

[Polux]

Read recently a boat test on a French magazine (Voile magazine) and the values they gave for upwind sailing are really bad so bad that I thought it was a mistake...or maybe not

it should sail well on the trade winds.

[Bleemus]

Looks real slow to me in flat water. In a seaway I bet it is a [emoji241].

[UpOnStands]

Originally Posted by Polux

Read recently a boat test on a French magazine (Voile magazine) and the values they gave for upwind sailing are really bad so bad that I thought it was a mistake...or maybe not
it should sail well on the trade winds.

Looks as if a lot depends on sea state.
This is a view fwd taken from the Neel video.
big air gap until, what 2-3 m? Check the guy in the blue shirt.
Now heel the boat by 18 degrees and transfer most weight onto the lee ama/vaka. How much of that mid-length air gap disappears in any reasonable swell? Well that will certainly stiffen the boat right up

[Heath68]

Neel seems to put a lot of emphasis on the speed of the 51... Can't be that slow surely
.

[tatomaceda]

Originally Posted by Heath68

Neel Tri exp I saw your Neel in La Rochelle about 18 months ago and thought how nice it looked. It's such a shame you had such a bad experience. I have just returned from Cannes having looked around the Neel 51. I thought it was a great boat but as a new sailor your comments have given me cause for concern. What a shame because the advantages in the design are clear.

Hi Heath. Welcome back from Cannes - nothing like first hand experience. Could you please elaborate more on the advantages you saw?

As for the history, I believe that NEEL has learned and progressed beyond this... but will not discount a professional survey, even if boat is new.

[Heath68]

Well as far as I can see it a lot of discussion and confusion in buying a boat is around the big question of Living Space/luxury vs speed. The Neale was presented to me as being a quick boat. Speed as we have heard in different situations is a real bonus not only because you are a board the boat less but also because you can more easily outmaneuver out run etc storms or squals. Aesthetically from the outside I think the boat looks nice. All lines seem to go back to the helm and the helm is fairly well protected. For me the only Downside with the helm position was that I was probably four or five in too short to see both corners. Important for me as it is a wide boat for its length. Inside I thought the "cockoon" area was very spacious and looks like a place one could relax in. The Galley was large certainly larger than many cats I've been aboard my only concern was the height of the ceiling over the cooker. We like to do a lot of stir-fry cooking and I thought this would get dirty quite quickly. All for cabins were in my opinion more than adequate with lots of space. A little spots perhaps and I would like to see in a little bit more luxury down there however there are probably trying to keep the boat as light as possible (14.5T I think). Probably what surprised me the most however was the amount of storage space on board. We are keen cyclists and most boats are only set up to carry fold-up shoppers. The Neel had enough space to have a whole army of bikes, paddle boards and other toys. The nav station was almost like a small office and would be perfect for me as I need to be able to work on board. I was surprised to learn that the boat would only carry a 3.2 tender but maybe that's not wholly accurate or it might be dependent upon the single swingarm. All in all I came away from cannes quite impressed. Our Dreamboat is a privilege series 5 and this came a very close second.

[Bartholomews]

Saw the Neel 51 in Cannes, and was very impressed. The engine room was cavernous, and I was locked in there for a few minutes by another viewer

Having previously read the issues with the 45, this was running through my mind while I was viewing the boat. If not, this boat would be very high up my list. Would appreciate some acknowledgement from the manufacturer of the issues.

[IMG]https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H0i7r7zBswZKxliXWQWCE1XlkQPa43HS0w/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pfK...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R5S...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1We5...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HfA...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oce...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tuo...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/140b-FcHbZ2G6VDu_NSPZlJPVHKtCtkxKww/view?usp=sharing[/IMG]

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Bartholomews

Saw the Neel 51 in Cannes, and was very impressed. The engine room was cavernous, and I was locked in there for a few minutes by another viewer

Having previously read the issues with the 45, this was running through my mind while I was viewing the boat. If not, this boat would be very high up my list. Would appreciate some acknowledgement from the manufacturer of the issues.

I have given a lot of thought to "issues" regarding a marque of vessel.

This is my conclusion.

1/. If it is a fault or problem 'in general' and a lot of the same design has it, then it must be addressed by the company.

2/. If it applies to a single vessel, then there is not a model issue.

On this basis, I feel that if a person examines a model of the vessel he is interested in, and does not find said reported issues, then can be confident that the issues do not exist.

Regarding the single vessel fault/s.. this must be dealt with between the manufacturer and the owner.

In life I have always found that there is truth on both sides, and given that Neels legal team have advised Neel to say nothing, it implies that a court hearing may be on the horizon. This DOES NOT imply that Neel are responsible for the issues. A court will decide that. It does imply that Neel are being responsible.

Bottom line, for me, I have been aboard the marque. I have not seen the faults as pointed out by the owner. If I had the money, I would purchase a Neel with no qualms.

Others must do as their feelings dictate. I love the concept and the space.

[Hobschel]

Here is a new sailing vid....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYV5-OHOCpI

[UpOnStands]

Thanks for the new vid,
This is interesting. Look at the wake generated between the center and stbd hull.
Assume that the boat's leeway is to stbd so I would expect the major wake component would be from the center hull but not so.