A
t an ask over
two million
well-fed Aussie
dollars the
Buizen 52 isn’t
for everyone, but its builders
didn’t ever intend it to be.
The Terrey Hills (Sydney)
factory can produce, at
most, two hand-built
masterpieces per year, so a
long order queue would be
an embarrassment. The plus
side of this rarity is the value
of owning an exclusive – like
having a genuine Rodin.
My intro to the brand-new
Buizen 52 was at Sydney’s
Royal Prince Alfred Yacht.
Buizen’s director Steve Howe
told me I wouldn’t have any
trouble fi nding the boat and
he was spot-on. Moored
stern-to, with its folding
swimplatform/garage door
open, the new creation was
eye-popping. No one – not
even the scurrying crew
and skippers heading out
for Wednesday afternoon
gentlemen’s racing – walked
past without stopping and
gazing, open mouthed, at the
burnt-orange Buizen.
Ascend the standard
ladder and step through one
of the boarding gates onto
the Buizen’s ample sidedeck
and you enter a world
where quality rules. Every
fitting, every surface, and
every joint is worked to the
highest standard. There are
virtually no options – almost
everything we saw on the
fully equipped test boat is
standard, including fully laid
teak decking, dodger, bimini
and zip-on infi ll panel.
In the cockpit it’s an easy
walk aft to the twin steering
wheels, where pushpit
thwarts raise the seating
to 10. There’s a two-step
walkthrough between saloon
and cockpit. The saloon has a
dinette and settee opposite.
Buizens are noted for
pilothouse steering and the
52’s station is to starboard,
complete with duplicated
engine controls, instruments
and chartplotter display. Two
steps lead from the saloon
down to a two-part galley/
servery that occupies most ofthe available beam. Forward
of the galley is the owner’s
cabin, with separate shower
and toilet. Two aft cabins,
each with identical heads,
are accessed via semi-spiral
stairways from the saloon.
The Buizen 52’s interior
feels isolated from the
dynamics necessary to
make a boat function simply
because the boat is so well
made: it’s heavily built to ISO
12215 standards, to absorb
sailing and mechanical
stress and vibration without
disturbing the structure.
The standard keel-stepped,
triple-spreader mast and
boom are aluminium
extrusions, but carbon is an
option. Standard kit includes
a mainsail furling boom, with
electro-hydraulic control and
manual roller backup.
Making sail was done
remotely, once furling lines
and halyards were loaded
onto the appropriate
powered winches. Buttons
on the steering pedestals
allowed the control of pretty
much everything remotely.The helm feel from either
wheel station or in the
pilothouse was heavy but
stable, making the linkage
ideal for cruising.
The Buizen 52 comes
standard with a self-tacking
jib and fully-battened main.
With only 130m² of sail area
and a 21t displacement, the
Buizen 52 is never going to
be an around-the-cans fl yer,
nor is it meant to be.
It doesn’t get any better
than this. The Buizen 52
proves that Australian
design, construction and
craftsmanship can match
anything available around
the globe.quickspecs
Buizen 52PRICE AS TESTED $2.211m
MATERIAL Vinylester balsa
sandwich hull and Divinycell-
cored deck. Hull solid
laminate below waterline.
TYPE Keelboat
LENGTH 15.85m overall,
1 4.2m waterline
BEAM 4.76m
ENGINE 160hp Yanmar 4LHA
turbo-diesel
FUEL 1380lt
WATER 785lt
SAILS 74.5m² mainsail,
53.6m² self-tacking headsail
FOR MORE INFO
buizenyachts.com.auA TRUE MINI-SUPERYACHT
Buizen 52
STORY ALLAN WHITING
PHOTO ANDREA FRANCOLINI66 tradeaboat.com.au