staysail, even in 20 knots of true wind speed added boat speed
while maintaining balance. With a sail area of 24m^2 the staysail
offers a great self-tacking heavy weather sail.
The mast has a twin spreader rig; the backstay is not
adjustable but there are checkstays
stowed at the shroud base, which need to
be clipped into position on the aft deck
when reefed and under staysail alone. The
chunky jib pole is anchored to a single
point at the base of the mast and stored
vertically. In a rolling sea it was
cumbersome to lower, but once down
there were plenty of points to attach
braces and it provided a strong support
to the sail.
ACCOMMODATION
Below decks the Amel 50 is nothing short
of luxurious. The only layout option has
three cabins, consisting of: a huge aft
master cabin with island bed, desk, sofa
and en-suite, a big double in the bow and
smaller Pullman cabin on the starboard
side. All bunks and berths are fi tted with substantial leeboards
or cloths. The forward heads can be accessed from the double
cabin or the saloon.
The fi nish is light oak with handholds and structures in
stainless steel. This gives a contemporary look, which appealed
to my taste. In particular I loved the stainless steel backbone to
the companionway steps.
High deckheads accentuate the size
of the saloon fl ooding it with natural
light through windows and hatches. A
table on the port side folds out to
comfortably seat eight people. On the
starboard side, there is an L-shaped
sofa and two small stools which can
be used when the table is extended.
The saloon is a wonderful open area, but would be a big space
to fall across while at sea. The only support going forward is a
grab handle on the table edge, which runs down the centreline
of the saloon. Amel tell me they are adding some hand grabs,
extending and repositioning others to address this problem.
The two double cabins were serviced well with stowage, butClockwise from
left: The rig is
viewed through
hatches above the
helm; a comfortable
chart table; access
to an impressively
sized engine room
under the cockpit
sole; hoisting the
extra offwind sail
area was well
worth the effort in
light windBELOW DECKS IS
NOTHING SHORT
OF LUXURIOUS