Yachting World – 01.04.2018

tested AMAL 50

we waddled a little with jib alone. A
furling gennaker soon saw us scooting
across the waves reaching 9 knots of
boat speed in 20 knots of wind. Helming
required concentration, but once again it
absorbed me and I unashamedly grinned
at this ‘dry’ sailing experience.
In the blink of an eye, the sails were
away and the anchor deployed using the
remote windlass controls behind the
wheel. With the cockpit table extended
to full size and set with warm food on
china plates the full transformation
was complete and our rugged sailing
experience of the morning was definitely
a thing of the past.

The Amel philosophy
Over lunch I learned more of Amel’s
‘maximum enjoyment, minimum work’
philosophy, which not only covers
sail plans but every aspect of design
and construction. These boats are
built to stand the ravages of time and
the sea while incorporating details to
reduce maintenance, make repairs
uncomplicated and ensure life on board
is simple and safe.
It seems that Amel has thought of
everything, whether it is the specially
extruded four compartment mast
section that keeps halyards, electrics

and furler separate, the spy glass in the

bottom of the hull giving direct sight

of the propeller, or chafe protection at

every point a locker lid might scratch the

stainless-steel handrail. With every new

detail I became more impressed. It’s as

though the everyday inadequacies and

compromises I’ve grown to accept as

part of yacht ownership have been wiped

away in this boat.

After lunch, with the sun breaking

through, I put my hosts to work; first

poling out the headsail with the huge,

vertically mounted jib pole, then trying

the Code 0.

The white sails downwind set-up is

good. There is a welded tang mid-boom

that allows a preventer to be attached

from inside the footprint of the deck, and

the substantial jib pole, though a bit of a

handful to lower in a rolling sea, is utterly

fit for the job once in place.

Downwind performance was

comfortable and efficient, making close

to 9 knots dead downwind in 22 knots

true. As the breeze died we maintained

our VMG by setting a Code 0 with the

jib pole. Sailing like this in the sun felt

heavenly and the whole crew naturally

gravitated to the aft deck, leaving the

autopilot to drive while we took in the

stunning islands of the Charente.

As the light faded on our first day we

found a mooring buoy on the shores

of Isle d’Aix and I took the controls on

approach. This didn’t prove easy in the

gusty breeze as there’s a lot of windage

on the hull and superstructure, which

makes manoeuvring at low speeds tricky.

The twin rudders provide little prop

wash effect to counteract any last-minute

gusts so on my second attempt I resorted

to the bow thruster, leaving the wheel in

the centre and driving using throttle for

speed and thruster for direction – this

proved equally efficient when reversing

into the berth at the end of the test.

The cockpit sole lifts to reveal an

impressively spacious and entirely

watertight engine room, accessed via

The use of a passageway galley

helps to open up the spacious

living area

Under the raised

saloon sole, clean,

dry bilges provide

low down and

central areas for

storage

on test: AMeL 50

Christophe Breschi

JS Evrard