Design When three hulls win
Neel’s fast ocean going trimarans are becoming an increasingly familiar sight around the great cruising destinations and with good reason... not all of them immediately obvious
How do you judge the success of an ocean cruising yacht? You can tell a lot from where you see them and where you don’t. It’s also instructive to look at the builder’s order book. If you buy one now, how long will you have to wait for delivery? Another indicator is how well (or poorly) they hold their value on the secondhand market. By any of these measures, Neel Trimarans is absolutely nailing it. You’ll often see Neel tris anchored in remote parts of the Hebrides and far-flung atolls of the South Pacific but they’re rarely seen in crowded, mainstream cruising destinations like the Ionian, the Virgin Islands or the Solent. Depending on which model of Neel tri you want, you’ll probably have to wait at least eight months and possibly up to two years. And a survey of brokerage websites suggests that there isn’t a great deal of difference between the asking price of a two-year-old Neel and the cost of a new one.
Despite the disruptions of the Covid pandemic, the La Rochelle- based shipyard is still steadily growing. ‘We built about 30 boats last year,’ says Neel founder Eric Bruneel, ‘and this year we expect to build 45 to 50.’ The latest, smallest model, the Neel 43, is coming off the production line at a rate of one boat every two weeks and demand is still outstripping supply.
That said, due to the shipyard’s recently increased capacity, now is a good time to order a new Neel as the waiting list, at the time of writing,
68 SEAHORSE
is shorter than it’s been in years. One good reason for Neel’s strong
appeal to experienced ocean sailors is that these boats sit right in the middle of the multihull performance spectrum – and most others don’t. The vast majority of multihull brands are focused on short-range cruising and their boats are designed with charter use in mind, competing against their peers to offer the most luxurious mod- cons and largest interior volumes, which inevitably makes them a lot heavier than they need to be and encourages design features that impair their sailing performance. At the other end of the scale, high- performance multihulls are great fun but generally unsuitable – and unsafe in inexperienced hands – for all- weather offshore cruising, especially with a young family on board. Neel is one of just a few brands that have carefully positioned themselves between these two extremes. ‘Where other multihulls have to choose between performance and comfort, a Neel combines both,’ says Charline Picon, an Olympic gold medallist the the RS-X class, who knows a thing or two about performance and is Godmother of the Neel 51. ‘We’re definitely performance-oriented but it’s absolutely not about racing,’ says Eric Bruneel, pointing out that while his yachts have performed very well indeed in ocean passage events like the ARC and ARC+, these are competitive cruising rallies rather than races.
Top: the super-wide platform of a Neel tri gives you considerably more living space at
anchor than even a cat of similar length. The central hull improves weight
distribution, allowing all heavy equip- ment and systems to be low down and centrally located. Above: Neel’s new Leen power tris have the same core values – and designer
Bernard Nivelt owns one...
Bruneel has a strong personal
racing pedigree, having won his class in the 2004 OSTAR and 2005 Fastnet aboard the 50ft Trilogic, which he built himself, plus a second place in the 2006 Route du Rhum and various exploits in bleeding-edge C Class cats. He also has a lifetime of experience at the forefront of multihull production with 27 years at Fountaine-Pajot, including 10 years as managing director, before he left to found his own shipyard. In the decade since the first Neel trimaran sailed out of La Rochelle’s historic harbour, his boats have earned widespread respect among experienced ocean sailors. So why choose a tri? There are several reasons why three hulls are better than two, especially if you’re sailing offshore. First and foremost: weight distribution, which is far more important in a multihull than a monohull. The central hull of a trimaran is the ideal place to put all the heavy stuff, Bruneel explains, and having a single engine amidships is much better for stability than twin engines at the aft ends of two hulls. ‘It changes everything, all
OLIVIER BLANCHET
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