Chapeau, Isabelle! The new Amel 50.2

To make it short: No, the new Amel 50.2 is not just a refresh nor an upgrade. The old molds of the hull are reportedly not in use as the compete ship had been put up for discussion and a lot of major and minor changes has led to the complete rethinking of Amel´s entry-level yacht. I admit though, I initially thought that the 50.2 was indeed just a re-design. But I got taught a big time lesson, buckle up!

Amel is a very special brand manufacturing very special yachts. The La Rochelle-based company not only defined for a large part what blue water cruising is all about with their legendary and still much sought after Super Maramu and Santoring models, it also introduced a very special system of employee engagement to the boating industry. A model that is, to my knowledge, still unique. If you want to know more about that, check out my article of the shipyard visit, it´s very revealing, telling and interesting! So, let´s check out the Amel 50.2 then, shall we?

Function follows form: Or are there new rules?

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What struck my eyes just upon entering aboard via the passarella, was the lush luxury environment I suddenly found myself in. Starting right there at the first foot of the boat, adjoining the pushpit, the whole aft section of the yacht is bristling with seats, cushions, reclining areas and sunbeds. It´s almost as if I had boarded a power boat …

The only thing that was remotely reminding of the fact that this might be a sailing yacht was the thin slit reaching from one side of the stern section to the other. A single line came out of it. Which, of course, is the mainsheet. The slid is the carefully hidden mainsheet traveler system for fine tuning the mainsail. The winches, although pretty impressive and large drums, were rather “hidden” and were discovered on the second look. That says a lot: Sailing, apparently, the true function of this boat, has been put into the background. Luxury is now in plain sight.

Which is not a new trend. What is sailing all about? Especially blue water sailing, I shall say. It´s about having the time of your life, right? You´ve worked your ass off to being able to afford a yacht like this and, more important, to afford to notch yourself out of the “normal life” to enjoy a lush holiday, your sabbatical or even the circumnavigation. Of course you want to get the ultimate experience in luxury. The Amel 50.2 makes it clear from the first step aboard onwards: This boat is all about your comforts! Usually it´s the form that follows the function. Here, masterfully I think, they manage to rather integrate the function into the form.

Amel´s answer to the crisis

All of my Cannes articles this year in the one or the other way deals with the question of how the boating industry, and with it the individual companies, deals with the current crisis. Observing the market I am convinced that the smaller, more specialized and focused brands do have less of a hard time that the big series production companies. Especially those highly engaged in the collapsing charter business. Amel is neither of them. The shipyard does only feature two models – the Amel 50.2 and the bigger sister, the amazing Amel 60 – and those boats are very, very different from anything available on the market.

They stick to their brand´s DNA, which is strictly blue water cruising and real offshore long haul traveling, and don´t mess around with the short lived trends here and there. It speaks volumes that this new 50.2 is introduced only after some 10 years since its inception in 2017! Other companies seemingly live from launching new models every year! So, sticking to their core values, solely targeting their core customer-group and consequently building up trust by producing high quality products with a stable value. That´s one thing. It can perfectly be observed here in the cockpit:

It´s their own interpretation of the classic center cockpit configuration. The coamings are considerably higher than on similar sized “Med-style” yachts. It´s also much narrower, creating a safe distance to the water to either side. It´s kind of “deep down” and “enclosed” to create a safe, cozy space. The hard dodger and the semi-closed hard bimini add to this safety. It´s a very old-school-cockpit in terms of its layout, but it comes clothed in a modern dress.

Staying true to the Amel DNA

So what´s this “DNA” of Amel? Well, the skipper´s station sticks out for the most part. It really sets apart an Amel from any other sailing yacht out there. Traditionally, the skipper or helmsman takes his seat to port side, sitting in front of a large tug-boat style steering wheel. Fully protected from overcoming spray and wind, it´s the best position you could think of when steering that yacht under engine and sailing her on starboard tack.

Me, personally, I don´t really like this, to be honest. It´s my one and only point of criticism I have with Amel really. But for me it´s more than a slight niggle, it would be a dealbreaker. Talking to Amel dealers, they simply raise their shoulders: “Either you love it, or you hate it!”, there is no in-between as it seems. To be honest: In reality, helmsmen rarely sit here and really “sail” the yacht. In reality, the sailing is done by the autopilot and the helm station is only manned to trim the sails, perform maneuvers or land/cast off the yacht. But anyway, I cannot befriend myself with this setup, although I know it´s a bit of a ridiculous bias.

But it says a lot that Amel still sticks to it. I mean, any CSO of any company would rather try to change this, facing the fact that 50 percent of potential clients despise this, right? He would order the designers to come up with a solution that satisfies 100 percent and wins over the pundits. Not here. Amel says it´s their iconic helm station, so you either take it or … well, leave it. I bow down with the deepest respect to this steadfast position. It lets the brand gain value in my eyes and also credibility. Well done!

The real surprise: This is an awesome interior!

But as this article´s headline promised, the real revelation for me was the interior of the new Amel 50.2! Although the hull, it´s shape, the balance, keel and rigging had been evaluated and newly set up as well, it was the interior style, the materials, the color-choices and the awesome execution of the carpentry that was literally taking away my breath! This new Amel 50.2 may feature one of the most beautifully done yacht interiors I´ve come across in years! Really!

For once, I celebrate the choice of the shipyard to break out of the light oak-faction and present a “dark” yacht on a boat show! I mean, I love oak tree interiors and it´s surely very nice to have a light-suffused boat, but having spent the last 12 years of my life so closely with yachts and aboard yachts, honestly, I can´t stand oak interiors anymore! It´s so refreshing, beautiful and elevating to see darker tones for the boat joineries, no matter which brand! Here, aboard the Amel 50.2, it´s American walnut: And it looks absolutely amazing!

For the interior design of the new Amel 50.2 the shipyard hired Isabelle Racoupeau, wife of renowned naval architect Olivier Racoupeau, who´s company is responsible for the outside appearance, naval architecture and styling of the ship as well. Isabelle however has increasingly become more and more important for the industry, although previously often remaining in the background. I came across her work for the first time talking about the new Allures horizon 47, for which she also came up with incredible solutions. But that´s something for later, now we are aboard the new Amel.

At first glance, the differences to the “old” Amel 50 are striking. Lines are more fluent, contrasts are much more present and everything feels like kind of being of one single cast. You know what I mean? No individual part is sticking out, there´s no leading role, no focal point. The whole interior feels like being carved out of one single block, little accents here and there complete the picture. The Amel 50.2 feels like a luxury hotel suite, rather than a boat.

Much more than an upgrade, indeed!

And here it starts to get more and more interesting. Because maybe people would have doubts comparing the old 50 to the new 50.2 from the outside as the differences are more subtle, more “hidden” maybe. But here, inside the boat, it´s a completely different game. Isabelle – of course – kept the classic principal layout of the 50-footer Amels: Central saloon, aft owner´s cabin, galley to starboard side and Captain´s corner to port side. VIP- and guest cabins in the fore section of the yacht. But the intricacy lies in so many details. Take the saloon table for example:

It´s not just your ordinary rectangular shaped table top. Isabelle once again applied a slightly curved design, fitted recessed grab handles and went for a rather unusual table top design with thick embrasures of massive wooden parts and a four-part, wonderfully grained top in the middle. This table is a masterpiece of its own: I´d put it in my home flat any time!

But it´s not just in the details, the larger picture is also impressive. Let´s look at the boat´s galley for that matter. In this, there´s not much room for any designer to play around with. At least on the first glance. The ship´s galley must incorporate the working table tops, sink, oven, stove, fridge and freezing capacities and lots and lots of stowage. All this must be arranged in a way so that preparing meals here – even in high seas – is as effective, safe and convenient as possible. You have to think of distances, grabbing heights, safety when dealing with hot or steaming stuff and also with heel angles. Again, Isabelle manages to create both a practical but at the same time ultra-beautiful environment here!

The simple Corian-surfaces may look cheap on any other boat, but combining the simple, plain white with the wonderful grain of the American walnut joinery is ingenious! That way, the galley seems to “float”, but at the same time, it all is so practical: Working on white surface means the chef will have an easy time distinguishing the ingredients for the next meal or just spot stains to clean them. Even here, the wooden veneers are offering continuing grain. This galley is much more beautiful that a lot of kitchens I know ashore.

Re-shaping a brand language

And then there are the decorative accessories. Isabelle utilizes those sparsely, but if so, they are well-placed and take on a decisive roll for the whole appearance. For example the embrasure of the microwave and coffee machine-section vis-à-vis the main galley worktop. It´s so subtle and simple that this detail may never have come to your conscious mind haven´t I talked about it, right?

She takes on the thickness of the white Corian-worktop underneath and re-applies the same shape, the same thickness and the same radii for the embrasure of the Nespresso and microwave – but she flips the material. That way, the nice wooden details made of American walnut are kind of “mirroring” the shapes of the Corian worktops, counter-balancing and “commenting” on them. It´s so simple, yet so effective. And beautiful.

But its more. The selection of household appliances, the shape of the taps, the dish-drying rack and even the plates themselves speak a coherent design language. Everything seems to have been fitted together following a larger scheme. When on many other boats the interior design often lets so much room for the owner´s own tastes to change and individualize it – I guess for budgetary reasons – the interior of Isabelle Racoupeau aboard this Amel 50.2 does not need anything. It´s complete. Even the inevitable owner´s wive´s pillow for the settee would ruin this perfectly balanced ensemble. Chapeau, Madame Racoupeau! This is just awesome! And it gets even better!

Masterclass in yacht interior

You know that I always was and still am a big time fanboy for the Oyster blue water yachts. Their 595 and maybe the new “small” 515 are my most favorite blue water luxury cruising yachts of all time, when it comes to GRP boats. Featuring aft-owner´s cabins as well, I must say, the

For once, they decided to flip the owner´s bed 180 degrees. Instead of placing it head towards the longitudinal sailing directions facing the aft-bulkhead leading to the large aft lazarette, the owners now sleep facing backwards. That said, most of the natural light entering from abaft lightens up their faces now, instead of giving some background illumination. Also, privacy is much better now as even with an open cabin door there is no chance of seeing the bed from the galley.

But the design in here! The island bed for the owners is the first real solution where I´d say the add on “floating” is rightfully earned. The whole bed really seems to float over the floorboards, a simple but very impressive visual trick achieved by the ship´s joiners and the LED-lighting concept. It´s a “true” island bed as well, because you can really get in and out of bed from all three sides. Facing the other way round, the nature of the hull underneath often means that other island beds can only be entered up to the first half or so of their length.

And then there´s the shapes. I mean, in series production – no matter which product really – there´s the golden rule that everything that bends or floats or is round is to be avoided. Why? Because it is way more elaborate, time consuming and hence costly to manufacture, to fit precisely and also to replace if needed. That said, boat builders try to fit … simple squares. We have a saying in German, dating back to a classy TV-advert in the 90ies by Ritter Sport chocolates: “Quadratisch, praktisch, gut.” Meaning: “Square, practical, good.” This saying now means essential: “Simple, Easy, cheap.” So, here. Aboard the Amel 50.2, nothing is simple. Easy. Let alone, cheap.

This can also be seen everywhere in the saloon: The said fluent shapes, the rounded corners, the intricate little bent details. I love the Captain´s corner so much: The chart table is of a decent size with echoes to the classic old navigation houses on Clipper ships, the stool is covered in hand-stitched leather, reminding of a Bauhaus-style villa back in the Golden Twenties. High-tech everywhere: Main switch panel, secondary XXL-plotter and more. But not over-stimulating, to keep the “at home” atmosphere within the saloon.

The bigger picture as well as the smaller details are very convincing. This boat, truly, has been made by people knowing their profession. Isabelle´s design drawings and ideas had been turned into reality by skillful carpenters, making very, very beautiful joinery. This all elevates the impression of luxury to a whole new level. The Amel 50.2 does not only come with style, she comes with taste. That´s not seen very often in boats.

Shot the entire bolt already?

But, as with everything, there are also downsides. And I don´t want to be picky here nor overstretch my competence. But what makes the Amel 50.2 so outstandingly beautiful, so different and desirable, seems to … let´s say … fade a bit for the front section of the yacht. As overwhelming and breathtaking the owner´s cabin was, as disappointing was the fore cabin:

I mean, well, “disappointing” is a hard word and surely, this cabin is top-notch upper class. But comparing the owner´s suite and this cabin, don´t you as well feel that this lacks the beauty, the intricacy and difference to others a bit? It´s a nice and roomy cabin, make no mistake, and the continuous grain is equally beautiful. But there are no intricate ideas, no surprising details. It´s a simple, straight and very functional front cabin. But let´s be honest: In real life, who would spend time here? Underway, front cabins are literally the worst places to find a good night´s sleep because of the boat´s motion.

Just like the Pulman-cabin shown in the picture above, these cabins are potentially less in use that the owner´s aft-cabin. More so because we are aboard a 50-footer here, which is a rather “small” size for oceanic cruising. So these cabins are maybe rightfully kept a bit less extravagant, more functional, because on the usual couple-sailed boats these are very rarely occupied. Why waste precious materials and raise the price for this? I guess, that’s the most logical explanation.

Because if you look at the bathrooms aboard the Amel 50.2 – no matter if you take the one for the owners of the guest bath – they are lush, luxurious and very beautiful again. The woodworks are just as nice, large Teak gratings (you know that I am a huge fan of gratings in any boat´s bathroom!) and the installations, like tap, sink and such, are of uppermost style and quality. So it´s not always form over function here, and that´s a very good thing.

Current hungry: Modern day blue water cruising

Returning back up on deck, I roam the boat´s outside a bit. Back in the day in Cannes we´ve had a bit of a late summer´s comeback that day: Almost 40 degrees Celsius outside! That said, praise the ones who had fitted ACs to their yachts! Aboard the Amel 50.2, of course, the cold air streaming out of the carefully hidden outlets was a true blessing! Which brings us to the topic of current consumers, more technology and solar.

Blue water cruising – especially on boats like the Amel 50.2 – often means to not skip any of the amenities and luxuries of modern homes ashore. Older people often can´t take the heat in the tropics very good, so air-conditioning is a must. The Amel 50.2 comes with gen-set and AC, of course, but also features equipment for secondary current generation and constant re-charging of the battery banks.

As an option, Amel fits 570 Watts of solar power to the standard basic boat of the 50.2. Additionally, the fore deck can be covered with custom fit solar panels – Solbian on this yacht – at least doubling that value. That said, constant re-charging of the batteries is guaranteed so that most current production could be squeezed out of the sun when sailing in tropic conditions. On the other hand, the boats naturally become more and more complicated, tech-dependent and digitalized.

That´s a blessing and a curse at once. I personally tend to simplify as much as I can in my new yacht. As simple and as exchangeable as I can drive my boat: Surge battery instead of large banks, a foldable solar-panel from the caravan industry instead of custom-shaped permanently fixed panels and much more. As less zeroes and ones as I can get, the less apps I have to install, the better!

Ah, speaking of installing something: If you haven´t already subscribed to the monthly NO FRILLS SAILING newsletter, you should do it. It´s a simple email, but so convenient: Informing you about every single of the up to 10 new articles and the new films published on YouTube, it saves time and you only click on those topics of interest for you. So, go ahead, invest five seconds to subscribe! Back aboard, though …

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A hot contender for the “European Yacht of the Year 2027”

So, this was truly cool being aboard this new Amel 50.2. It´s a wonderful example for a shipyard that on the one hand sticks to its proven values, reshapes its products to fit current needs but without sacrificing what has been built up in competence, credibility and quality of the past decades. On the other hand, the Amel 50.2 is a great example of how important a talented, visionary and forward-thinking interior designer can be to truly define what makes a boat. In this, the Amel 50.2 is one of the very few yachts I know, where the interior (in my opinion) is clearly much, much better than the exterior. Usually, it´s the other way round, right? What other boat is like this? Check out this one, you will be surprised: Bavaria C46.

I leave the Amel 50.2 and wish her all the best for the upcoming “European Yacht of the Year 2027” competition. Depending on the category, this yacht is a big aspirant for the title and if won, it´s absolutely well earned, I´d say. This article concludes this year´s documentation of the Cannes Yachting Festival. I hope you liked my selection of interesting sailboats, check out the following links to delve deeper into the topic if you like.

More on Amel and blue water cruising yachts:

At the Amel shipyard in La Rochelle

Amel´s flagship, the (then) new Amel 60 at Cannes

Another blue water classic: Hylas 65 reborn as Bluewater 65