The NEEL 52 trimaran made its world premiere at the Miami International Boat Show last week, and the latest in this family from Marc Lombard Yacht Design Group is an eye-opener. Its little sister, the NEEL 43, was a SAIL Top Ten Best Boats winner in 2023, and this flagship expands on several of the features that made the 43 such an interesting boat. Among these is the owner’s cabin to starboard, which, like the 43, has a full-length window to the galley and salon—seamlessly enhancing space and light—and which, with a drop of a shade, allows full privacy. A few steps down into the starboard hull, this cabin is enhanced by an office space aft and a full head with shower forward. An immense sail locker and garage space, also accessed from on deck, is all the way forward. The bright, airy main salon has the galley to starboard (notably, this roughly C-shaped space offers good handholds for stability offshore, which even multihulls need sometimes) and large nav station to port, with full visibility forward from both. A small cabin is forward in the main hull, with two more cabins in the port hull sharing a midships head.
Most remarkable is the boat’s technical space. The 43’s “basement” technical space was terrific for a 43-foot boat; the 52’s technical space, accessed via a short spiral staircase from the salon, is a showstopper. It runs nearly the length of the entire main hull, with full headroom throughout and everything—batteries, washer-dryer, the 110-hp Yanmar on a saildrive, watermaker, electrical and plumbing panels, workshop surfaces, rudder quadrant, etc.—completely accessible with barely a need to bend over.
Up top, the helm is to starboard up a couple of steps, with all sail controls led here and three primary winches to handle them. From here, up a step more to port is a deckhouse lounge area, with easy access to the boom and mainsail here. In profile at rest, the 52’s plumb bow clears the water, and its central hull is “rockered,” which helps with tacking and maneuvering as well as stability when at rest on a mooring or in port. The sailplan includes a fully battened square-top main, a furling genoa, and staysail. We didn’t get to sail the boat until after the Miami show closed, and that full review will be out soon, so stay tuned for more on this SAIL Top 10 Best Boats 2025 nominee.
LOA 52’ Beam 28’10” Draft 6’3” Air draft 79’4” (aluminum mast) Displacement 27,000 pounds Mainsail 1,011 sq ft (aluminum mast), 1,097 sq ft (carbon mast) Genoa 764 sq ft Staysail 345 sq ft Engine Yanmar 110hp on saildrive
