Three legged luxury with performance make the Neel 65 an awesome trimaran to go aboard, reports KEVIN GREEN.
The Neel 65 is an amazing looking trimaran that I enjoyed boarding but there’s a lot more than mere looks to this monster 65 footer that has three levels and unusual interior space. Commissioned to be a fast cruiser and a commercial charter boat, the new trimaran joins its successful smaller sibling, the Neel 45.
Walking around the La Rochelle yard chatting to managing director Eric Bruneel we also looked over hull #15 of the Neel 45 that is destined for an Australian owner and local distributor Multihull Solutions are negotiating more sales.
A major attraction of trimarans is their performance, as I recalled racing through Sydney Harbour on Sean Langman’s Orma 60 Team Australia doing 34kts with one reef in, so there’s an obvious reason why ocean records are made by ‘tris’ as they have both speed and stability; and to a lesser extent this applies to the cruising varieties.
“Trimarans have the weight centralised unlike a catamaran that has 50% on the downwind side whereas tris have 80% centralised,” explains Eric as we walk around the 65.
Built near the grand old port of La Rochelle with its signature twin towers the area is one of the largest yachting centres in western France and home to Nautitech, Dufour, Fountaine Pajot and other builders, so the region is a great place for us yachting tragics to visit.
The yard is named after Bruneel himself and also produces race boats, so his team is very aware of weight efficiencies, as I found when looking closely at the 65.
Bruneel is a former general manager of Fountaine Pajot and OSTAR winner (on his 55ft Trilogic trimaran) so knows what it takes to build a fast and safe multihull. Read full story here.
Quick Links:
