The exceptionally wide roof, completely surrounded by vertical portholes, gives a panoramic view of the entire gondola. This configuration offers the strange and pleasant feeling of being in an observatory overlooking the sea.
An original and functional layout
On board, we discover the world of Neel's trimarans. These trimarans are totally free of fashion with a living platform on the same level as the cockpit.
Neel has christened this concept "Cockloon®": when the sliding bay is opened, all the vents can be erased to starboard to create a completely open space.
On board, you feel like you're living in a loft with a panoramic view.
A volume out of the ordinary
The trimaran's living space is impressive. Indeed, the platform that connects the 3 hulls offers original fittings and an unusual volume.
The saloon on the same level benefits from almost panoramic portholes giving an exceptional view of the outside.
The well equipped U-shaped kitchen is located at the front of the gondola. So you can cook while enjoying the scenery or doing your shift.
The owner's cabin, a bed on the sea
Discovering the owner's cabin, one is amazed how it contrasts with the "bilge" cabins that we know on some multihulls.
The space is very open, both on the outside, taking advantage of the roof porthole, and on the inside, thanks to the concealable glazing facing forwards.
You feel like you're in a semaphore on a sea voyage.
Guests in the floats
Guest living spaces are distributed in each of the floats.
It is accessed from the port and starboard sides of the cockpit via sufficiently wide, but rather steep descents.
On such a unit, one vaguely regrets having to go through the toilets to reach the cabins. Inside the float, the usual sensation of sleeping at the bottom of the hold reappears, the whole is darker and a bit narrower.
The moderate width of the berths is linked to the relative thinness of the trimaran's floats and this is a good point for performance.
The central shell: a technical sheath
Neel 47, we are also surprised by the hold whose entrance is centered in the square.
One goes down into the main hull by a ladder, the height under barrot is sufficient to circulate there as in a corridor giving access to the storages as well as to the boat's organs. Positioned in the middle of the boat, the weight distribution is thus optimised.
This completely original configuration is only possible on a trimaran. For the long-short trip, it seems very relevant.
A performance objective
The shipyard reports that the average speed is regularly 10 knots - or 240 miles per 24 hours - and that speeds of 15 to 18 knots are regularly reached in the breeze.
We are also told that the weight centering is optimized to limit pitching. The design of the central hull is "?banané?" in order to facilitate tacking.
Globally, the Neel shipyard announces to obtain cruising speeds at all points of sail twice as high as conventional boats.
The Neel 47 benefits from a weight/power ratio favourable for sailing in light winds.
This new trimaran designed by Marc Lombard is certainly more sail area and longer than Joubert Nivelt's Neel 45, however the weight/power ratio favours the latter, which is 2 tonnes lighter
Price, an alternative high-end offer
Announced at 600,000 euros including tax and ready to sail, the Neel 47 is positioned as a real alternative to the high-performance multihull. It is competitive with an Outremer for example, but also with high-performance 50-foot monohulls.
