Design and Construction
Amel’s traditional construction discipline carries into the 50, but the execution is new. The hull is vacuum-bagged with solid glass below the waterline and a foam core above, and the yard’s first model built using resin infusion techniques. The lines follow contemporary trends — a blunt stem, full-volume bow, high topsides, modest sheer, and a beamy transom — and the beam is carried farther aft than on earlier Amels. Twin rudders are a first for the yard here, giving a firm grip at all angles of heel. Close inspection of hidden areas reveals neatly finished work, and system installations are meticulous. Wiring is conventional rather than distributed for reliability and easy maintenance, and it runs all overhead behind removable panels instead of being buried in furniture or bilge. The trademark Amel teak is present: a gelcoat deck molded to look like planked teak. Four full-height interior watertight bulkheads, including a forward collision bulkhead, are bonded in while the hull is in the mold, and secondary watertight doors can close off the sleeping quarters. Internal bulkheads can be made watertight with clamps and special seals across the doorframes.
Rig and Handling
The 50 is a masthead sloop with a 74-foot mast and a sail plan considered small enough to handle comfortably as a sloop. The test boat carried a standard double-headsail rig — a 135 percent genoa and a self-tacking inner jib, both on electric furlers — with an electrically driven in-mast mainsail furler operated by joystick at the wheel. The optional cutter rig added a 24-square-meter self-tacking staysail to the 126-square-meter sail plan. Jib sheets run through a wide shroud base via coachroof tracks to electric primary winches, while manual secondary winches allow jib-car trimming under way; genoa-car positions could even be set under load from the cockpit. The specially extruded four-compartment mast keeps halyards, electrics, and furler separate, and a welded mid-boom tang accepts a preventer from within the deck footprint. On the water, testers measured a 37-degree close-hauled angle and 6.8 knots at 1,800 rpm from the 110-horsepower diesel behind heavy soundproofing. The turning circle was 1.5 boatlengths, though backing showed a kick to port that only resolved with sternway. Low-speed maneuvering is tricky given the hull and superstructure windage, and the twin rudders give little prop-wash effect against gusts — a bow thruster is a welcome docking aid.
Accommodations
Below, the owner’s cabin sits aft and is reached through the galley passageway, with a large double island bed, writing desk, sofa, and en-suite. The guest cabin forward has a freestanding double and shares a heads with a bunk-bedded starboard cabin; that twin is disproportionately small, though its top bunk folds away. All bunks have well-fitting leeboards or cloths so even the island beds work as sea berths. The saloon has nearly two meters of headroom and floods with light from mid-height topside windows and coachroof hatches. The inline galley to starboard and aft is large, with a proper sink, pull-out fridge and freezer drawers, and ample worksurface; forward is a U-shaped dinette to port, and aft of it a navigation center with a sizable desk. Head-height lockers open to reveal drawer fronts on tracks that retain contents when heeled. A clear plastic port under the aft berth gives a direct view of the prop.
Known Issues
The open passage forward from the companionway across the saloon originally had few grab handles. Amel addressed this in later builds by lengthening the stainless grabrail on the folded dining tabletop and repositioning holds at the bottom of the companionway steps. The solid deck handrail stands higher than normal guardrails and will take a person’s weight if they fall, partly offsetting the earlier gap.
Refits and Ownership
The cockpit sole lifts to reveal a spacious, entirely watertight engine room reached by a small ladder, with all tankage beneath it including a grey-water tank in the bilge sump; a pan collects shower and other gray water at the companionway foot, and the gray-water system auto-empties on a float switch. Through-hulls are minimized via a single inlet and seawater manifold. The test boat housed a generator, watermaker, air-conditioning, and two inverters. Chafe protection sits wherever a locker lid might scratch the stainless handrail, and furling systems use a current-sensitive timeout to avoid load damage.
The Verdict
The Amel 50 is a thoughtfully engineered modern cruiser that trades some traditional Amel character for sloop simplicity and a thoroughly contemporary hull. Its construction discipline, watertight integrity, and ergonomic sailing systems make it a serious offshore candidate, while the accommodations balance a superb aft owner’s suite with a compromised third cabin.
Pros
- First Amel sloop since 1997 with modern beamy hull and twin rudders
- Meticulous, conventional-overhead wiring and watertight bulkhead system
- Electric furling and winch systems allow short-handed control from the cockpit
- Spacious watertight engine room with direct prop viewing and minimal through-hulls
Cons
- Early builds had sparse grab handles on the forward saloon passage
- Twin cabin is disproportionately small versus the rest of the boat
- Low-speed handling is windage-sensitive with limited prop-wash steering authority
