Design and Construction
The 57CS has a vacuum-infused sandwich hull, which keeps the boat relatively light without abandoning the builder’s certified series-production heritage. Below the waterline, a lead keel with a bulb gives the underbody a modern, performance-minded profile.
A Cruising World reviewer noted that more Contest owners were becoming performance-oriented. The 57CS responds to that shift with a lightly built hull while remaining a serious offshore platform.
Rig and Deck Layout
The deck is arranged for straightforward short-handed control. Four winches sit within reach of the helmsman. The German mainsheet system emerges from a recess through two holes in a stainless-steel plate, keeping the working end of the sail plan tidy and protected.
The mainsail cheek blocks leave only about 30 centimeters of line exposed between the winch and the concealed termination. It’s a detail that reflects the yard’s preference for burying hardware rather than leaving it proud.
The deck also has padeyes for the staysail forestay and its running stays, junctions for safety belts, and a double bow fitting for dropping an additional anchor. Together, these details support disciplined sail handling and provide anchoring redundancy.
Cockpit and Movement on Deck
The spacious cockpit has twin helm stations, positioned to leave a clear passage from the stern through to the interior. That arrangement matters when the crew is moving forward in a seaway or needs a clear route from aft to bow while docking.
Together with the flush decks, the twin helms keep people moving without the bottleneck created by a single central pedestal.
Accommodations
Below, the first impression is one of daylight. Large windows brighten the interior, while the raised dinette feels more like an elegant saloon than a cramped belowdecks nook.
The galley runs the full length of the port topside, providing long, comfortable countertops without intruding on the dinette’s privacy. Aft, the master cabin has a central king-size bed and an en-suite bathroom accessible only from that cabin. On the evaluated boat, the two forward cabins were large, mirror-image spaces sharing a forward head that could be entered from either cabin.
Throughout, the large windows, raised dinette, full-length port-topside galley, private aft master, evaluated boat’s forward-cabin arrangement, and complete absence of sharp edges make up an interior whose finish standard is quietly but clearly apparent.
Ownership and Customization
No two Contest 57CS yachts are the same because each is tailored to its owner’s needs. Antonio Dalmas of Nautigamma, Contest Yachts’ Italian importer, described customization as the boat’s most important feature, with the shipyard building unique boats to meet customers’ needs fully.
Verdict
The Contest 57CS is a refined, lightly built bluewater cruiser that brings a custom-yacht ethos to a semi-series Dutch build. Nissen’s design reduces the scale of the Contest 62 without losing its low-profile elegance. Its deck and interior details also suggest a yard focused on the practical demands of passage life rather than showroom effect.
Pros
- Vacuum-infused sandwich hull keeps displacement low while preserving offshore credibility
- Twin-helm cockpit leaves an unobstructed passage from stern to interior
- Extensive owner customization within consistent structural and finish standards
- Bright, edge-free interior with a full-length port galley and private aft master cabin
Cons
- Extensive variation from boat to boat means examples don’t share identical systems or layouts
- Truncated source detail leaves some deck-hardware specifics only partly described
