Design and Construction
The 51 springs from the same basic molds as the Outremer 49, but the hull edges were squared off to echo the larger 5X, the sugar-scoop transoms were extended by about a foot and opened by eliminating their inner walls for easier dinghy boarding, and the cabin-top sheer was redrawn with nearly vertical saloon windows and front glass tucked under an eyebrow. Construction pairs a PVC foam/E-glass/resin sandwich above the waterline with solid laminate below and under deck fittings, keeping exotic materials confined to the rig. Outremer combines performance with cost-effective but sophisticated construction, and the hull itself is shaped to carry every comfort element a bluewater program demands.
Rig and Handling
A standard aluminum spar carries a full-roach conventional mainsail, though most owners choose the square-headed alternative, and the standard headsail is a self-tacking jib; a popular upgrade is a carbon-fiber rotating wing-mast that lowers the center of gravity and sharpens light-air performance. The sail plan can be tailored from a self-tacking solent and downwind gennaker for simplicity through a genoa, staysail, gennaker or spinnaker for demanding sailors, and a furling screecher lives in the starboard bow locker for light-air reaching while a hank-on self-tacking staysail rigs to a detachable stay in stronger winds. Electric winches serve the main halyard and genoa sheets, and though the mainsail area is a little larger than the 45's, all maneuvers stay accessible. On the test sail, setting the screecher pushed speed past 10 knots, and owners have logged 20 knots; sailed conservatively the boat targets a 7.5-knot passage average. The boat can be ordered with a pair of tillers to back up the wheel.
Accommodations
The short bridgedeck trades saloon volume against a larger, safer cockpit, leaving less lounging space than a charter-oriented cat of the same length but a U-shaped, well-protected cockpit especially suited to young children, with a two-part table that folds out for meals or converts to a berth alongside a usable side table. Below, a three-cabin layout gives the port hull to an owner's stateroom with a queen berth aft and head/shower forward plus lockers between, while the starboard hull holds two cabins sharing a separate head; a charter version offers four cabins and two heads. The galley sits aft to starboard so the cook stays in the conversation, the saloon settee doubles as a passage berth, and the nav station in the forward starboard corner gives near-panoramic watch visibility. The 2018 facelift brought weight savings, a redesigned interior, upgraded finishes and a reworked galley, and the visited boat showed light oak with white panels over a dark wenge sole.
Ownership and Refit History
A 2013 owner survey drove the lengthening from 49 to 51 feet, and the 2018 update refined the cockpit living area and interior without changing the proven hull. Owners who moved from monohulls report the performance leaves no regret, with tiller bars delivering light-dinghy sensations, and one round-the-world couple called it the best compromise of performance, comfort and speed for a demanding circumnavigation completed in two and a half years. With more than three tons of payload the boat absorbs a tender, watermaker, washing machine, generator, air conditioning and the like, and its load capacity well exceeds the Outremer 45's despite only three feet of difference between the two.
The Verdict
The Outremer 51 is a light, fast bluewater cat that refuses to punish its crew for choosing speed, wrapping daggerboard upwind ability and a configurable rig around a protected family cockpit and a payload-hungry hull. It is less a floating condo than a serious passage machine with a short bridgedeck and a saloon to match.
Pros
- Benchmark family world-cruiser with major international awards
- Configurable rig from simple solent to carbon rotating wing-mast
- Over three tons payload and greater load capacity than the 45
- Protected U-shaped cockpit and owner-stateroom layouts
Cons
- Short bridgedeck limits saloon space versus charter cats
- Exotic rig options and bespoke layouts raise complexity for some buyers
