Design and Construction
Pogo Structures builds the 50 with resin infusion technology the yard has refined over years, laying up hull, deck, and interior structural components as vacuum-bagged foam sandwich in glass, polyester, and PVC foam. The same lightweight approach runs through the interior furniture, produced in the builder's own woodwork shop in materials described as durable and good-looking. Insubmersibility is engineered rather than hoped for: numerous voids around the boat, especially under bunks and inside the longitudinal stringers, are foam-filled, and the hull is divided by watertight bulkheads that isolate the rudder technical area aft and the bow forward. The builder claims the boat is unsinkable, a claim resting on that compartmentation and foam volume rather than on any single magic material.
Rig and Handling
The rig is a solent configuration on a carbon mast with only two sets of quartered spreaders and no backstay, a sparse, race-bred arrangement. Upwind sail area totals 151 square meters, split between a 93-square-meter mainsail and a 63-square-meter solent on furler, with a 35-square-meter trinquette on its own furler for tight angles. Offwind, a 200-square-meter asymmetric spinnaker and a 120-square-meter gennaker extend the envelope. The deep draught lifting keel — 3.50 meters down, retracting to 1.50 meters — gives the stiffness needed for performance while still letting the boat tuck into deserted shallows. Under way she is balanced under autopilot with a helm the builder describes as light and accurate for pleasure, and the keel rotates in roughly ninety seconds.
Accommodations
Speed has not come at the expense of living space. The saloon is vast and the galley huge, served by three cabins and two shower-and-head compartments — the inventory of a modern 50-footer. Numerous openings throw more than a fair share of light and airiness through the interior, and forward-facing windows in the saloon give genuinely useful all-round visibility from below. A tilting chart table paired with an arched seat lets the navigator plot or read the chartplotter even when the boat is heeled, and a removable perforated coffee table fits the cockpit on supports that stow away.
Known Issues
Testers noted one practical annoyance rather than a structural fault: the storage spaces beneath the rudder rails are awkward to open because the rails themselves must be lifted first. The bilge pump handle, by contrast, is praised as easily accessible, mounted on the step beside the starboard rudder rather than buried in a locker.
Refits and Ownership
Ownership centers on a boat that is light to handle for its size, using dual tiller steering — a rarity on 16-meter yachts — and a cockpit column carrying an electric winch between the rudders to trim the mainsheet and the two undercarriage sheets. The lifting keel and foam-core construction keep maintenance away from heavy ballast or complicated joinery, and the 2012 ARC saw the Pogo 50 Surfing Petrel finish fourth overall in the Cruising category, a useful datum on the platform's passage-making pedigree.
The Verdict
The Pogo 50 is a committed fast-cruiser that translates Mini and Class40 race DNA into a 50-foot family-capable package. It is not a floating apartment; it is a thoroughbred that happens to sleep six in comfort and light. For the sailor who measures a voyage in days saved and anchorages unreachable by others, few production boats this size make the case as cleanly.
Pros
- Lifting keel gives 3.50 m performance draught and 1.50 m shoal access
- Foam-sandwich vacuum infusion with watertight bulkheads and foam voids for insubmersibility
- Carbon solent rig with no backstay, balanced and light on the helm
- Genuinely roomy three-cabin layout with exceptional natural light
Cons
- Storage under rudder rails requires lifting the rails to access
- Dual tiller steering and race-derived systems demand an engaged owner
