Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Amel 55 layout
Kenneth Olsen <kennetholsen468@...>
Do any of you know what to look for in a 54 of approximately ten years vintage? If we decide to go that route (which is still very much in the air -- 55 is still on the table, but I will miss the elegance of the 54 layout), what systems will need to be addressed right away? Also, I like the hardtop option on the 55. I would consider having a similar hardtop put on a 54 -- has anyone done this or know ballpark price to have Amel do it? Finally, was wondering about energy -- what solar panels, wind or hyrdo generators seems to work best for voyaging. I hate the sound of wind generation, and am not a huge fan of the look of panels, but am more interested in practicality than beauty -- hence the Amel. lol. From: "'Bill & Judy Rouse' yahoogroups@... [amelyachtowners]" To: "amelyachtowners@..." Sent: Monday, March 21, 2016 10:11 AM Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Amel 55 layout Alex, I agree completely. And, I will add that with the 55 Amel was attempting to compete outside the small circle of very loyal Amel clients. As most of you know, the majority of the 54's were sold to Amel owners...most cases SM owners. I suspect the Amel management realized that with the 54 they sold all of the SM owners that were going to buy a 54 and they were not attracting new buyers to Amel. To correct this, Amel made what appears to us as a radical turn. It probably does not appear as radical to outsiders. Certainly when you compare a 55 to a Oyster, they compare very favorably with the 55 being a better Oyster, for almost half the price. I believe the change at Amel was probably needed, but I believe the execution of this change in course was absolutely terrible. The management of Amel did not have their sales team on-board with the changes and did not do anything about that. Amel never answered the public question: "Why a 55 and all of its features and components?" Even their sales staff did not seem to know the answer. The CEO should take all of the blame for the extremely poor execution of a change in course at Amel. He left the CEO position in 2014 and is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors. I do not know the current CEO, Emmanuel Poujeade, but wish him the best with Amel. The 55 is a beautiful boat and compares favorably with other brands. We crossed the Atlantic with a 55 in close proximity (less than 50 miles) and arrived in Martinique a few hours behind the 55 and side-by-side with a Super Maramu that happened to be a few hull numbers from BeBe 387. The 55 would have done much better on the crossing, but the inexperienced crew had difficulty rigging the downwind pole and had to jibe back and forth rather than run downwind as we did. They also had a serious rudder post leak that put a lot of water in the rear compartment and ruined one of the autopilot drives. I think Amel Caribe in Martinique took care of this. Bill BeBe 387 On Mon, Mar 21, 2016 at 12:30 PM, Alexandre Uster von Baar uster@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:
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