Buizen 52 - off the drawing board into the water
by Lee Mylchreest on 21 Jan 2012
Buizen 52 - now splashed SW
A Buizen has always had a reputation of being a quality pilot house cruising vessel, and now the company's plans to establish a three-model pilot house range of top quality cruising yachts are coming to fruition, with the introduction this year of the Buizen 52. Anyone thinking of a new yacht of that size would be ill-advised not to do an inspection.
For a long time it has been just the Buizen 48, and fine vessels they are too. Now, around 12 months after the announcement of the Buizen 60, the company's Buizen 52 has spent two years in development, and is keeled, rigged and splashed. It's time for fit-out and sea-trials, but also time to talk about the new yacht.
Consistency has always been one of the hallmarks of the Buizen, and the Buizen 52 has been designed and developed by the same design team for the 60, Anthony Starr Design Group for the superstructure and interior and Peter Lowe Design for the hull naval architecture, sail plan and performance specifications.
While the 52's design started with a clean sheet of paper, because she had the benefit of the 60's plan, she is more a distilled version of the 60 rather than an upscaled version of the 48.
Buizen Yachts managing director Steve Howe said it was a momentous occasion.
'It has seemed like quite a long couple of years creating a whole new model and we’re immensely proud of the outcome,' Mr Howe said.
'I’m very excited to sail it for the first time… the vacuum-infusion hull has resulted in it being lighter and stronger so the yacht has performance inherent in its design.'
The 52's midship beam is 300mm wider than the 48, but it's the wider beam sweeping aft and the increase in topsides (hull) height of 250mm which when combined with the extra length, create an internal volume allowing incredibly generous living spaces.
In keeping with the preferred Buizen 48's layout of the forward owners stateroom, the larger aft sleeping cabins now have ensuites, the saloon is beamier and longer and the galley now spreads right across midships for increased services.
On deck the cockpit boasts twin helm wheels with large entertaining areas and a clear walk through to the transom where a transom garage for dinghy storage is hydraulically operated to create a swim platform when down.
The increased sail plan sees the main sail as the dominant driving sail and the head sail more balancing. Halyards and sheets will run below decks back to winches in the cockpit providing clean and uncluttered deck space.
Clean, modern, innovative, European, performance, were design brief words that Anthony Starr, the team at Peter Lowe design and Buizen kept in mind throughout the design process. All agree that we have achieved this outcome on paper and performance theory.
Once coupled with the legendary Buizen build quality, she will be a special yacht indeed, and one that will be worthy to stand beside the iconic and legendary 48 Series.
'The external styling and amenity, sailing function and systems design, together with its beautiful interior, layout and finish, sets this yacht apart from any other semi-custom yacht built in Australia,' Mr Howe said. Indeed it might.
The final fit-out is now underway and sea-trials will take place in late January. Contact http://www.buizenyachts.com.au!Buizen_Yachts to arrange an inspection now.
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