Amel 60Review & Buyer’s Guide: The Flagship Without Witnesses
In plain terms
The Amel 60 is a 19-metre sailing yacht built for a couple to take around the world — the senior model of the French Amel yard in La Rochelle. Everything that other boats make you do by hand — sails, winches, thrusters — happens here at the push of a button. The cockpit sits under a rigid glazed roof: you stand watch in the dry, like in a trawler’s wheelhouse. New, she costs about €2.5 million; used, €1.7–2.4 million. Very few exist — just over twenty in seven years — and their owners say almost nothing about them in public. This dossier is an attempt to collect what has been said.
Which Amel, exactly
The confusion around the name runs three layers deep.
Amel 60 (2019–) — the subject of this dossier. A Berret-Racoupeau sloop with a carbon mast, built in La Rochelle.
Amel 64 (2010–2018) and Amel 55 — the previous generation, ketches. The 64 is the boat the 60 replaced.
Amels 60 — a Dutch 60-METRE steel superyacht line (Amels/Damen, Vlissingen, from $75M). Aggregators such as YachtBuyer routinely conflate it with the La Rochelle sailboat. It has nothing to do with our boat.
And alongside: the Amel 50 (2017–2026, ~140 hulls) and its successor the Amel 50.2 (premiering at Cannes, September 2026) — the yard’s junior, volume line. The 60 is not a stretched 50, but she is its big sister in platform and style: YACHT wrote that from a distance the two could pass for twins, until you see that the 60 is the more polished and elongated of the pair.
La Rochelle after the revolution
The yard’s full story lives in the Super Maramu 2000 dossier: Henri Amel, the “integrated cruising system,” the shares handed to the workers. Here, only what happened next.
In 2017 Amel staged a quiet revolution — its first sloop in twenty years, the Amel 50. ActuNautique recorded it dryly: “En toute discrétion, Amel a stoppé la construction de ketchs, au profit des sloops” — without announcement, the yard stopped building ketches. The Amel 60 (2019) is the second act of that same revolution and the current flagship: a Lorima carbon mast as standard, European Yacht of the Year 2020 in the Luxury Cruiser category, SAIL’s Best Large Monohull for 2020.
The production rhythm stayed thoroughly Amel. Managing director Emmanuel Poujeade (CEO since January 2022, with the company since 2014) put the figure at “20 units per year — Amel 50 and 60” combined, in 2021. Of those twenty, the lion’s share are 50s. The queue for a new 60 runs “more than two years,” per YACHT.
What kind of boat is this
The Amel 60 is 19 metres and nearly 28 tonnes of modern ocean cruiser, built around one idea that hasn’t changed since 1965: a crew of two, maximum pleasure for minimum effort. Three things separate her from a charter catalogue.
Everything is enclosed and everything is electric. A centre cockpit under a rigid composite hardtop with five panes of tempered glass (the centre one raises) and an opening sunroof. Electric furlers for the main, the genoa, and optionally the staysail and code-0; electric winches; a retractable bow thruster and an optional retractable stern thruster. Yachting World: in 6–7 knots of true wind on flat water, the test boat held 5.4 knots — striking for 26 tonnes. Figaro Nautisme, after a trial in 27 knots of wind, admitted that had someone told them two small levers would suffice to gybe or reef a supremely comfortable production 60-footer in that breeze, they would have smirked.
A carbon mast as standard. Not an option and not a racing gesture: Lorima, with the mainsail furling inside it. Yachting World called it a bold statement; for Amel it is a way to take weight out of the sky — and it connects directly to this dossier’s central debate, below.
Six watertight compartments. YACHT: practically unsinkable — which is why some owners plan high-latitude voyages on her. One interior layout, no alternatives: three cabins, three heads. Amel does not ask the buyer what they would prefer. That refusal is the whole brand.
The production run over seven years: “just over twenty” (Skippers.ch, ~2024 — a journalist’s estimate, not the yard’s). Hull #15 was handed over in June 2022; hull ~#19 (by HIN decode) dates to 2023. Four to six boats a year. For comparison, the junior Amel 50 sold ~140 hulls over the same period.
Living with her: one witness for the whole fleet
Here the dossier runs into the defining feature of the Amel 60 as a research subject: public owner testimony barely exists. One substantive account for the entire seven-year fleet. No owner-run YouTube channel (SV Delos is a Super Maramu — the old ketch). Not a single open thread about life aboard on Hisse-et-Oh or Cruisers Forum. Amel 60 owners live inside the closed Amel Yacht Owners Group and private Instagram accounts — and keep quiet. For a two-million-euro boat this is normal; for a buyer it means independent verification of the yard’s promises barely exists. We log this as a property of the market, not a gap in the research.
The one witness: Jérémie Dubois-Lacoste and Deanna, aboard the new-build Amel 60 Entropie, delivered in La Rochelle in June 2023. Six months later — the ARC.
Las Palmas to Saint Lucia in 11 days 19 hours — about 230 miles a day — with three friends aboard. “Much less daunting than I was expecting, with 15-17 knots and a few squalls in the last 48 hours. We sailed with a poled-out genoa and mainsail at night.”
And, honestly, on the start of it all: “At first, it was quite a lesson in humility... the maintenance and admin was very heavy — but we took things step by step... by the time we reached Las Palmas we were confident we knew the boat.” Aboard: air conditioning, showers twice a day, Starlink at 200mbps.
The press numbers match the portrait. YACHT measured around 7 knots in 8–10 knots of wind under furling main and code-0, near hull speed (~10 knots) under gennaker in a fresh breeze, and concluded that once on course and up to speed she delivers 200-mile-plus days without any effort. Figaro Nautisme: an average of 8 knots holds very easily over long distances, under power or sail; hard on the wind in 25+ knots under staysail and main was far from exhausting.
The press reservations are just as consensual, and both concern the helm. YACHT: “What it lacks most in terms of sailing characteristics is agility and feedback from the rudder – the pre-balance of the two blades positioned far aft is too strong, the transmission too indirect. The Amel does not reach the level of the Oyster 565 and Hallberg-Rassy 57, and the height upwind is only average at around 50 degrees.” Yachting World on close-quarters handling: the lack of propwalk makes tight turns in a small marina difficult — with a careful guess that “finger light feel is not her strongest card.” This is not a sporting instrument. It is a home under sail moving at the pace of a passenger train.
The ballast debate: 26% on an ocean flagship
The Amel 60 carries a number the press pronounces with visible discomfort: 7.2 tonnes of cast iron ballast under nearly 28 tonnes of boat — 26% (YACHT; boat-specs gives 27%). YACHT, plainly: surprisingly low for a large ocean-going yacht. The genre’s benchmark sits well above it — the conventional offshore guidance calls for a ballast ratio “generally above 35%.” From our own dossiers: Hallberg-Rassy holds ~35%+, and the first-series Boréal 44 carries 36%.
The charge was formulated long ago, and not about the 60 specifically. Paulo of Interesting Sailboats, writing about the Amel 55/50 line, argued that the modern Amels adopted contemporary hull architecture “without maintaining the good things those old designs had, namely a very good seaworthiness with great safety stability.”
Amel’s answer is engineering rather than argument — the yard has never stepped into a comment thread the way Delvoye did for Boréal. The carbon mast (hundreds of kilos out of the rig — a direct stability gain, and the reason it is standard equipment rather than vanity); the wide stern with a 4.53 m waterline beam — form stability; and cast iron concentrated low in a deep fin keel (2.35 m draft). Practice sides with the yard so far: YACHT found her sailing stiffly enough in 25 knots and two-metre-plus seas; Figaro found nothing alarming in 27 knots; Entropie crossed the Atlantic without remark.
What would actually close the debate is numbers — and the AVS and STIX for the Amel 60 are published nowhere. Only CE Category A. The buyer’s single path to figures is to request the ISO 12217 stability booklet from the yard during purchase. We gave the same advice on the Boréal and on the Amel 50: this is a family trait of the genre, not Amel’s personal sin.
The debate stays open: 26% is a fact; whether the compensations suffice is a question without a published answer.
Buying a used Amel 60: what to check
From here on, this dossier switches to survey mode.
Genoa furler and forestay: the inheritance from the 50s
The defining documented failure of modern Amel rigging happened not on a 60 but on an Amel 50: April 2022, French Polynesia, a lost mast. The investigation (AYOG thread “Amel lost its mast — D1?”, April 2022) established the cause — a halyard wrapped around the swivel of the powered genoa furler:
“The final investigative report is in. The mast failure occurred because of a halyard wrap with the Genoa furler. This is a known issue on any boat with a powered furler.” And on the scale of it: “5/40 = 12% of their sister ships having a potentially catastrophic failure is higher than should be accepted as ‘user error’ and demands a fix.”
“the 50’s and 60’s are the first boats with a bowsprit that has a furling gennaker / code zero from the factory... When a halyard gets caught around the furling swivel, the swivel spins the halyard around the foil and usually eventually the rigging wire... these halyard wraps around the wire can get as tight as vice grips.”
The yard’s position (relayed by Bill Rouse, AYOG): “In my opinion, the cause for untwisting the forestay is always a fault in the use, not a design fault. Otherwise, all these boats would show the same problems.”
The “5 of 40 / 12%” figure is a forum participant’s estimate, not yard statistics; no Amel service bulletin or hardware fix exists publicly. Not a single incident has been documented on an Amel 60 — but the bow architecture is identical: the bowsprit, the powered genoa and code-0 furlers, the same light-air halyards. Brief your rigger: hunt for untwisting of the forestay strands at the terminal, check the furler swivels, and establish where and how the unused halyards are stowed. Found untwisting is grounds to walk away or cut the price hard.
Drivetrain: a classic shaft line, not a C-Drive
Our first research pass found conflicting descriptions; this closes it. Every factory and brokerage specification of the 60 agrees: Volvo Penta D4-175 (175 hp), hydraulic gearbox, a conventional shaft line with a strut and an Aquadrive anti-vibration coupling, a propeller shaft brake, a folding propeller (Variprop is a common fit), and on some boats a Spurs line cutter on the shaft. Amel’s proprietary C-Drive stayed behind in the Super Maramu and 54 era — see the Amel 54 dossier for that story. The Aquadrive removes the routine of periodic engine realignment; the wear points are the stern gland, the cutlass bearing, the shaft brake, the coupling’s CV joints and thrust bearing, and the folding propeller’s service schedule.
Electrical: lithium as standard
The base is 4× Mastervolt MLI Ultra 24V/200Ah (~800 Ah; Sizun & Charpentier lists 920 Ah on a 2024 boat, and a 6-battery ≈1,200 Ah retrofit exists in the fleet), twin 24V/150A alternators on the main engine, a 17.5 kVA diesel generator as standard (a 19 kVA Onan appears on at least one boat), and 2× Mastervolt Mass Combi 24V/110A/4000W charger-inverters. Check the lithium bank’s health through the BMS logs, its replacement history, and the whole charging chain under real load.
The mechanics of a push-button boat
The hydraulics of the retractable thrusters (bow plus the optional stern), the electric drives of every furler, the powered sheeting — every electric motor on a 2019–2021 boat is approaching its first service cycle. Run everything under load, not alongside the dock.
Bulkheads and doors
Six compartments only mean something if the seals are alive — press-test every watertight door.
The specifications drift — verify against the specific hull’s papers
The sources log real discrepancies: light displacement 27.85 vs 28.95 t; loaded 32.65 vs 33.50 t; water 700/790/800 L; mainsail 77 vs 78 m²; genoa 88 vs 92 m²; staysail 36 vs 39 m²; draft 2.35 m vs one listing’s 2.60 m; mast supplier Lorima (YACHT) vs Sparcraft (one brokerage sheet). We resolve none of these — at survey, the specific hull’s registration and factory equipment sheet govern.
Amel 60 price and market: three boats on the planet
The used market for the Amel 60 is 3–5 boats globally at any given moment (snapshot: August 2026). YachtWorld: a 2021 in Rhodes (~$2.10M), a 2023 in Germany (~$2.31M), a 2024 in Imperia (~$2.57M). iNautia: five boats, 2020–2024, from €1,725,000 to €2,200,000. Plus Sizun & Charpentier (2024, €2.2M ex-VAT), Diamond Yachts (2023, cut from ~€2.2M to €1,980,000 — the only documented price reduction), and Wilkinson Marine (hull #15, ~€1.85M).
The new-boat price history: ~€1,650,000 ex-VAT at launch (2019/2020, Yachting World) → €2,499,000 including 19% VAT (YACHT, 2024). Against that curve, depreciation is nearly flat: 2020–2024 boats ask 70–90% of the new price. The economics are the same as every scarce boat in this canon: a two-year-plus queue for a new build props up every used hull. No sold prices (as opposed to asking) exist in open sources; time-on-market is not published.
Geography: the Mediterranean (Italy, France, Greece, Slovenia, Mallorca) plus Germany. The specialist brokers: Sizun & Charpentier, channel.R, Diamond Yachts, Wilkinson Marine, TWW, AYC.
Ownership is its own budget line. Insurance for a €2M+ yacht is written on an agreed-value basis and runs roughly 1–1.5% of value per year (€25–37k); the Caribbean named-windstorm clause carries a 10% deductible and a signed hurricane plan for the season. Annual running costs for an owner-operated 60-footer start at the lower end of the $80–250k/year band; Amel’s own acquisition guidance honestly advises budgeting toward the industry’s upper 10–15% of boat value for “a complex, systems-rich boat.”
Market snapshot: August 2026. This section is updated with each revision.
Amel 60 vs Amel 50, Oyster and Hallberg-Rassy: what buyers actually compare
Amel 50 / 50.2 — the chief internal rival. The same philosophy, the same wheelhouse cockpit, at half the money (the 50.2 opens at €1,150,000 net). The 60 buyer’s question reduces to one line: are the extra 3.5 metres and the third full cabin worth a million euros. The full case for the junior boat is in the Amel 50 dossier.
Oyster 565/595 and Hallberg-Rassy 57 — the direct external competitors, and here the argument is honest on both sides. YACHT hands them the helm feel and the upwind height; Yachting World answers with money — for the price of an Oyster 565 or a Hallberg-Rassy 57, the Amel carries considerably more as standard. The HR is also the standing answer to the ballast debate: ~35% against 26%. Oyster and HR offer layout and finish choices; Amel offers none — and each side considers that its own advantage.
Contest 59CS/63CS, Discovery 58, Hylas 60/63 — the second row of the cross-shop: Dutch semi-custom finish (Contest), the British school (Discovery), the Taiwanese (Hylas).
Catamarans — Outremer 55/52, Catana Ocean Class: defectors run in both directions, with the standard arguments (volume and speed without heel, against one hull in a storm).
The formula the comparison settles into: maximum integrated automation and protection — Amel 60; helm feel and customisation — Oyster/HR; the same philosophy at half the price — Amel 50/50.2.
Oyster 565
Hallberg-Rassy 57
Contest 59CS
Open questions
The exact production total and the yearly 50/60 split exist only inside the yard (“just over 20” is a journalist’s estimate, corroborated indirectly by hulls #15/2021 and ~#19/2023). AVS and STIX are unpublished — the ballast debate waits on a stability booklet. Owner voices number exactly one; the closed AYOG subgroup A55A50A60 (91 members, 25 topics) is unreadable from outside, and the absence of incidents on the 60 cannot be distinguished from their invisibility — the group’s no-public-vendor-criticism policy is capable of masking problems. Sold prices and time-on-market are not published. The 60’s fate after Cannes 2026 (unchanged continuation vs a “60.2”) belongs to the post-Cannes revision; as of mid-2026 the yard holds the line at “50.2 + 60” and has announced no 60.2.
Amel 60 specifications
| Length overall | 19.00 m |
| Hull length | 18.00 m |
| Waterline length | 16.85 m |
| Beam | 5.35 m (waterline beam 4.53 m) |
| Draft | 2.35 m |
| Light displacement | 27.85 t (28.95 t appears — see Open questions) |
| Loaded displacement | 32.65–33.50 t (by source) |
| Ballast | 7.20 t cast iron (26–27%) |
| Sail area (main / genoa / staysail) | 77–78 / 88–92 / 36–39 m² |
| Rig | carbon mast (Lorima), in-mast furling main, sloop with bowsprit |
| Engine | Volvo Penta D4-175, 175 hp, shaft line + Aquadrive |
| Fuel / water | 900 / 700–800 L |
| Electrical | 800 Ah lithium (4× Mastervolt MLI Ultra 24V/200Ah), 17.5 kVA genset |
| CE category | A (AVS/STIX unpublished) |
| Designed crew | 2 |
| Built | “just over 20” by ~2024 (press; not yard-confirmed) |
| Price | ~€1.65M ex-VAT (2019) → €2,499,000 incl. 19% VAT (2024) |
FAQ
How much does a used Amel 60 cost?
Roughly €1.7M to €2.4M+ for 2020–2024 boats, against a new price of €2.5M with VAT. Three to five boats exist on the market worldwide at any moment; depreciation is nearly flat because of the two-year queue for new builds.
What are the known problems of the Amel 60?
No 60-specific documented defects exist — with the caveat that the owner community is closed and publicly silent. The main checkable risk is inherited from the identical rig architecture of the Amel 50: a halyard wrap on the powered genoa/code-0 furler damaging the forestay (on the 50, it cost one boat her mast in 2022). Beyond that, the standard concerns of the genre: lithium bank health, thruster hydraulics, watertight door seals.
Amel 60 or Amel 50?
The 60: more volume, a third full cabin, carbon as standard, flagship status. The 50/50.2: the same philosophy at half the money. If the budget covers both, the question reduces to whether you need the boat for the rest of your life or fifteen metres is enough.
Amel 60 or Oyster 565 / Hallberg-Rassy 57?
Amel: maximum standard automation, the protected cockpit, one fixed layout, the lower ballast ratio. Oyster/HR: better helm and upwind performance, customisation, classical stability margins. It is a dispute of philosophies, not of quality.
Can a couple handle an Amel 60?
That is her design brief: every sail operation runs from buttons in the enclosed cockpit. Entropie’s owner crossed the Atlantic with a crew of five, but the boat is drawn for two. The flip side is systems density — YACHT calls her too powerful and technically complex for many.
What does an Amel 60 cost to run?
Insurance around 1–1.5% of agreed value per year (€25–37k); total annual running costs for an owner-operator from roughly $80–100k in a quiet programme, up toward the industry’s 10–15% of boat value under intensive use.
Verdict
Method: this dossier was assembled from Amel’s factory documentation, sea trials by Yachting World, YACHT (DE), SAIL, Figaro Nautisme/Actualités Nautisme and Skippers.ch, open fragments of the Amel Yacht Owners Group archive, the account of the crew of Entropie (Yachting World/Doyle Sails), brokerage specifications from Sizun & Charpentier, Wilkinson Marine, Diamond Yachts and ADS Marine, and brokerage archives 2020–2026. Quotes are translated from English and French with meaning preserved. Where sources disagree, the contradiction is left honestly open. Owner interviews are candidates for the next revision: the crew of Entropie, members of the AYOG A55A50A60 subgroup.