Amel Super Maramu – Bluewater cruiser

Nalu is an Amel Super Maramu, a 52.49 ft / 16.00 m polyester blue water cruiser, designed by Henri Amel (‘le Cap’tain’) and Jacques Carteau. She was built by Chantiers Amel in La Rochelle, France, in 1994.

Amel yachts occupy a unique niche in the cruising sailboat market. The company founder, Henri Toncet (who changed his name to Amel after serving with the French resistance during WW II) became a pioneer of fiberglass boatbuilding after studying floating pontoons built of polyester-impregnated burlap during the war.

He was wounded in one eye during the war and lost his sight completely shortly afterwards for several years. But Henri Amel never gave up his dream to build yachts that would be robust, comfortable and easy to sail shorthanded (with a couple).

He created a line of extremely clever yachts he described not merely as cruising boats, but as “integrated cruising systems”.

The Amel Super Maramu

The Amel Super Maramu (ASM) is a fairly heavy, extremely well built cruiser that’s known for its reliability – despite all the systems on board. They are not super fast -they’re cruisers, not racers, but will munch miles at a very respectable speed.

They were designed to be practical and safe boats, and easy to sail shorthanded (by a couple or even solo).

Amels are the ultimate production boats. Amel liked to do things a certain way, and there were very few options available for buyers.

We all know the famous Henry Ford quote: “Any color the customer wants, as long as it’s black.” The same with Amel; while there were a few options, you could either buy what Henri offered, or you had to go look at other brands.

The Amel Super Maramu was launched 10 years after her smaller sister, the Maramu. Including the anniversary edition, the ASM 2000, a total of 479 Super Maramu’s were built (239 x Super Maramu, between 1988 and 1998 and 240 ASM 2000’s, between 1998 and 2006).
When at full production, the Amel yard produced an ASM every 13 to 14 days!

The ASM is also the last design that Henri Amel completed himself (he passed away in 2005, two days shy of his 92nd birthday).

As far as ‘system heavy’ goes, we have electric furling systems for the genoa and mainsail (manual for the mizzen), electric winches, a retractable bow thruster, 12v / 24v / 220v, a generator, a watermaker, airconditioning in the salon and owners cabin, a fridge in the galley and a freezer/fridge under the settee in the salon, a washing machine and a microwave. She originally also came with a dishwasher too, but that’s been removed (quelle horreur! ;)).

Facts & Figures