Galeon 510 SKY

The Galeon 510 SKY is the Skydeck treatment applied to Galeon's 500-series hull, and the reason to look at it is the number of decisions it leaves in your hands. It carries a compact top deck under a glass roof with a sunroof over the saloon below, and that top deck works as both a sporty hardtop and a genuine second station with seating for six - a U-shaped sofa, a companion seat beside the helm and a barbecue area. The profile stays low; the flybridge function does not go away.

Length overall is 53' 2" on a 47' 4" hull, with 14' 8" of beam and 3' 4" of draft measured without propellers. Fuel is 476 gallons in two equal tanks, fresh water is 172 gallons, the grey tank holds 103 gallons and the black tank 63. Mass in light craft condition with base engines is 50,155 lbs, with a further 9,414 lbs of rated load. Bridge clearance is 17' 0" and transport height runs 17' 7" or 21' 10" depending on how the boat is stripped. It is CE Category B and rated for twelve aboard. Power runs from 2 x 550 hp to a ceiling of 2 x 725 hp, and top speed is up to 31 knots.

Two choices set this boat apart from most of its size class. The first is drive type: the 510 can be built on pod drives, Z-drives or straight shafts, which is a decision most builders at 53 feet simply make for you. The second is the aft end - a rotating sofa with a tender garage beneath it, or conventional seating with a crew cabin behind it. That is where the "+1" in the accommodation comes from, and you cannot have both. Beach Mode opens the cockpit sides and takes the beam from 14' 8" to 19' 8", with a fold-out counter and bar stools connecting the galley to the outside.

Galeon quotes up to 31 knots for the 510 SKY. Ask for observed burn at your normal cruising rpm in writing at sea trial and work your own range off 476 gallons - it takes fifteen minutes aboard and it is the difference between planning a season and guessing at one.

Drive type is the decision that actually changes this boat, and it is worth more of your attention than the horsepower number. The 510 can be built on pod drives, Z-drives or straight shafts. Pods generally give you the easiest close-quarters handling and joystick docking; shafts give you the most conventional, most widely serviceable running gear and the least to go wrong a long way from home; Z-drives sit between the two. Very few builders at 53 feet let a buyer choose, and the choice is permanent. Take a demo on more than one if you possibly can.

Power runs from 2 x 550 hp to 2 x 725 hp - a 350 hp spread across the pair. As with the drive type, the demo boat you ride is unlikely to be specified the way you intend to order, so ask what is under the hatch before you draw conclusions from it.

Two dimensions for your berth: draft is 3' 4" without propellers and bridge clearance is 17' 0" from the waterline at minimum draft. And treat 50,155 lbs as a light craft figure with base engines and nothing aboard - maximum load is a further 9,414 lbs, so get a rigged, loaded weight before you size a lift.

Below deck the 510 sleeps six across three cabins with two en-suites and a day head. The master sits midships and runs the full beam, with a private bathroom of its own. The VIP is forward, with a double berth and a skylight above it. The third cabin has two berths and is the one owners repurpose - it works equally well as an office or as storage if you cruise as a couple and only occasionally as a crowd.

One line to get into your specification before anything else: the master berth. The owner's cabin turns up with a king-size berth in some places and a queen in others, and the fittings around it move too. It is a small difference on paper and a large one on delivery, so have the berth size and its fittings written into the contract rather than assumed from a photograph.

On the main deck the salon is open-plan - galley, dining and lounge in one social space, with panoramic glazing down both sides and signature large hull windows below. Additional glass panels in the roof push more light down into the saloon than the low profile suggests from outside. There is an option for extra berths on this deck if you need them.

The galley is built to serve two directions at once. A full-size refrigerator sits inside; outside, a fold-out counter with bar stools connects it straight to the cockpit, so drinks and food go out without anyone leaving the conversation. The cockpit itself carries a bar and seating, and the aft seat rotates to face either the cockpit or the water. Beach Mode opens the sides to a 19' 8" beam. Aft of that is a large hydraulic bathing platform for swimming, toys or launching the tender. Interior finishes run to five design packages - Ivory, Pearl, Terra, Amber and Ocean - over a longer list of individual materials.

Inside Galeon's range the 510 SKY sits between the 480 FLY at 48' 5" and the 520 FLY at 56' 5", and the 520 is the closer comparison. Both hold 476 gallons of fuel. Both offer the same aft-end choice between a tender garage and a crew cabin. The 520 FLY is three feet longer, wears a conventional flybridge and carries three heads to the 510's two en-suites and day head. The 510 SKY is the shorter, lower, sportier version of the same argument, and it keeps the second station.

Against the wider 50-to-56-foot market the 510's distinctive card is the drive-train choice. Pod, Z-drive and straight shaft on the same hull is rare at any size and close to unheard of here, and it means the boat can be specified for two quite different owners: the couple who want joystick docking in a tight home berth, and the owner planning long passages who wants running gear that any yard anywhere can service. Cross-shopping a builder that offers exactly one drive type, you are comparing their answer against your own.

Where the established names in this class push back is on data and on brand. Several of them will hand you tested performance figures at each rpm before you step aboard, and they have been building at this size for longer. The Azimut Fly 53 at 55' 1" is the closest like-for-like if you want to see how a conventional flybridge of the same size lays out.

The decision to settle early is the aft end. A tender garage and a crew cabin occupy the same volume, and swapping between them is not a refit you undertake later.

The 510 SKY fits the owner who wants a say in how the boat is built. Two of its choices are ones most 53-footers make on your behalf: the drive type - pod, Z-drive or straight shaft - and the aft end, which is either a rotating sofa over a tender garage or conventional seating with a crew cabin behind it. If you have an opinion about running gear, or about whether you would rather carry a tender or carry crew, this is a boat that will listen to it.

It fits a couple who cruise long and entertain often. The galley is built to serve both directions, with a fold-out counter and bar stools connecting it to the cockpit, and the top deck seats six around a second helm and a barbecue. The third cabin doubles as an office or storage when it is not being slept in, which is what most owners at this size actually do with it.

It fits an owner who wants flybridge function without flybridge profile. The top deck is compact and sits under a glass roof, with a sunroof over the saloon below it - so you keep the second station, the view and the outdoor seating without the silhouette or the air draft. Bridge clearance is 17' 0".

It is the wrong boat if you need three heads or a fourth cabin - the 510 is three cabins, two en-suites and a day head, and the 520 FLY above it is where that changes. It is also the wrong boat if you want the tender garage and the crew cabin both; they compete for the same space, and you will be choosing one at the order desk.