Galeon 520 FLY

The Galeon 520 FLY is the newest boat in the middle of Galeon's flybridge range, and the builder is direct about where it came from: it builds on one of the yard's bestselling flybridge platforms, refined rather than redrawn, with updated ergonomics and a more contemporary interior. Galeon sells it into the 50 to 55 foot flybridge segment, at 56' 5" length overall on a 48' 4" hull - book dockage on the overall figure.

Below deck the layout is three cabins for six guests. The full-beam master sits amidships with a private entrance and an en-suite, an arrangement that usually appears one size up. Forward is a VIP with generous glazing and natural light. The third guest cabin carries a sliding bed system that converts between a double and twins. Aft, Galeon offers the choice that defines this boat: an optional crew cabin, or a tender garage in the same volume. Three en-suites and a day head are listed.

Capacities are 476 gallons of fuel in two tanks, 172 gallons of fresh water, 82 gallons of grey and 66 gallons of black. Light-craft mass with base engines is 57,757 lbs, the maximum engine rating is D11-725 at 2 x 725 hp, and top speed is up to 30 knots. The boat is CE Category B with a crew limit of 14.

Galeon quotes a top speed of up to 30 knots for the 520 FLY. The numbers worth planning a passage on are the ones you take off a rigged boat with a fuel-flow reading, at your intended cruise rpm.

The engine option is the D11-725, a maximum of 2 x 725 hp. The quoted light-craft mass of 57,757 lbs is the weight with base engines, so tie the two together on your own order: get the base engine package and the rigged weight of your build in writing before you size a lift.

Draft is quoted three ways on this model: 3' 5", with a second figure of 5' 5", and 2' 11" for the hull without propellers. Plan to the deeper end of that spread, and settle the figure in writing before you commit to a shallow home berth.

Beam carries a smaller spread of the same shape - 15' 3" underway and 21' 10" with the balconies open, against a hull beam of 15' 1" and an overall beam of 22' 0". Inches rather than feet, but if your slip or your lift is tight, get the figure for your build confirmed.

Galeon runs a 3D configurator and a virtual experience for the 520 FLY. Both are worth an hour for understanding the layout, and neither replaces a confirmed specification for your hull.

Galeon offers the 520 FLY interior two ways: a designer choice version, or the Mediterranean package developed with the design studio Insitu & Partners. The Mediterranean package runs five colour schemes - Ivory, Pearl, Ocean, Amber and Terra - built on high-gloss lacquered surfaces with premium fabrics and integrated lighting. It is a genuine fork rather than a trim level, so make the decision at the order desk with the samples in front of you.

The main deck is open-plan. Galley and dining share one space with the saloon, large windows run both sides, and the flow to the cockpit is direct. Above it, the flybridge is arranged around a single large sofa and is designed as the boat's primary social zone rather than an overflow area. Galeon's Beach Mode transformation opens the aft end of the main deck to sea level as a terrace-style space, and with the balconies down the beam goes from 15' 3" to 21' 10".

Below, six guests in three cabins. The amidships master is full beam with a private entrance and its own bathroom - the feature to go and physically look at, because a separate entrance to an owner's cabin is unusual at this length and it changes how the boat feels with guests aboard. The forward VIP takes the natural light. The third cabin's sliding bed system means one boat covers a couple travelling with adult friends and a family travelling with children, without a refit.

Two numbers set the practical limits: 172 gallons of fresh water and a 66-gallon black tank, on a boat rated for 14 people. Those are the figures to plan showers and pump-outs around - and note that 172 gallons is the same fresh-water capacity Galeon gives the 480 FLY, eight feet shorter.

The 520 FLY sits at the centre of Galeon's flybridge line, and it is the model where the range changes character. Below it, the 480 FLY is 48' 5" with three cabins, two heads and no crew space at all. Above it, the 560 FLY is 57' 7" with three cabins plus a dedicated twin crew cabin as part of the arrangement. The 520 is the boat that lets you decide: order the optional crew cabin and you have a boat that can be run for you; order the tender garage instead and you have a boat you run yourself with somewhere proper to put the dinghy.

At 56' 5" overall on a 48' 4" hull, it gives you the interior volume of a boat in the low fifties with a bathing platform that earns its keep every time you anchor.

Against the wider market, a mid-fifties flybridge with a full-beam master and an owner-operable helm is a competitive place to be - the Princess F55, the Prestige F5.7 and Azimut's Fly range are the boats buyers usually put beside it. What tends to decide it is the aft space: whether you want crew quarters, a garage, or the open transom-and-balcony arrangement Galeon has made its signature.

One practical note. Galeon points you at an enquiry and a configurator rather than at inventory, so a new 520 FLY is a build slot rather than a boat on a dock.

The 520 FLY fits the owner who wants a mid-fifties flybridge and has a firm view about what goes in the back of it. That is the real decision on this boat. The same volume aft becomes either a crew cabin - which turns the 520 into a boat somebody else can run and maintain for you - or a tender garage, which keeps the transom clear and the toys out of the cockpit. Galeon will build it either way, and the two boats live very different lives.

It fits an owner who values a private master. The amidships suite is full beam with its own entrance and bathroom, so guests are not walking past your door to reach a head, and the third cabin's sliding beds convert between a double and twins without a refit. Three heads for a six-guest layout is generous at this length.

It fits the buyer who spends real time at anchor. Beach Mode opens the aft main deck to sea level as a terrace, and with the balconies down the beam goes from 15' 3" to 21' 10". If you have watched a Galeon do that in a marina and thought about your own weekends, that is the feature you are buying.

Measure your slip against the full 56' 5" length overall, and settle the draft in writing before you commit to a shallow home berth - it is quoted as deep as 5' 5". And make the order desk do its paperwork: the base engine package and the rigged weight for your build, confirmed in writing, before you sign.