In 2025, the French Wauquiez Yachts is celebrating its 60th anniversary and marking the event with the introduction of one it’s most innovative and even revolutionary designs. The new 55 is distinctive in many ways from the exaggerated reverse sheer to the reverse angle of the bow to the highly efficient double headsail rig.
The 55 has three distinct living spaces that include a full-beam-width owner’s aft cabin that is full of light from the huge port and hull glazing and has its own aft companionway that leads to the after deck. This cabin will be a design feature that will, on its own, sell the 55 to a lot of cruisers.
The fully enclosed cockpit above the aft cabin is another unique living space that has the helm forward under the hard dodger and a dinette that will seat six for lunch or al fresco dinners. Standing watch here on cool rainy nights as you go from island to island will be a pleasure. What is more, you can trim, reef and furl all sails without going on deck. This will be another strong selling point for experienced cruisers and passage makers.
Down below, the arc of the reverse sheer and the matching cabin top, provide a huge amount of headroom which in turn means the saloon can be raised so all of the ship’s engineering– systems, tanks and the engine—will reside beneath the saloon floor. This concentrates weight over the boat’s center of gravity which will inhibit pitching in bouncy choppy seas.
The galley is in the saloon passageway leading aft to the master cabin and will be secure and functional in seagoing conditions. You’ll see similar galley arrangements on Oyster and Hylas designs that have long been favored by blue water cruisers.
Wauquiez has opted to offer a seriously innovative hull design. Not only is the hull shape similar to the scow-like bow shapes of modern mini-transat designs, it also has a radical shoal draft, dagger board option that makes the hull unusually shoal draft. If this kind of modern yacht intrigues you, spend some time on the website. It’s interesting and, to me, appealing.
This drop dagger board option has been available from Oyster and Discovery Yachts and from Southerly in a slightly different form, but this option certainly will be appealing to cruisers who will be exploring far and wide in waters that are not well charted and shallow.
The Wauquiez 55 will make its debut this fall at the European boat shows. If you’re in the market for a couple’s cruiser with amazing accommodationists and true bluewater DNA, take a look at this new design.
