NOW IN ASIA, THE AWARD-WINNING GALEON 500 FLY HAS OPENED UP A NEW WORLD OF ON-WATER FUN WITH ITS DROP-DOWN WINGS, ROTATING COCKPIT SOFA, TRANSFORMABLE BOW AND MUCH, MUCH MORE.
IT WAS FUN TO WATCH. Visitors to the Singapore Yacht Show ambling along the floating pontoons at ONE˚15 Marina, catching a glance at the Galeon 500 Fly, looking again, then stopping in their tracks.
There follows a slight tilt of the head as people try to work it all out. A 50ft yacht with an almost 20ft beam? And how does it even do that?
As the drop-down sides – or hydraulic wings – are lowered flat, almost the back half of the yacht widens out, extending the beam from 4.4m to 6m. Slide open the full-height salon windows and most of the main deck seems open to the outside world.
Designed by Tony Castro, the Galeon 500 is able to enter its iconic Beach Mode when stationary – and that’s when this yacht is most fun.
A bar area with outdoor stools on port side, an outdoor-facing sofa to starboard, a cockpit sofa that rotates 360 degrees, a transformable bow – the entire yacht basically becomes a beach club or the world’s most fun 50ft boat.
“It’s like a boat from The Transformers movies,” says Eric Noyel, founder and CEO of Asiamarine, a dealer across much of Asia for Galeon, which was founded in Poland in 1982 and today builds 28 models ranging from 30-78ft.
He’s right. If any yacht makes the most of the potential for a yacht’s various parts to rotate, fold, flip, rise, sink, lift, drop and do it all again, it’s the Galeon 500, a multiple award winner honoured at the IBI Boat Builder Awards and crowned last year’s European Power Boat of the Year (over 45ft).
Asia Embraces Beach Mode
Despite making headlines around the world since being built by the Polish yard, the Galeon 500 only recently arrived in Asia, enjoying its continental premiere at Hong Kong’s Aberdeen Marina Club in March before turning heads at the seventh Singapore Yacht Show in April.
Thailand had already had a taste of the radical design after the newer, more compact Galeon 460 arrived in Phuket at the end of last year and proved a star at the second Thailand Yacht Show in December. The model has proved hugely popular, with Asiamarine revealing that it was chartered for 45 out of its first 75 days.
For others in the region, it has been a joy to get onboard and experience the pioneering 500, which tore apart the rule book and has made the competition look a lot more like each other.
Firstly, it’s simply the sheer openness and space created when the hydraulic wings are lowered. And it’s even more fun when there are no side rails, so you’re free to dive in the sea from all angles or just sit and chill above the water.
Noyel believes the Beach Mode design could transform luxury yachting. “I’m sure the drop-down wings will become an industry standard. The boat can basically become an outdoor lounge,” he says.
“It provides an entirely new platform and a new experience for people who have always wanted to do these things on a boat. I’d say 90 percent of why this boat sells is because it just creates a happy life. It’s all because people just want to enjoy themselves on the water.”
The yacht makes the most of its extended floor space when the salon’s side windows slide open to open up the whole interior, with views, light and breeze across the entire main deck.
The bar is created by installing two stools in the lowered wing and flipping up an inside panel that effectively doubles the size of the galley countertop. There aren’t many nicer places in the world to sit and rest your elbows.
Through to the starboard side and it’s more Transformers time. With the window open, the backrest of the salon sofa can flip inwards to become a backrest for a sofa that now faces the great outdoors. The backrest can even fold all the way down to create a sunpad.
Changing Your View
If the drop-down wings and associated features are the most recognisable of the yacht’s radical designs, the rotating sofa – or roto-seat – in the heart of the cockpit is another. If there’s a nicer place to sit than the bar or the starboard sofa, this is it.
When facing aft or any angle towards the water, the C-shaped sofa and adjustable table provide a truly special venue for lounging, lazing, dining and dozing. It also allows you to step down to the swim platform, which – yes, you’ve guessed it – can hydraulically submerge to become a bath platform.
As if your head’s not spinning enough, the entire roto-seat platform can be electronically raised to reveal a garage between the two stairways.
It’s worth noting that the roto-seat is only one of three aft configurations offered by the yard. A full-sized garage with sunpad on top, and a classic L-shaped sofa and crew cabin are other options.
The fun’s not confined to the stern – the bow is equally creative. Usually with three benches – backrests removable – in a triangular arrangement, the whole set-up can be mechanically transformed into a very large, flat sunpad. A soft-top bimini is an option for this area.
And there’s more fun upstairs. The flybridge features extensive seating around yet another foldable table, a second helm station and accompanying seats, and forward sunpads. This large, very flexible and very sociable area can be fitted with a wet bar.
Galeon 500 Fly (2016)
Builder Galeon (Poland)
Exterior Design Tony Castro Design
Interior Design Tony Castro Design
Guest Cabins 3 for 6 people
Length Overall 16.20m / 53ft 2in
Hull Length 14.44m / 47ft 3in
Hull Beam 4.40m / 14ft 5in
Beam Overall* 6.00m / 19ft 8in
Draft 1.00m / 3ft 3in
Bridge Clearance 5.10m / 16ft 9in
Displacement (light) 22,750kg / 50,155lb
Maximum Load 4,270kg / 9,414lb
Fuel Capacity 1,800 litres / 475 US gallons
Fresh Water Capacity 650 litres / 172 US gallons
Grey Water Capacity 390 litres / 103 US gallons
Black Water Capacity 240 litres / 63 US gallons
Engines 2 x 423kw 575hp or 2 x 533kw 725hp
Maximum Speed** 31 knots
Cruising Speed** 25/26 knots
Range** 210nm at 25 knots; 650nm at 8 knots
* Beach Mode (sides down)
** With 2 x 533kw 725hp
Going Inside
Back down to the cockpit and the glass doors open to reveal a salon that’s seamlessly connected with flush flooring to the portside galley and adjustable starboard sofa. A couple of steps up and you’re in the main lounge, which has a C-shaped seating area and dining table port side.
If you think the clever stuff is confined to the outdoors, think again. A two-person seating area to starboard seems a little lonely at first, but when the yacht’s at rest, the two-seat helm station can rotate 90 degrees to form a four-seat sofa facing the dining table that creates a fantastic social hub for close to a dozen people.
“Because the helm seat rotates, another 2-3sqm becomes usable. That’s usually wasted space and this practicality matches the taste of Asian people,” Noyel says.
“The yacht’s size is ideal for Asia. As well as the 6m-wide aft deck, the yacht has large indoor spaces, as well as an enormous flybridge. It’s like getting a sleek motoryacht with the space advantage of catamarans.”
Down below are three cabins and two bathrooms. The full-beam master cabin is midships and offers a double bed, large wardrobe and a private bathroom to port. The VIP double cabin in the bow has skylights for spectacular views day and night, and they can be covered when privacy is required. The VIP uses the same day head as used by the third cabin to starboard, which has a double bunk.
All quarters enjoy natural light and are standing height for those up to 6ft 2in tall. Galeon is able to customise more aspects of a yacht this size than most of the competition and other options for the guest cabins are a leisure area, study or walk-in wardrobe.
The yacht brought to Asia by Asiamarine has taken full of advantage of Galeon’s ability to customise. The interior finish has been done to Noyel’s tastes as he sought a model that would share the same ‘wow’ appeal inside as outside.
“We made the boat very special because I wanted to showcase a really upmarket model. We ‘specced’ it to the max,” admits Noyel, who had twin 725hp engines installed.
“Some people believe the other brands have better finishes, so I said ‘let’s go full blown’. I put in the biggest engines, handstitched upholstery, high-gloss finish, mahogany wood and so on. If you take anyone inside, they’ll be very impressed.”
However, the Galeon 500 Fly is not about interior or performance. It’s about its unique ability to transform into an enormous, multi-zone on-water lounge that can be used by families and friends in a more fun and entertaining way than we’ve seen before on a 50ft yacht.
“There’s no other boat where you can rotate the cockpit sofa and face the sunset or watch your children play with water pistols and people running across the boat and jumping off the wings, having diving competitions, taking selfies with five people diving at the same time,” Noyel says. “It creates memories that stay with you all your life.”
