LEEN 72 - Three hulls dividing consumption by three

With its trimarans topped by large pods, NEEL has broken the monopoly of catamarans on the multihull sailing market. In just 12 years, the manufacturer has managed to make an enviable place for itself in the nautical landscape. Following on from the LEEN 56, the first “Powertri” of its kind, and ahead of the forthcoming 50, this is the second model in a motor range that could play an even more decisive role in a less mature market. Especially since the LEEN 72 offers a cocktail of features that could make it the new trawler yacht – modern, for the third millennium.

Test location: La Rochelle, France

Conditions: 10 knots of wind, slight sea

In the port of Les Minimes in La Rochelle on France’s Atlantic coast, not far from a shipyard that continues to expand to meet its growing success, the LEEN 72 has just splashed. The remaining week before the arrival of its owner promises to be a busy one for the teams. But Eric Bruneel, founder and owner of NEEL (and LEEN) is confident and above all proud of his new model. In his eyes, and in particular thanks to its length, it offers the best that a motor multihull can offer. Its architect, Bernard Nivelt, interviewed a few months before our test, was no less enthusiastic about the announced performance. A sign of modernity - we are not talking about speed here - but about records in terms of fuel consumption per mile, a subject that is more topical now than ever before.

The DNA of a trawler yacht

But before firing up the engines - yes, there are several, you’ll see – we made our first contact with the new flagship of the LEEN fleet. Of course, the freeboard is impressive, measuring no less than 9’2” (2.8 m) from the waterline to the guardrail. But compared to the LEEN 56 that inaugurated the range...