Simbad 55

A Spanish debut with French design and a ready-to-sail pitch

The Simbad 55 is the first model from Simbad Yachts, a privately funded shipyard in Alicante on Spain’s southeast coast. It made its public debut at the International Multihull Show in La Grande Motte in April 2026 and heads to the Cannes Yachting Festival later in the year. It is a bluewater cruising catamaran of 17.59m, sold in three fully specified packages, with a choice of galley position and between two and five cabins.

The hull is by naval architect Pierre Delion; exterior lines and interior are by Franck Darnet. The proposition is a luxury catamaran delivered ready to sail, at a transparent price, from a yard that also offers innovative ways to own it.

Market Positioning

The name comes from Simbad el Marino, the Spanish spelling of Sinbad the Sailor. The founders took over a well-established refit yard, assembled a team of around 100, and build entirely in-house, craning finished boats straight into the water. The first three 55s are being built on spec rather than to order.

Two things separate the commercial pitch from the usual production-cat route. First, pricing is all-inclusive and published as a clear comparison across the three trim levels, with no stripped base figure that stops short of a boat you could actually cruise. Second, the yard offers more than one path to ownership: outright purchase, shared ownership, and a leasing programme where the yacht is bought in instalments and can be sold back, alongside management, storage and delivery services. The flybridge format and joystick handling are also aimed at buyers crossing over from power catamarans and motor yachts, not only from monohulls.

For a debut brand, the design pedigree does a lot of reassurance. Delion is known for the Garcia, Mojito and Nahoa lines; Darnet has styled multihulls for Privilege, JFA, Outremer and the ORC range.

Sailing

Delion’s signature shows in the sweeping coachroof arches over a vertical saloon face and a protected forward cockpit. The hulls are relatively slim below the waterline, displacement is around 28 tonnes, and the standard upwind sail area is 173m². The sail wardrobe is by Doyle, with a self-tacking jib and a genoa on electric furlers and a furling boom for the main. A Code 0 should be high on your options list.

The boat is set up to be worked by a small team or even solo if needed. Lines lead aft to the twin flybridge helms, each with a window above giving sight of the mast and sails, and the anchor can be controlled from up top.

A chart table in the saloon carries engine controls so the boat can be handled from inside, though Simbad has deliberately left a wheel out of the saloon to keep it a living space rather than a second cockpit.

Independent sea trials have not yet been published, so speed and handling figures at this stage are the yard’s own. A full on-the-water test is worth waiting for before drawing firm conclusions on performance.

Main features

One stand-out is the flybridge, which is large for a 55-footer. On the show boat it carried a wet bar with fridge and sink, a dining table that unfolds for seated meals, and an aft sun lounge, with the sailing station forward. The wet bar is fitted as standard but can be swapped for open stowage or extra seating.

The aft cockpit has a standard teak table that drops electrically to turn the seating into a large daybed. The Legend on show added a concealed projector with a screen that lowers for outdoor film nights.

There is no door between saloon and forward cockpit: Simbad leaves it out on purpose to reduce the risk of water entering on a bluewater passage, and instead fits an electric forward window for cross-ventilation, plus a separate lounge in the forward cockpit.

Storage is well planned throughout, on the basis that an owner needs to load the boat for long trips. Other touches include vents blended into the joinery rather than left proud, recessed lighting, near-flush hatches with proper drainage, raised solid handrails, and, on higher trims, underwater lights. Water access aft is handled by a swimming platform with tender, an electric telescopic swimming ladder, and a boarding gangway with its own stowage.

Quality of finish

The interior uses bleached oak and walnut with bronze accents, upholstered hull linings, and large panoramic windows for light and a wraparound view. Cold storage is Vitrifrigo and the galley appliances are Miele, with a dishwasher, oven and hob. Each cabin has an en-suite with a rain shower and an electric heads, including the crew cabin. Higher trims run air conditioning throughout with individual climate control per cabin.

Sound insulation is a stated priority: the engine and generator rooms are lined so that a normal conversation is possible above them, and the washing machine sits away from the guest cabins whatever the layout. Customisation is limited by design, to the oak colour, the carpet, the layout and the trim level. That constraint is what lets the yard quote delivery in roughly four to six months.

Legend, Ultra and Select

The same hull and interior are offered at three equipment levels, each sold ready to sail with the price and specification laid out side by side on the yard’s site.

Select (from €1,895,000 ex-tax): the entry package, with a painted aluminium mast, E-glass furling boom, polyester sails and twin 110hp Yanmar engines. Generator, solar and gel batteries, engine and genset soundproofing and a fire-fighting system are included. No bow thruster, a galvanised anchor and no chain washer at this level.

Ultra (around €2,380,000): steps up to twin 150hp Yanmar engines with joystick control, bow thruster and folding propellers, 360-degree docking cameras and Technora sails, keeping the painted aluminium mast and E-glass furling boom.

Legend (€2,990,000 ex-tax): the full-comfort boat, with a carbon mast and carbon furling boom, Doyle Technora sails, electric winches, a Sea.ai obstacle-detection and night-vision system, a high-capacity watermaker, teak throughout, underwater lights, a chain washer and stainless anchor, and the largest solar array.

Galley Up, Galley Down

The saloon can be ordered either way. In galley-down form, reviewed here, the cooking space moves into a hull and the main deck becomes a large lounge and dining space. In galley-up form, the galley sits in the saloon with the fridge opposite the cockpit door and black finishes chosen to blend it into the joinery. That trades a little saloon volume for a cook-and-socialise layout, and the boat stays roomy either way thanks to the beam.

Cabin layouts run from two (+ crew cabin) to five (1 VIP, 4 Guest). The owner’s version gives over a full hull to the owner (Owner XL). The five-cabin charter layout adds a crew cabin and a family arrangement where a double and a single share a heads, the single suiting a child or teenager. In the galley-down boat the crew quarters sit forward of the galley with single bunks and their own en-suite. In short, there are many options here.

Kit included for ease of sailing

Simbad has focused on making a big catamaran manageable shorthanded. Across the range you get electric furlers on the genoa and self-tacking jib, a furling boom for the main, and lines run back to the helm. For the top 2 packs there is joystick control integrating engines and thrusters, a bow thruster, folding propellers and rear cameras for docking, plus docking winches to take the load out of line handling on a boat this size. Legend and Ultra add electric winches and the Sea.ai system for obstacle detection and night vision. The saloon chart table with engine controls means the boat can also be helmed under power from inside in poor weather.

Power

Propulsion is twin Yanmar diesels: 110hp on Select, 150hp on Ultra and Legend (the 4LV150 unit), with folding propellers and, from Ultra and Legend, a bow thruster and joystick. As a flybridge design intended to appeal to powerboat owners, the yard positions it to cruise under power at double-digit speeds if you need to get back tot he marina quickly.

Energy is handled by solar, a generator and battery banks, with gel batteries on Select and a larger solar array and Lithium on Ultra and Legend, quoted at a little over 3kW and enough to run air conditioning and lighting for a period at anchor. Tankage is 1,200 litres of fuel and 1,000 litres of water, with a watermaker on all 3 packs (220L per hour). The engine and generator spaces are soundproofed.

Pros and Cons

For: transparent all-inclusive pricing and ready-to-sail delivery; strong design pedigree in Delion and Darnet; a large flybridge and generous living volume; flexible layouts across galley position and two to five cabins; a well-considered shorthanded sailing package; unusual leasing and shared-ownership routes; short quoted delivery; effective sound insulation; and heavily worked storage.

Against: interior customisation is deliberately limited; the omitted forward saloon door is a safety choice some owners will miss; and, as a first model built on spec, the brand is unproven until independent tests and owner miles accumulate. A fully specified Legend pushes close to €3m.

Summary

The Simbad 55 is an impressive debut. It cpmbines heavyweight French design on a well-funded Spanish yard and markets the finished product as ready to sail, at a price you can read at a glance, with ownership routes that are rare in the sailing-cat market.

The large flybridge, the living volume and the shorthanded sailing kit are aimed squarely at owners stepping across from power catamarans and larger monohulls, and the finish and sound insulation back up the luxury pitch.

On the evidence so far it deserves a close look.

Specs

Length Overall	17.59m / 57.7′
Beam Overall	8.92m / 29.3′
Draft	1.64m / 5.38′
Disp. (Light)	28T / 61,729 lbs
Mainsail	89m2 / 958 sqft
Jib Self Tacking	40.8m2 / 439 sqft
Power	2 x 110HP or 150 HP
Water	1000 L / 264 US Gal
Fuel	1200L / 317 US Gal
Genoa	89m2 / 957 sq ft