Newport, RI, US
The Ron Holland-designed Discovery 55 sets a high benchmark for the luxury, push button cruising yacht category.
The interior layout is brilliant with a raised dinette, pilot station, large passageway galley, full beam aft owner’s stateroom, bunk room, and VIP guest stateroom. Interior design details are by the renowned mega yacht stylist Ken Freivokh. The light maple interior and large saloon windows make the interior bright and airy. A walk-in engine room allows superb machinery access.
BIGOUDEN is hull no.19 of this Discovery 55 series. She was launched in 2007 and spent most of her life in the eastern Mediterranean with light seasonal use and on-land storage until November of 2017 when she participated in the ARC rally ending up in the Caribbean. From there she continued up the east coast to Newport, Rhode Island, where she had cruised summers while being professionally maintained indoors at Bristol Marine in Somerset, Massachusetts. Her condition is therefore excellent when compared to sisterships that have circumnavigated as is their wont and capability. She has never been chartered and has always received the best of care. Electronics were updated with a full suite of the latest Raymarine Hybrid Touch displays. BIGOUDEN is now in Newport, RI, and available for viewing. She has just been bottom-painted and is ready for summer cruising in New England or beyond.
Broker notes
BIGOUDEN is undoubtably the best Discovery 55 on the market. Virtually all major systems, amenities and furnishings have been updated, serviced or replaced in the last four years as well as receiving new Awlgrip paint. BIGOUDEN needs nothing to be your next cruising yacht, whether your plans are for summers in New England or a circumnavigation.
SPECS
MEASUREMENTS
ENGINE(S)
TANKS
ACCOMMODATIONS
BIGOUDEN has three cabins - the owner’s stateroom being aft and the two guest cabins being forward. The forward cabin is a spacious centerline double with headboard forward. Pullman cabin aft and to port has spacious twin bunks.
Additional berths are available in the saloon - one dedicated pilot berth to starboard, and one that can be prepared on the saloon seating (all with lee cloths). There are two heads, both with separate enclosed shower compartments, one forward and one owner’s en-suite. A walk-in engine room is entered through the aft shower stall and located beneath the cockpit, providing easy access to maintainable items.
Interior joinery is maple, chosen over the usual cherry, with bird’s eye accents making for a very bright, elegant and stunning living space. Maple staving lines hull sides in cabins and the galley. All upholstery and curtains were updated in 2020 with “Flag Blue” main salon cushions and beige leather seats at the nav station and owner’s stateroom. Cabin soles are teak and holly laminate throughout, with removable (no studs) carpets (New 2022) in all floor areas.
The main saloon is what makes the Discovery 55 unique. The dinette is raised, providing a panoramic view of the ocean and anchorage outside. The navigation station is also raised. A pilot berth is forward of the nav station with storage drawers and cabinets below the berth. The chartplotter, radar and autopilot are easily viewed from the forward-facing navigators seat allowing one to stand with excellent visibility staying warm and dry. Entrance to the accommodation is via three deep and wide companionway steps. Large grab handles are fitted avoiding the need to step down backwards.
The linear galley is down two steps from raised saloon and located in the aft cabin passageway. BIGOUDEN’s cook/chef will delight in the copious countertop workspace and abundant drawer and cabinet storage for provisions and cookware. The front-opening fridge and freezer are forward. Along the hull side, below the deck edge the stove/oven are next aft and ventilated by an overhead extraction fan. A large bank of drawers and cabinets is located below the countertop aft of the stove. Inboard, is the “clean up” area with top opening trash bin, double sinks, a dish drying basin, storage cabinets, and built-in microwave. Opening hull side, cabins side, and overhead hatches will avoid the “down in a cave” sensation plaguing many cruising yacht galleys.
(2) Blanco swivel spray head taps (salt & fresh water) (Replaced when fresh water system was re-done. There is now fresh water spray head tap, a Naturepure 2QC filtered cold drinking water tap and a manual fresh water tap.)
The aft owner’s stateroom is well separated from the guest cabins forward and entered through a privacy door aft of the galley. A king-sized island berth is on centerline with an upholstered headboard aft at the transom where an opening port helps ventilate this cabin even when raining outside. A curved vanity is forward on centerline and fitted with beveled mirrors. Hanging lockers and storage cabinets are outboard on each side. Drawers and storage bins are beneath the bed. A small dressing seat is to starboard forward.
The aft ensuite head is to starboard and entered through a locking privacy door. A vanity with oval sink is outboard and aft. The Tecma electric flush head is just forward. A stall shower with clear bifold door is further forward. The washer dryer is housed all the way forward behind a hinged door in the shower stall. Engine space access is through a watertight door inboard of the stall shower.
Passage to the forward/guest area is to starboard and down two steps from the raised saloon. All the way forward is a large guest cabin with a centerline double berth. A headboard and reading lights are forward on the bulkhead. Drawer storage is below the berth. Open bookshelves run along the hull sides aboard. A hanging locker is aft to port and a tall locker with shelves is aft to starboard.
The bunk cabin is to port and aft of the guest cabin. An upper and lower berth are outboard along the hull side. Drawer storage is beneath the lower bunk. Aft and inboard is a wardrobe locker with shelves above two drawers. Forward is a hanging locker.
The forward head is shared by the two guest staterooms and located to starboard in the forward passage. The Tecma electric flush head is all the way forward. A vanity, sink, and storage cabinets are outboard along the hull side. A stall shower is aft of a clear bifold door.
DECK and HULL
BIGOUDEN has Navy Blue Awlgripped hull (Bristol Marine, Somerset, MA, 2019) with thin gold cove strip and red over white boot stripes. Three opening hull side ports on each side and an opening port in the transom assist interior views and ventilation. The functional and gracious Ron Holland-design has a flared/overhanging bow to keep the decks dry in a seaway and facilitate clear anchor deployment from the stemhead bow rollers. The reverse transom is scooped in way of the swim step and mid-level steps to the main deck. This well-designed stern serves many functions. A telescoping stainless steel swim ladder is housed just above the waterline where it can easily be extended by a swimmer in the water, an important safety feature. A stainless-steel crab bar is just above the swim ladder. Two hinged-top storage lockers are located in the full-beam mid-height step, excellent for storing dive/snorkel gear, fishing gear, and outboard engine gas. An additional small step makes for easy ascension to the main deck.
Staying on deck is vital to safety aboard any offshore cruising yachts and the Discovery 55 is well set up for crew safety. A 3” tall, raised bulwark surrounds the deck and is topped with a 3.5” wide teak caprail. The bulwark rises to 6” high at the bow with a graceful spring of the sheer line. Large stainless-steel mooring cleats are mounted atop the caprails, eliminating the need for chocks. Extra-high stanchions are set into the bulwark, keeping side decks open and uncluttered. Double stainless steel-uncoated wire lifelines run from stern pushpit to bow pulpit with interruption at the midship’s boarding gates.
Ground tackle and handling gear is well-suited for a world class cruising yacht. Double Delrin bow rollers with massive stainless-steel cheeks are welded to the stemhead and recessed into the caprail. The anchor locker is top opening and drains overboard.
The deck and coachroof are overlayed with 12mm thick teak and rubber. This decking is recessed level into the coachroof forward of the raised saloon and aft of the cockpit. Large, aluminum-framed tinted safety glass windows in the forward face and sides of the raised saloon delineate this yacht as a Discovery. The two outboard forward-facing windows hinge open when airflow is desired in the saloon. A visored and well-cambered roof tops this raised saloon.
Stainless steel handrails are secured outboard along both sides of this deckhouse. Sailing yachts designed for long range cruising need ample “deck-accessible” storage. A large bow locker just aft of anchor locker is entered through a gasketed and guttered flush deck hatch. The aft bulkhead is watertight and serves well as a collision bulkhead. Two quarter lockers are accessed through flush, gasketed and guttered deck hatches. Two side deck lockers are to port midships. The aft locker is dedicated to cooking gas.
Another hallmark feature of the Discovery 55 is the comfortable and well-protected center cockpit. Located behind the raised saloon with narrow, curved coamings rising above the aft coachroof, this space serves well for sailing or lounging. The settees have high backs and are inlaid with teak and rubber. The cockpit widens slightly outboard of the helm. The cockpit sole is also covered with teak and rubber and drains forward into a grating covered “line tail” trough. A fixed teak cockpit table with hinged side leaves breaks up this wide cockpit. A tan canvas dodger mounted atop a raised foundation base protects the forward cockpit and companionway. A large tan bimini folds up from behind the cockpit to provide shelter from rain or sun when desired. Cockpit cushions consist of closed-cell foam covered with tan yacht acrylic.
The steering pedestal is well aft in the cockpit and has many control and monitoring functions mounted within easy reach of this command location. Controls at the helm include: Yanmar engine panel, water in fuel alarm, engine exhaust alarm, engine throttle/shifter, bow thruster, VHF RAM mic, compass, autopilot, radar/chartplotter, anchor windlass up/down, primary winch controls; deck, compass, transom, locker, boom, pedestal, steaming, spreader, strobe, and boom (cockpit illumination) lights.
A unique feature of this Discovery 55 is the hot tub located in the footwell aft of the helm. Imagine soaking in hot salt or fresh water after a long day’s sail in cold climates…
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
ELECTRONICS and NAVIGATION
SAILS and RIGGING
BIGOUDEN has a powerful yet manageable sail plan with “pushbutton” powered sail handling systems operable from the cockpit. Jib furlers have lines led aft to the cockpit where a powered winch makes for effortless furling. Three additional self-tailing electric winches in the cockpit handle genoa and main sheets. From stowed to full sail takes about two minutes. One will sail more often and with just the right amount of sail area for the conditions with such a setup. A mast two whisker poles, and asymmetrical spinnaker will make downwind sailing faster and more fun when desired.
MECHANICAL and PLUMBING SYSTEMS
CANVAS and SOFT GOODS
SAFETY
TENDER
DISCLAIMER
The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.
