Outbound 52: Bound for the Open Ocean

Solid blue water burst onto the foredeck of the Outbound 52 and turned to foam as it rolled aft, proof that I'd failed to steer around another large, square Gulf Stream wave. The rest of the crew slid under the hard dodger, out of the spray. Lapses in helmsmanship notwithstanding, we were having fun sailing in the waves kicked up by the 17- to 20-knot northerly breeze blowing against the current. The boat was doing what it was meant to do: get where it was going quickly while giving its crew a comfortable ride. The way the Outbound 52 was going through the water reflected the beliefs that builder Phil Lambert has developed over years of sailing his own boats: Cruising sailboats don't have to be slugs, and the ability to make fast passages is a safety factor in itself, allowing crews to sail around weather systems or make port before storms hit. An ex-racer, Lambert heads to sea not just for the entertainment of exploring new places but also for the plain and simple joy of sailing.

Lambert grew up in Southern California, then attended the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point, New York, where he skippered one of the academy's offshore racing yachts. After he graduated, he spent a few years working as an officer on oil tankers before starting a career in yacht financing. Over the years, a boat concept took shape in conversations with a friend and colleague, Craig Chamberlain. Their racing backgrounds and some uncomfortable yacht deliveries gave them the idea that there was a need for an offshore cruising boat that was both fast and comfortable to be aboard.

The stars lined up for Lambert in 1997 when a financing client who was importing motoryachts mentioned that the yard, Hampton Yachts, was interested in building a sailboat. With a young family, Chamberlain decided to stay in the insurance business, but Lambert was ready to jump. A week later, he signed a contract with the builder, and Outbound Yachts was born.

Lambert was soon picking the brain of renowned raceboat designer Carl Schumacher, probably best known among cruising sailors as the designer of the Alerion Express 28. The result was the Outbound 44, an attractive, strong, and adaptable boat that-with a two-foot extension on the transom to increase the size of the swim platform and the boat's sailing waterline-is now sold as the Outbound 46. There are more than 30 of the 44s and 46s sailing in various parts of the world, and more than half are in the midst of, or have completed, significant cruises. Today, Lambert spends most of the year living in Xiamen, China, overseeing his boats' construction at the Hansheng Yacht Building Company.

When the time came to design a bigger sister for the 44/46, Lambert approached Tim Kernan. (See "Cruising Origins Breed Go-Fast Designs," below.) Like the late Carl Schumacher, Kernan is a California naval architect with a reputation for designing fast boats. Lambert once again had a very clear idea of how he wanted his new Outbound to turn out. It was to be a center-cockpit cutter, a fairly common plan for a 52-footer. But neither he nor Kernan were about to let the Outbound 52 look, as Kernan says, "like a wedding cake with layer stacked upon layer" in an effort to squeeze in every possible cubic inch of space below while leaving the cockpit seemingly added to the deck as an afterthought. On this boat, the relatively narrow cockpit is sunk deep into the structure and features high coamings and a short step down to the deck. The seats are long enough for stretching out and close enough together to provide an easy foot brace for those sitting to weather when the boat's heeling. A hinged watertight panel is built into the cockpit sole to facilitate engine removal in case that, some day, becomes necessary. The wheel is aft and mounted on a substantial pedestal that also holds the compass, engine instruments and controls, and the controls for the autopilot, bow thruster, and windlass. A well in the forward part of the cockpit provides easy access to the saloon with just a few steps down the companionway.

Seated on either side or amidships, I found that the wheel was easy to reach and that visibility was good over the hard dodger when I stood up and through it when I sat down. Designer Kernan says that he spent a lot of time getting the dodger right so it not only provides shelter but neither interferes with vision forward nor offends the eye.

Low bulwarks make the raised-saloon deckhouse look sleek and give the boat an almost racy look that's offset by numerous ports, hatches, and vents. Voluminous storage in lockers in both quarters and under the foredeck ensures that owners will be able to avoid cluttering the deck with cruising gear.