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Garcia Yachts

Garcia Exploration 52

In production
Garcia Exploration 52 — photo 1

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EXPLORATION_52-GARCIA-Yachts-EXPAND-3240px — Garcia Yachts

Design

Naval architect
Olivier Racoupeau

Summary

54.6 ftLOA70.5 ftAIR DRAFT9.5 ftDRAFT15.7 ftBEAM
Sailing MonohullSail
Length overall
54.6 ft
Beam
15.7 ft
Draft
4.2–9.5 ft
Air draft
70.5 ft
Displacement
42,990 lb
Sail area (upwind)
1,292 ft²
Cabins
3–4
Berths
5–8

* A standard reference image, not the actual boat — shown to help visualise this model's published dimensions.

Best Suited For

Tags are derived from certified class, length, sail area, accommodation and tankage using the criteria described on the Sources page; an editor may add or remove one.

Sailing Ratios

Classic yacht-design ratios worked out from the builder's published figures, each shown against the bands designers read it by.

Sail area / displacement

How much sail the boat carries for its weight — its power in light air.

ModestCruiserPerformanceRacing162024Garcia Exploration 52: 16.8
  • 16.8· Cruiser
How it is worked out

sail area (ft²) ÷ (displacement as ft³ of seawater)^⅔

published upwind sail area

Displacement / length

How heavy the boat is for its waterline length. Lower is lighter and quicker; higher is steadier and roomier.

UltralightLightModerateHeavyVery heavy100180270350
  • not published: waterline length
How it is worked out

displacement (long tons) ÷ (0.01 × waterline length in ft)³

Ballast ratio

The share of the weight carried in the keel — a rough guide to stiffness, though how deep that weight sits matters as much.

LowModerateHigh3040Garcia Exploration 52: 34
  • 34· Moderate
How it is worked out

ballast ÷ displacement × 100

Comfort ratio

Ted Brewer's measure of how gently a boat moves in a seaway. Higher means a slower, easier motion.

LightCoastalModerate offshoreHeavy offshoreVery heavy20304050
  • not published: waterline length
How it is worked out

displacement (lb) ÷ (0.65 × (0.7 × LWL + 0.3 × LOA) × beam^1.333), lengths in ft

Capsize screening

A guide from the inquiry after the 1979 Fastnet race: below 2 was taken as suited to ocean passages. It ignores hull shape and where the ballast sits.

Below 22 and above2Garcia Exploration 52: 1.80
  • 1.80· Below 2
How it is worked out

beam (ft) ÷ (displacement as ft³ of seawater)^⅓

Hull speed

Roughly the speed a displacement hull reaches before it has to climb its own bow wave.

  • not published: waterline length
How it is worked out

1.34 × √(waterline length in ft), in knots

Most builders publish a light displacement. The ratios were defined on a loaded boat, so every boat here reads a little lighter than a surveyor's figure would — all alike, which keeps them comparable.

Tanks

What the builder publishes about how fast, how strong and how much the boat carries.

Fuel and water on one scale: a tank twice the height holds twice as much.

  • Fuel317 gal
    Water232 gal

    29 gal of water per berth

Dimensions

LOA
54.6 ft (16.65 m)
Hull length
51.2 ft (15.6 m)
LWL
—
Beam
15.7 ft (4.8 m)
Draft (min)
4.2 ft (1.27 m)
Draft (max)
9.5 ft (2.9 m)
Air draft
70.5 ft (21.5 m)
Displacement
42,990 lb (19,500 kg)
Ballast
14,484 lb (6,570 kg)
Cabins
3–4
Heads
—
Berths
5–8

Sail Plan

Main sail
—
Jib
—
Genoa
—
Sail area
1,292 ft² (120.05 m²)
Downwind sail area
2,002 ft² (186 m²)
Rig type
—

Engine and Tanks

Engine
115 hp
Engine count
1
Engine manufacturer
—
Propulsion type
—
Fuel capacity
317 gal (1,200 L)
Fresh water capacity
232 gal (880 L)
Black water capacity
—

Construction

Mast material
Aluminium
Hull material
Aluminium
Deck material
—
Keel type
Integral centreboard
Rudder type
—
Steering wheels
—

Builder's Own Figures

Upwind sail area (brochure)
120.5 m2
Displacement
est.
Engine (site)
115 CV / 85 kW
Engine (brochure)
110 CV
Gennaker
130 m2
Spinnaker
186 m2

Figures read fromBROCHURE_GARCIA-E_52-EN-W_Pages.pdf(PDF linked from the builder's page)read 9/13/2026from the brochure PDF and the site's comparison table

Layouts & Drawings

2 drawings from the builder's page: general arrangement, sail plan, profile.

Brochure

Download the official Garcia Exploration 52 brochure (PDF)

Videos

External content

Films of this model from the builder's official YouTube channel (Garcia Yachts). They are the builder's own; the figures above are the reference.

Shorts

  • Gennaker up, horizons unbound. Sailing the Garcia Exploration 52 the way it was meant to be. ⛵️💨

Videos whose title names the Garcia Exploration 52, from the channel the builder's site links; last checked 9/30/2026. Playing one loads YouTube's player, which may set cookies.

About Garcia Yachts

Semi-custom

French builder of aluminium blue-water cruising and exploration sailing yachts, founded in Normandy in 1974 and now part of the Grand Large Yachting group.

In 1974 two metalworker brothers, Jean-Pierre and Jean-Louis Garcia, founded a shipyard in Normandy and, inspired by Moitessier and Slocum, built some sixty steel boats that made the yard's name on ocean-cruising routes. Aluminium arrived in 1984 with the 36.15 MET, a minimalist 60-footer built with Jean-Luc Van den Heede that took third place in the first Vendée Globe, followed by the Passoa range of 43 to 55 feet and the Nouanni. The 2000s were the one-off years -- Zurbagan, a 90-footer by Vaton and Couedel, won the Super Yacht Design Award in 2006 -- and in 2010 Garcia joined the Grand Large Yachting group. In 2013 the Exploration range was launched with the navigator Jimmy Cornell, whose Exploration 45 made the Northwest Passage in 2015; the concept grew to a catamaran in 2020 and to 60-footers in 2021, and three more Exploration 45s made the Passage in 2024. More than four hundred bluewater cruisers have left the workshops in fifty years.

Visit brand page

The Garcia Yachts Range

Every model Garcia Yachts publishes, by length — where this one sits in the range.

  1. Garcia Exploration 6064 ft
  2. Garcia Explocat 5255.6 ft
  3. Garcia Exploration 52· this model54.6 ft
  4. Garcia Exploration 4548.8 ft

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