59° North Sailingvideo
Feeling 486 // Boat Shopping
April 16, 2026 · 1h 10m · 170 views
What this video covers
Andy Schell, August Sandberg, and Mia Karlsson dissect a 1997 Feeling 486 listing submitted by a Quarterdeck member, walking through the boat's design DNA, dock-walk impressions, and interior layout.2:53 The Feeling 486 is a 47.5-foot French fiberglass cruiser designed by Gilles Vuitton — a Whitbread race designer — with a 35-foot waterline, 22,000-pound displacement, 961 square feet of sail area, and a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 19.6.9:41 The crew notes the displacement is unusually light for a 48-footer (roughly 10,000 kg versus Isbjørn's 17,000 kg) and flags a discrepancy between sailboatdata.com's listed max draft of 5.2 feet and the listing's stated 6.5 feet.10:14 Ballast-to-displacement is 26%, displacement-to-length ratio 224, and comfort ratio 24 — numbers the hosts place in the moderate-to-sporty range.13:08 The boat is currently listed in the BVI by BVI Yacht Sales.Watch Cockpit clutter — a large bimini, solar arch, wind generator, and helm-mounted TV screen — draws mild criticism.53:46 The interior features an unusual layout with two aft cabins flanking the companionway, a long starboard-side galley, and a curved centerline seating arrangement the hosts find genuinely novel.26:14 Pedigree designer credentials and favorable performance ratios outweigh the unfamiliar brand name as the primary buying signal.
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