A 5.3-metre cabin sailboat light enough to surf, simple enough to learn on in an afternoon, and small enough to keep on a trailer at home. No marina. No crew. No fuss.
The short version
Most boats make you choose. A fast boat is demanding; an easy boat is slow; a cabin boat needs a berth in a marina. The U530 was designed to refuse that trade-off.
It carries an 11 m² furling, boomless sail you control with a single line — open it, reef it, or roll it away from where you sit, in any wind. When the wind drops, a sliding-seat rowing system takes over and keeps you moving at 3–4 knots. When the day is done, two adults can stretch out in the cabin and spend the night. And because the whole boat weighs around 200 kg ready to sail, it lives on its trailer in your driveway and is on the water twenty minutes after you arrive at the ramp.
It is, in short, a performance sailboat you can actually own and actually use.
An 11 m² high-roach sail on an unstayed mast — no shrouds, no stays, no boom. One sheet and a tiller; nothing else to trim. It will see double-digit speeds on a reach in fresh wind, yet a complete beginner can teach themselves on it, because reducing sail is as simple as pulling a line. Several U530 owners had never sailed before.
This is not a dinghy with oars as an afterthought. The U530 has a genuine sliding-seat rowing system with 3.5-metre performance oars, good for a steady 3–4 knots — real exercise, and a real way home if the wind dies and the motor won't start.
The cabin takes two adults for the night. Add an inflatable mat, a sleeping bag, a camp stove, and you can beach at an island, cook aboard, and wake up on the water. The rest is up to your appetite for adventure.
The U530's concept owes a debt to Europe's finest small expedition sailboats — light, cored, capable of surfing. It reaches roughly 90% of that performance, then changes the formula where it matters for everyday use: a furling sail instead of a conventional one, a daggerboard instead of a centreboard (so the cabin stays roomy and there's nothing to maintain inside it), and a price within reach of an ordinary sailor rather than a wealthy one.
The best way to understand the U530 is to sail it. Get in touch to ask about specifications, options, and availability, or to talk through whether it's the right boat for the water you sail.