At the beginning of the 1980’s the Nauticat 52 was launched. It was the largest yacht to date built by the yard.  This exceptional offshore yacht  came from the drawing board of Sparkman & Stephens.

This yacht was different from traditional Nauticats in both design and performance.  The Nauticat 52 was the first step in the direction of pilothouse sailing yachts that were to be introduced later. The pilothouse was lower than earlier, the hull was more sailboat-like.  The entrance is from the cockpit and the starboard side of the pilothouse, not just from the pilothouse sides, as in earlier designs.

The Nauticat 52 was designed with ocean crossings in mind given its fuel and water tank capacities.