Galeon 520 Fly Review, Sea Trial and Price Guide

Galeon 520 Fly, the 500 Fly's second act

The Galeon 520 Fly is a brand-new model, but its foundations are familiar. Galeon describes it as building on one of its bestselling flybridge platforms, and YachtBuyer summed it up as a replacement for a standout model with a familiar hull and new thinking on top. That standout was the 500 Fly, Galeon's balcony-equipped 53-footer from 2015, and the 520 is its successor in the heart of the current flybridge range.

The world premiere took place at the Palm Beach International Boat Show in early 2026, which made the 520 Fly unusual among European yachts: American buyers saw it first. Yachting's debut story called it a 52-footer, the marketing size, but the overall length including the hydraulic platform is 56 feet 5 inches, with a 15-foot 1-inch beam. Searches for a Galeon 520 lead here; there was no earlier Galeon flybridge with this number.

Bigger balconies with windows in the floor

Galeon re-engineered its trademark drop-down balconies for this boat. They are larger, deploy more smoothly and have glazed panels in their soles, so you can look straight down at the water. Opened up, they take the beam from 15 feet 1 inch to about 22 feet, and because the cockpit, galley and saloon all sit on one level, the extra width carries right into the back half of the saloon.

The details are well thought out. On the port side, the galley window slides open and two stools drop into the deck to form an outside bar. To starboard, a sofa with a reversible backrest lets guests face the water. YachtBuyer rated the deck spaces streets ahead of rivals, and the cockpit's only weak point is that its standard seating faces inward; a rotating sofa that swings the whole bench aft is an option worth ordering.

A private stair to the owner's suite

The headline change below decks is separation. The full-beam master amidships has its own staircase, apart from the guest companionway, something Yachting noted is unusual at this size. Inside you find a king berth on centerline, a chaise to port, a fold-down bureau that works as a desk, a 42-inch TV and an en suite with a marble-lined shower stall.

Testers had reservations. YachtBuyer found level changes either side of the bed and into the bathroom, felt the darker Amber palette made the cabin gloomy despite big hull windows, and would trade the chaise for more drawers. Forward, guests get a bright VIP in the bow with overhead glazing and a twin cabin whose beds slide together into a double; the two share a large head with a separate shower. Aft, buyers choose between a skipper's cabin and a tender garage.

• Owner: private stair, king berth, desk, marble shower
• VIP: bow cabin with hull windows and skylights
• Guest: sliding twin berths that form a double
• Aft: skipper's cabin or tender garage

An Insitu interior and a saloon with real headroom

Tony Castro still draws the exterior, but the optional Mediterranean interior package comes from Insitu & Partners, in five schemes called Ivory, Pearl, Ocean, Amber and Terra, with high-gloss lacquer, brass accents and premium fabrics. Galeon builds the joinery in-house and offers its own designer-choice interior as the alternative.

Yachting measured 6 feet 6 inches of saloon headroom and hull-side windows 4 feet 7 inches tall. The U-shaped galley sits in the aft port corner with a full-size fridge-freezer, a four-burner cooktop and a microwave, opposite a sofa. Up two steps, the dining table and lower helm share the forward saloon, where twin 19-inch Raymarine Axiom displays sit in a floating console and the starboard window doubles as a side door. YachtBuyer suggested a positive catch for the fridge door on early boats.

A flybridge with four helm seats

Up top, Galeon fitted no fewer than four forward-facing seats behind two consoles, so the navigator gets a separate display, and testers liked the bolstered helm seats and adjustable wheel. Behind them, a two-part wet bar with grill, fridge and icemaker splits either side of the central walkway, a full-beam sun pad sits under the wind deflector, and a C-shaped dinette aft is shaded by an oversized hardtop with an opening section covered by a retractable fabric panel.

The bow is just as social. Three seating units fill the foredeck around a table that drops to make a vast sun pad, and their backrests rise and fall on rams so they can be lowered underway to clear the view from the helm.

What Hull No. 1 did on the water

Power is a pair of Volvo Penta D11-725 diesels on straight shafts, set in deep propeller tunnels that keep the draft to about 3 feet 5 inches. Yachting tested Hull No. 1, at 57,757 pounds, in rough seas with waves above 6 feet and recorded 29 knots wide open. At 2,100 rpm the boat cruised at about 22.5 knots burning 48 gph, for roughly 200 nautical miles of range with a 10 percent reserve, and at 15.5 knots it used 41 gph. Galeon quotes up to 30 knots.

The tester praised a quiet, solid boat with no creaking or pounding, and a gentle motion even with the Seakeeper switched off. The economy picture is typical of a heavy 56-footer: there is little to gain by slowing from 22 to 15 knots, so run on plane or drop to displacement speed. YachtBuyer reports IPS as an alternative for buyers who want joystick docking.

Ordering one and the cost of ownership

MBY lists a starting price of 1.5 million euros including VAT, and a 2026 stock boat was advertised in Europe at just over 2 million euros. In the US, MarineMax is the exclusive dealer; expect a typical deal between about $1.6 million and $2.2 million depending on options, and use the 500 Fly's used market, where well-kept boats from 2016 onward trade well below that, as your negotiating benchmark.

Running costs land around $85,000 to $150,000 a year in the US, excluding depreciation: a 60-foot slip, insurance on a seven-figure yacht, D11 services, generator and Seakeeper maintenance, hydraulics for the balconies and platform, bottom paint and canvas. At 48 gph at a fast cruise, fuel for a 100-hour season at that pace approaches 4,800 gallons, so most owners will mix in displacement-speed passages.