Discovery 58, BUZ TOO

Broker’s Comments

Based in Marchwood on Southampton Water, Discovery Yachts where well known for building beautifully crafted and capable bluewater cruising yachts. The Discovery 55 achieving modern classic status was followed by the 57, 58 and 67.

Sitting at just under 60ft, the Discovery 58 is the ultimate family bluewater cruising yacht. Every aspect of the yacht whether on deck, sail handling or the raised saloon and accommodation has been well thought out to deliver safe, comfortable and efficient passage making.

Starting with the basis of very well proven yacht, the owner of BUZ TOO (an experienced yachtsman) set about commissioning, specifying and upgrading, resulting in the most recent and comprehensively equipped Discovery 58 available. Detailed below is a summary of the main enhancements to the yacht – well worth a read as almost every aspect has been breathed upon by way of upgrade: the carbon furling boom, Doyle Stratis sail wardrobe, OYS hydraulic system, Altas carbon davits and air conditioning to mention just of the few of the items enhanced.

For those searching in this market sector a close appraisal of BUZ TOO is recommended if not a must!

Owner’s Comments

I wanted a Discovery to enjoy comfortable and safe bluewater cruising in retirement. I always assumed it would be a 55 but when it came to it the 58 was so much more modern, roomier and comfortable, with circa 40% more internal space/volume – it was an easy decision. I was lucky enough to be able to commission Discovery to build me hull number 58-008, significantly customised to meet my requirements.

The layout is 3 double cabins and a skippers cabin behind the chart table. I liked the open walk through of the saloon, the cockpit and uncluttered space of the aft deck and its very clever seating arrangements. I was also able to have a bathing platform, making 58-008 the only 58/57 to feature one, which is a great enhancement. As I considered alternative yachts I was struck by the fact that the Discovery design and layout was such that there was always something to hold onto down below, crossing the saloon and above deck – essential offshore in rough conditions – which is rare amongst designs today.

As a keen sailor, from the initial test sail of a 58 with the standard mast furling, Selden rig and sails, I was concerned about the sailing performance and set out to enhance it. Discovery, while great yacht builders, seemed clueless at the time so I commenced independent discussions with Doyle Sails and specialist riggers Marine Results, who consulted on the rig. This resulted in a custom rig provided by Selden, with the usual Discovery slutter rig set up – big genoa and self-tacking jib close together – enhanced by an Offshore Spars carbon hydraulic furling boom and Doyle Stratis performance cruising sails. This allows a much better shaped and controlled main sail with horizontal battens and more roach.

Sail control was also enhanced by upgrading the hydraulics to a OYS system, going hydraulic with Selden head sail furlers and adding OYS hydraulic back stay rams. The winches were all upgraded to Andersen electric bar the mast winches which are manual. There is a storm jib (it is the only 57 or 58 with one) with a removable composite storm stay and supporting check stays, all cleverly stored out of the way for normal sailing, the 4th reef on the main is a storm sail, and a downwind furling asymmetric with an Atlas removable carbon fibre bow sprit. The resulting sailing performance and general handling is outstanding for a bluewater cruiser of this type and displacement. I sail her virtually single handed. The mast/rig was stepped by Marine Results from launch.

BUZ TOO was delivered late, due to COVID and subsequent insolvency at Discovery, to me in St Peter Port, Guernsey on 14 June 2022. With a friend I sailed her straight to Palma de Mallorca, arriving 10 days later in winds ranging 25 to 40 kts all the way, only stopping once for 45 minutes in Gibraltar to take on fuel.

From June 2022 to July 2024, she was permanently berthed in Palma, maintained professionally and continually enhanced with the assistance of Marine Results Palma, Doyle Sails Palma, and others. From July 2024 to the present, she has been berthed in Valencia, Spain and maintained by Yacht Watch run by ex a super yacht skipper and rigger introduced to me by Marine Results.

I love BUZ TOO, she is head and shoulders above all of the other Discovery yachts that I have viewed. She has been built to a specification and enhanced without regard to cost, maintained and kept her in immaculate condition. She is up to date and extraordinarily well equipped.

Sadly, and frustratingly, having now completely sorted the niggles of a new boat out, I am having to be parted from BUZ TOO due to family health issues which have prevented us using the yacht in 2025 and prohibit bluewater sailing.

Main Post-Build Enhancements

Steering

I was concerned about the rod steering system and had the steering manufacturer inspect it in build – they were satisfied with the installation. However, it proved unsatisfactory. One of the issues was that both wheels and the autopilot relied on one 3 way transmission box and one transmission rod run from the engine room aft bulkhead to the rudder. Further, the wheel steering locks would not hold the rudder at anchor which was very irritating – there was simply too much play in the system that could not be adjusted out. While the steering manufacturer provided a free replacement 3 way transmission box that failed the situation was not satisfactory and I started to search for a proper solution. I was delighted when JP3 (who provide steering systems for many production yachts and superyachts) agreed to design a custom retrofit cable steering system for 58-008, titanium wheels, gearing sprockets and custom rudder quadrant. This was custom manufactured by them and was installed in early 2024. The result is great – no more noise at anchor and positive steering. Furthermore, there is now built in redundancy you might expect on a serious blue water yacht. Both wheels are separately cabled to the rudder so in the unlikely event one failed you just move to the other wheel, autopilot 1 is a Raymarine ram directly onto the quadrant – rather than the standard autopilot set up that relies on the same transmission system as both wheels from the engine room aft bulkhead to the rudder quadrant – and there is a 2nd back up autopilot 2 with completely independent Raymarine electronics and Raymarine ram ready to connect up should auto pilot 1 fail.

Davits

The Discovery supplied stainless steel davits were unsatisfactory and did not properly accommodate the bathing platform. Atlas, Lymington UK, agreed to design and supply custom carbon fibre electric davits. These davits now enable the bathing platform to be used without first dropping the tender and they are rated at 375kg each so there is much more flexibility in dinghy choice/weight.

Bathing Platform

The hydraulic control system has been upgraded with custom hydraulic valves/switching so that when you switch on to “Float” when the platform is down (switch at starboard helm position) if the platform is hit by a wave/large bow wave the hydraulics allow the platform to raise up to absorb the shock rather than lifting the boat by the platform/potentially damaging it.