A six-year liveaboard owner walks you through the French-built racer-cruiser's light-filled interior, lifting keel and offshore kit.
Few boat tours come with this much first-hand authority. In this below-decks walkthrough of S/V Hermes, a 2012 Pogo 12.50 listed by Ted Reshetiloff, the guide notes plainly: “I lived on this boat for almost six years, so I think I know what I’m talking about.” What follows is a calm, unhurried tour of an interior built for offshore miles rather than boat-show photos.
Light, space and French joinery
The entire interior is custom-made by Pogo Structures, the wood designed by the team in France, and the emphasis throughout is on volume and light. The tour makes a point of it: no cabin lights are switched on during filming — everything you see is natural light coming through the hatches and port lights.
Forward, the V-berth is described as very spacious, used for sleeping at anchor and as sail stowage offshore. It has custom Pogo shelving, high-end fans for air circulation, small seats, and a door for privacy — handy when the space doubles as the changing and gear room on passage. A long extended windlass remote can be brought forward on deck, a thoughtful touch for anyone anchoring single-handed.
The saloon — and the keel that hides in plain sight
Moving aft, the deck-stepped mast is explained as a pole running down to the keel box, with the mast instruments and electronics routed beneath the main saloon. The centre console table is the star detail: it elegantly conceals the ram for the lifting keel, one of the model’s defining features, along with inspection ports and — as the owner cheerfully points out — useful liquor and wine stowage. The keel pistons were swapped out at the Pogo yard in 2018, evidence of a boat kept to a schedule.
The galley is called out as fully equipped, with twin sinks, a large fridge and an added drinking-water tap with its own filter (spare filters are included). The nav station, where the crew clearly spent many hours, carries a new VHF radio, a sound system, a dual repeater for the NKE instruments — with autopilot control from below — and plenty of accessible stowage. One locker houses an additional inverter for the US setup.
Aft cabins, head and the “tech room”
The full aft cabin currently stores the racing main, racing jib and staysail, plus custom cockpit cushions, full sheet sets and a complete offshore medical kit. It has its own fan and opening port lights. The head is simple and clean with a recently fitted new faucet and dual white/red lighting.
Behind the head is what the crew call the tech room — technically a further cabin with berths, but used as an organised workshop and spares store, with access to the fuel tanks and hot water heater. Also stowed there: boat-building supplies and tools, a spare outboard engine, and a hydrogenerator for making your own power offshore. Grab bags, flares and an EPIRB are aboard to comply with offshore racing circuit requirements.
Where the model sits
The Pogo 12.50 is a rare sight on the brokerage market. At the time of writing, YachtSite shows a single active listing for the model.
| Active Pogo 12.50 listings | 1 |
|---|---|
| Asking range | $199,000 |
| Median asking | $199,000 |
As the tour signs off, the message is straightforward: Hermes is set up, sorted and, in her owner’s words, “dying to go on some more adventures.”