Review of Jouët 550
Basic specs.
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The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.
The boat is equipped with 2 berths.
The Jouët 550 is equipped with a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a gennaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.
The Jouët 550 has been built with different keel alternatives.
Unknown keel type
The keel is made of iron. Many people prefer lead keel in favour of iron. The main argument is that lead is much heavier than iron and a lead keel can therefore be made smaller which again result in less wet surface, i.e. less drag. In fact iron is quite heavy, just 30% less heavy than lead, so the advantage of a lead keel is often overstated.
The boat can sail close to the beach as the draft is just 0.27 - 0.37 meter (0.89 - 1.19 ft) dependent of the load. See immersion rate below.
Unknown keel type
Jouët 550 can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 0.80 - 0.90 meter (2.62 - 2.92 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
CentreBoard
The Jouët 550 is equipped with a centreboard keel. A centreboard keel is a pivoting lifting keel, allowing to sail both coastal and inland waters.
The boat can sail close to the beach as the draft is just 0.27 - 0.37 meter (0.89 - 1.19 ft) dependent of the load. See immersion rate below.
The boat may be equipped with an inboard engine at 13 hp (9 kW).
Sailing characteristics
This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Jouët 550 is 2.59, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Jouët 550 is about 88 kg/cm, alternatively 495 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 88 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 495 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.
Sailing statistics
This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Jouët 550 is 2.33.
The ballast ratio for Jouët 550 is 31%.
What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?
The SA/D for Jouët 550 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 19.5, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 22.7.
Maintenance
Dimensions of sail for fractional rig.
Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale
If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Mainsail halyard | 18.3 m | (60.0 feet) | 6 mm | (1/4 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 18.3 m | (60.0 feet) | 6 mm | (1/4 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 18.3 m | (60.0 feet) | 6 mm | (1/4 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 5.5 m | (18.2 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 5.5 m | (18.2 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 13.9 m | (45.5 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 12.2 m | (40.1 feet) | 8 mm | (5/16 inch) |
| Cunningham | 2.6 m | (8.5 feet) | 6 mm | (1/4 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 5.2 m | (17.1 feet) | 6 mm | (1/4 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 5.2 m | (17.1 feet) | 6 mm | (1/4 inch) |
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