Review of Grand Soleil 50

Basic specs.

The Grand Soleil 50 is a large sailboat designed by the American maritime architect Douglas Blair Peterson in the early nineties. The Grand Soleil 50 is built by the Italian yard Cantiere del Pardo S.p.A..

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Hull

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

Interior

The boat is equipped with 6/9 berths and 790.0 liter fresh water capacity.

Keel

The Grand Soleil 50 has been built with different keel alternatives.

Unknown keel type

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.20 - 2.30 meter (7.22 - 7.52 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Fin keel

The Grand Soleil 50 is equipped with a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel.

Grand Soleil 50 can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.30 - 2.40 meter (7.55 - 7.85 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

The Grand Soleil 50 has been equipped with different engine alternatives.

Alternative 1:

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD2-75 diesel engine at 75 hp (55 kW). Calculated max speed is about 7.3 knots

Alternative 2:

The boat may be equipped with an engine at 62 hp (46 kW). Calculated max speed is about 6.6 knots.

The fuel tank has a capacity of 726.0 liters (191 US gallons, 159 imperial gallons).

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.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Grand Soleil 50 is 1.79, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 8.5 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Grand Soleil 50 is about 353 kg/cm, alternatively 1977 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 353 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1977 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.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Grand Soleil 50 is 33.1.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 46% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just below average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Grand Soleil 50 is 3.47.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 50% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen an average hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Grand Soleil 50 is 32%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 31% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just below average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Grand Soleil 50 is 215 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

58% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.

Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 64m² (688 ft²).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.

Rig

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.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Jib sheet	14.9 m	(49.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	14.9 m	(49.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	37.3 m	(122.5 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	32.8 m	(107.8 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.

Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Grand Soleil 50 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.

References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.