Review of PJ-55

Basic specs.

The PJ-55 is a large sailboat designed by the American maritime architect bureau Sparkman & Stephens in the early seventies.

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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 473.0 liter fresh water capacity.

Rig

The PJ-55 is equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.

Keel

Fin keel

The PJ-55 is equipped with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full keel.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.44 - 2.54 meter (8.01 - 8.31 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

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 PJ-55 is 1.59, 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 8.3 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 PJ-55 is about 340 kg/cm, alternatively 1905 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 340 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1905 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.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for PJ-55 is 3.85.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 82% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more speedy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for PJ-55 is 37%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 54% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just above average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for PJ-55 is 357 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.

4% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A heavy displacement combined with smaller water plane area has lower acceleration and is more comfortable.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for PJ-55 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.0, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 19.1.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 18% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

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 60m² (645 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

Dimensions of sail for masthead 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.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	44.7 m	(146.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	44.7 m	(146.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	44.7 m	(146.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet	16.6 m	(54.6 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	16.6 m	(54.6 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	41.6 m	(136.6 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	36.6 m	(120.2 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Cunningham	6.2 m	(20.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap	12.5 m	(41.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul	12.5 m	(41.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 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 PJ-55 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.