Review of Jouët 550

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 boat 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 genaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.

The Jouët 550 has been built with more than one type of keel.

One option is a centerboard keel. A centerboard keel is a pivoting lifting keel, allowing to sail both coastal and inland waters.

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.

Jouët 550 is typically equipped with an inboard engine at 13.0 hp (9 kW).

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.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Jouët 550 is 2.33.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 86% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more spacy hull design.

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Jouët 550 is 31%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 34% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just below average.

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.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 69% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

The Jouët 550 has more rig than 93% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.

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.

This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.

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

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Jouët 550 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.

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