Review of Pilot Saloon 55

Basic specs.

The Pilot Saloon 55 is a large sailboat designed by the French maritime architect bureau Berret-Racoupeau Yacht Design in the late 2000.

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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.
The hull is a double hull which improves the indoor climate. Especially when the water is colder than the air in the cabin, then the double hull insulates against cold water and reduce the condense water in the cabin.
The deck is a double deck which improves the indoor climate.

Interior

The boat is equipped with 4 cabins and 8 berths.
The headroom is above average

Rig

The boat 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.

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 Pilot Saloon 55 is 1.85, 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 9.5 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 Pilot Saloon 55 is about 511 kg/cm, alternatively 2863 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 511 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 2863 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 Pilot Saloon 55 is 3.44.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 69% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Pilot Saloon 55 is 148 which categorizes this boat among 'ultra light racers'.

79% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

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

The SA/D for Pilot Saloon 55 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 19.6, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 22.8.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 100% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Maintenance

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	50.8 m	(166.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	50.8 m	(166.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	50.8 m	(166.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet	17.0 m	(55.9 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	17.0 m	(55.9 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	42.6 m	(139.7 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	37.5 m	(122.9 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Cunningham	7.5 m	(24.6 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap	15.0 m	(49.2 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul	15.0 m	(49.2 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

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

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Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Pilot Saloon 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.