Grand Soleil 56 Shoal draft

Sailboat specifications

The Grand Soleil 56 is a 55’5” (16.9m) cruiser-racer sailboat designed by Philippe Briand (France). She was built since 2002 (and now discontinued) by Del Pardo, Cantiere (Italy). The Shoal draft version features a shorter keel to grant access to shallow areas.

The Grand Soleil 56 is as well listed, on Boat-Specs.com, in Deep draft version (see all the versions compared).

Grand Soleil 56's main features

Model: Grand Soleil 56
Version: Shoal draft
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Offshore cruiser-racer sailboat
Sailboat builder: Cantiere Del Pardo
Sailboat designer: Philippe Briand
Sailboat range: Grand Soleil
Country: Italy
Construction: Hull and deck: GRP (glass reinforced polyester)
First built hull: 2002
Last built hull: Discontinued
Appendages: Keel : L-shaped keel (with bulb)
Helm: Twin helm wheels
Rudder: Single spade rudder
Unsinkable: No
Trailerable: No
EC design category iThe CE design category indicates the ability to cope with certain weather conditions (the sailboat is designed for these conditions) A: Wind < force 9, Waves < 10m B: Wind < force 8, Waves < 8m C: Wind < force 6, Waves < 4m D: Wind < force 4, Waves < 0,5m: A
Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only): N/A €

Grand Soleil 56's main dimensions

Hull length: 55’ 5”16.9 m
Waterline length: 48’ 10”14.86 m
Beam (width): 15’ 10”4.83 m
Draft: 8’2.45 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 41888 lb19000 kg
Ballast weight: 15432 lb7000 kg

Grand Soleil 56's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 2045 ft²190 m²
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi fractional
Mast configuration: Keel stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Spreaders angle: No spreader
Spars construction: Aluminum spars (carbon fiber spars as an option)

Grand Soleil 56's performances

Upwind sail area to displacement iThe ratio sail area to displacement is obtained by dividing the sail area by the boat's displaced volume to the power two-thirds. The ratio sail area to displacement can be used to compare the relative sail plan of different sailboats no matter what their size. Upwind: under 18 the ratio indicates a cruise oriented sailboat with limited performances especially in light wind, while over 25 it indicates a fast sailboat.: 287 ft²/T26.68 m²/T
Displacement-length ratio (DLR) iThe Displacement Length Ratio (DLR) is a figure that points out the boat's weight compared to its waterline length. The DLR is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement in tons by the cube of one one-hundredth of the waterline length (in feet). The DLR can be used to compare the relative mass of different sailboats no matter what their length: a DLR less than 180 is indicative of a really light sailboat (race boat made for planning), while a DLR greater than 300 is indicative of a heavy cruising sailboat.: 164
Ballast ratio iThe Ballast ratio is an indicator of stability; it is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement by the mass of the ballast. Since the stability depends also of the hull shapes and the position of the center of gravity, only the boats with similar ballast arrangements and hull shapes should be compared. The higher the ballast ratio is, the greater is the stability.: 37 %
Critical hull speed iAs a ship moves in the water, it creates standing waves that oppose its movement. This effect increases dramatically the resistance when the boat reaches a speed-length ratio (speed-length ratio is the ratio between the speed in knots and the square root of the waterline length in feet) of about 1.2 (corresponding to a Froude Number of 0.35) . This very sharp rise in resistance, between speed-length ratio of 1.2 to 1.5, is insurmountable for heavy sailboats and so becomes an apparent barrier. This leads to the concept of "hull speed". The hull speed is obtained by multiplying the square root of the waterline length (in feet) by 1.34.: 9.36 knots